Thailand's New 10-Year Visas Meet Mixed Reactions

[Anthony5]

3 minutes ago, tartempion said:

I Am 70, 15 years in Thailand January 2017, don't leave home without my European insurance card 1,5 million medical coverage, max 180 days away from home country.

 

You are aware that those 180 days count for each calendar year?

 

I had an insurance from the same country as you, if I'm not mistaken, which had even no requirement like that  but it was only available to residents.

 

When you are less than 180 days in your country, you are not considered a resident, and my policy was declared void when I had a claim.

[Artisi]

3 minutes ago, Batboy said:

When you register at a Government Hospital you register and get given an ID card. When you register you need to also present your marriage certificate original to get registered to get the same treatment cost in Premium as Thai's do. I use the big Government Hospital near Victory Monument in Bangkok and find the Hospital and Thai Doctor I have very good and informative   

I'm not sure what you mean by Premium,  for myself I normally use the after hours service where you are treated outside of the normal "hospital system" as a private patient, currently the government hospital I use for medical and dental charge Bht300 per visit (Dr fee) any drugs; ex-rays etc. is covered by wife's government insurance.

The few visits a year at this price doesn't break the bank. 

[Kerryd]

For all the people thinking about moving to Cambodia/Myanmar, neither country has a "long stay visa" according to the research I've just been doing over the last hour.

Cambodia has a 28 day tourist visa which can be extended once and a "business" visa, also short term.

Myanmar has a number of visa categories (transit, tourist, "meditation") but no long stay visas.

 

Unless someone has links to sites other than the Myanmar and/or Cambodian Embassy pages that show other, long term options ?

[Deepinthailand]

3 Mil sat for a year doing nothing then you can only take 50% of it as long as you can prove it's been spent on certain things in Thailand then I presume they will want it back to 3 mill for year 5 to 6. No thank you about as much good as a fart in a wind farm. marriage rates will sore. so will yearly non o based on marriage.

[renaissanc]

Crazy stipulations! I've lived here 32 years married to a Thai. I've never had any health insurance, and had no hospital stays. I'm 60 now. Who would insure me even though I've always been in great health? Hospitals can't cure the big diseases anyway, but food, exercise, meditation, and self-healing techniques can prevent and cure them. Consequently, this visa is of no use to me. I do my annual visa renewal tomorrow. It takes an hour at Immigration at the most, so the usual year by year renewal is fine by me.

[NCC1701A]

My naive hope is that someone in the Thai government who can read English has by now after reading all of the comments here are realizing that this new idea is a horrible one.

[tails]

that beach cant possibly be in thailand! :D

[Artisi]

1 minute ago, NCC1701A said:

My naive hope is that someone in the Thai government who can read English has by now after reading all of the comments here are realizing that this new idea is a horrible one.

Live in hope ?

[alocacoc]

12 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

My naive hope is that someone in the Thai government who can read English has by now after reading all of the comments here are realizing that this new idea is a horrible one.

Don't hold your breath.

[jlwilliamsjr18]

Why do I feel like all they want is my money, and not my body.  

[vukovar77]

2 hours ago, brucegoniners said:

The 3 million requirement is a joke.  Health insurance is a necessity and I have plenty.  At 59 you better be well covered, just in case.

 

My question is, will they accept an "affidavit" from your embassy that you are bringing in 100K a month.  If that's the case then no problem.  Otherwise what will they accept to prove it?

I will never pay expensive insurance in Thailand .I am 59 and if I have some bigger health problems ,I need to go in EU in my country and I can get all free with my card there!!!

[NCC1701A]

Breaking news:

Real Estate agents in Hua Hin report hundreds of Farangs waiting in line outside their offices to list their property for sale. 

 

Breaking news:

Real Estate agents in Pattaya report a total collapse of Farang buyer for condos.

 

Breaking news:

A huge spike in flights to Cambodia from Thailand as Expats flee Thailand.

 

Breaking news:

Cambodians cheer as Thailand forces one billion US dollars of Expat money into their local economy over the next 20 years.

 

 

 

 

 

[Anthony5]

1 minute ago, vukovar77 said:

I will never pay expensive insurance in Thailand .I am 59 and if I have some bigger health problems ,I need to go in EU in my country and I can get all free with my card there!!!

 

And how about if you're not able or allowed to travel to your home country?

[GTO1969]

3 hours ago, kotsak said:

I have to admit that I LOLed with the photo 

 

More like this!

"You go ATM now!!!"

[Deepinthailand]

5 minutes ago, Anthony5 said:

 

And how about if you're not able or allowed to travel to your home country?

Then if it's after a year he can use 50% of the three Mil.  Or just get private treatment with a little of that 3 Mil you never locked away

[anotheruser]

34 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

or exclude completely anyone who owns property already.

you own a 3 mil baht or more condo? 3 mil baht cash requirement waved. 

 

Hmm not really. The value of the condo should be much greater than 3 million. It isn't cash after all and doesn't pay interest. With money in the bank they can use it for profit. A condo is worthless to them. They have a visa for people who have 10 million Baht into a condo I already I think.

[alocacoc]

Even when nothing changes and this is only an option, all this confusion and uncertainty makes many people shy away to retire in Thailand.

 

Apart from that, I would never parking 3MB unless I get reliable interest rates. It stinks. Older farang deposit 3MB and dies later. And, who gets the money?

 

[NoshowJones]

What did I say in my last post about this 10 year visa? I said it will be no use to the average westerner unless he is very rich. Now I have read about the health insurance, money in the bank, and monthly earnings, nice to have been proved right.

[farcanell]

2 hours ago, TechnikaIII said:

My best health insurance policy is the funds in the bank for a short-notice return to Australia, where my Medicare card takes care of hospital bills. And I keep an ambulance subscription up to date. 

 

My exact plan... just have to remember to renew the membership card ?

 

Small local items aren't worth claiming on, unless you like doing paperwork.... and when the small items do start to mount up... I'm off back to the nanny state, anyway.

[poosmate]

To answer a previous question about other countries I have been looking at retirement in Australia . 

4 year visa 750000 aus Dollar lodged in 4 year government bond. This is reduced to 500000 if live in certain areas.

Plus must have medical cover.Visa is renewable but must invest again. No in country benefits and cannot be converted to permanent.

Plus cost of visa.

Edited November 24, 2016 by poosmate

[anotheruser]

11 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

Breaking news:

Real Estate agents in Hua Hin report hundreds of Farangs waiting in line outside their offices to list their property for sale. 

 

Breaking news:

Real Estate agents in Pattaya report a total collapse of Farang buyer for condos.

 

Breaking news:

A huge spike in flights to Cambodia from Thailand as Expats flee Thailand.

 

Breaking news:

Cambodians cheer as Thailand forces one billion US dollars of Expat money into their local economy over the next 20 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ex pats will contribute an estimated billion dollars into Cambodia.... as soon as they can manage to sell their condo in Hua Hin which has plummeted in value because of the huge new supply on the market. 

 

In the mean time they are checking what's in their piggy banks in preparation to move to Sihanoukville. 

[zaZa9]

26 minutes ago, tails said:

hey is anyone else getting annoying pop up ads while browsing TVF today?? i'm getting a pop up every 10 seconds for some circus crap in the US... only on TVF website

 

Yes ... the biz model seems to be ,"Make more money  and dont worry about annoying the customers ..."

[maxcorrigan]

3 hours ago, alocacoc said:

What concerns him is the requirement that one must have health insurance covering hospital stays and annual coverage worth at least USD$10,000.

“I’m not sure about the compulsory medical insurance, though,” Carter said. “Never encountered a rule like this before.”

Many insurance companies do not cover at the required level, he added.

 

I don't get it. 10000 USD is nothing. I spent 700 000 baht in one week at Bangkok Hospital. Then, my intl. insurance is not limited to a certain amount of money.

 

And, how can someone retire abroad without a health insurance? That's insane.

Might be insane to you but try and get insurance cover for over 70s or keep an existing running to that age the cost is horrendous!

[snooky]

3 hours ago, alocacoc said:

What concerns him is the requirement that one must have health insurance covering hospital stays and annual coverage worth at least USD$10,000.

“I’m not sure about the compulsory medical insurance, though,” Carter said. “Never encountered a rule like this before.”

Many insurance companies do not cover at the required level, he added.

 

I don't get it. 10000 USD is nothing. I spent 700 000 baht in one week at Bangkok Hospital. Then, my intl. insurance is not limited to a certain amount of money.

 

And, how can someone retire abroad without a health insurance? That's insane.

Unfortunately, a lot of us seniors cannot get insurance over here.  The maximum age is usually 70 or 75 - what do we do now?  I searched for a long time, finally found one insurer who gave this quote:

 

us 599 per month premium

US 5000. deductible

US 2000 maximum payout for inhospital 

 

Doesn't make much sense - can put the 2000US into bank right away and save premiums!

 

If you have some solid leads, let the rest of us know!  Thanks

[ICECOOL]

Looks a good option for me.  The income requirement is similiar to retirement visa now and 10,000 baht to apply is not cheap but as its says its multi-entry then seems good value. I can see they are aiming at younger wealthier retiree's. Surely health insurance cover is common sense? 

[zaZa9]

17 minutes ago, vukovar77 said:

I will never pay expensive insurance in Thailand .I am 59 and if I have some bigger health problems ,I need to go in EU in my country and I can get all free with my card there!!!

 

Better hope you dont have a stroke or a heart attack or an anurism or be hit by a car then.

 

Its very hard to rush to a plane when you are having one of these , or a host of other incidents wherein youre unconscious or even just very ill.

Not to mention the airline actually  letting you board.

They dont seem to like carrying people who look like they may die on their flights...

[smotherb]

If you don't like the requirements for the new ten-year visas; then don't do it.

[thurien]

3 hours ago, alocacoc said:

And, how can someone retire abroad without a health insurance? That's insane.

 

the majority do...

[anotheruser]

3 minutes ago, ICECOOL said:

Looks a good option for me.  The income requirement is similiar to retirement visa now and 10,000 baht to apply is not cheap but as its says its multi-entry then seems good value. I can see they are aiming at younger wealthier retiree's. Surely health insurance cover is common sense? 

 

The age requirement is still 50 and over so it has nothing to do with being younger. You arew however right that they seem to be raising the bar in regards to the income level they would like to see for people to move here.

[alocacoc]

1 minute ago, maxcorrigan said:

Might be insane to you but try and get insurance cover for over 70s or keep an existing running to that age the cost is horrendous!

That may be correct. But again, that's not the problem of Thailand. But it's the right of Thailand to not take the burden in case an expat without insurance gets serious ill.

 

You could retire in Switzerland. It's a beautiful country with a solid  statutory health insurance. It's mandatory and everyone who lives there will get it. Doesn't matter how old the expat is.

 

Well, the living costs are very expensive in Switzerland. If you can't afford it, again, it's not the problem of Switzerland.

 

Easy as that.