Mandatory health insurance for over 50s in Thailand only affects those on Non-Immigrant Visa O-A

[EricTh]

8 hours ago, Changoverandout said:

 

Sorry. What is a O-A visa used for?

 

 

 

[fishtank]

3 hours ago, AAArdvark said:

It is not perfectly clear when there are conflicting statements made in this article and in the older one.  It one place it says "on" an OA and in an other place says either "applying for" or "seeking".  So which one is clearly the correct one?

I give up.

[Peterw42]

7 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Sorry. What is a O-A visa used for?

 

 

 

Its main purpose is arguments on thaivisa, lol.

OA is the visa you get from home country, 1 year entry/stay for the purpose of retirement. No need for money in a thai bank.

[EricTh]

2 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Its main purpose is arguments on thaivisa, lol.

OA is the visa you get from home country, 1 year entry for the purpose of retirement. No need for money in a thai bank.

Then why is it I got an O instead of OA because I got it from home country for retirement purpose too.

 

This is quite confusing.

 

[sawadee1947]

Thank you to clarify this matter. However I got a feeling that this solution is temporary. 

Maybe the day will come that everybody has to have an insurance which would make sense to me. 

[Peterw42]

1 minute ago, EricTh said:

Then why is it I got an O instead of OA because I got it from home country for retirement purpose too.

 

This is quite confusing.

 

O visa only gives entry and a 90 day stay then you would have switched to an extension based on retirement. 

[EricTh]

1 minute ago, Peterw42 said:

O visa only gives entry and a 90 day stay then you would have switched to an extension based on retirement. 

What are the conditions of giving a 1 year O-A visa instead of a 90 day O visa based on retirement?

[CLS]

 
Sorry, you may believe the word of the guy in Hua Hin but I'd put good money that by the end of the year he is proven.  
 

I‘m astonished that such an underdog is authorized to make such a statement in public. A candidate to be transferred to an inactive post.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Peterw42]

7 minutes ago, EricTh said:

What are the conditions of giving a 1 year O-A visa instead of a 90 day O visa based on retirement?

OA involves getting medicial and police checks, showing money in a bank account (usually home country), documents witnessed by a notary. And it appears in the near future, getting insurance.

[mike787]

9 hours ago, anchadian said:

From day one this applied only to non-immigrant visa O-A.

 

Too much speculation.

So far....Thais will see the profitability of their current decision, will not be surprised if this is extended to ALL visas...time will tell.

[Cabradelmar]

Proves nor answers nothing. One man said.... Take that to your local Admin office. Lol. 

[the guest]

That's ridiculous, it should apply to all long-term visas.

[mindfulness]

What is the first stage to get a retirement extension to stay ? ????????????

[DJ54]

Thanks TV appreciated 

[fresher]

6 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

great news guys, thank you for doing this for us

Yes, very helpful thank you TV. For many years I have been travelling to Chiang Mai twice a year for roughly 12 week stints Sept-Nov and Jan-March. (My home is in the UK.) So the Non-Immigrant O-A Multiple entry visa is ideal for me. I always have a high quality comprehensive international travel insurance in place. My questions are 'how and when can I know that this particular insurance policy is acceptable to the Thai/CM authorities?' and 'Is there a risk that I won't know for sure until I arrive at the Chiang Mai Immigration desk?'

   

[madmen]

5 minutes ago, fresher said:

Yes, very helpful thank you TV. For many years I have been travelling to Chiang Mai twice a year for roughly 12 week stints Sept-Nov and Jan-March. (My home is in the UK.) So the Non-Immigrant O-A Multiple entry visa is ideal for me. I always have a high quality comprehensive international travel insurance in place. My questions are 'how and when can I know that this particular insurance policy is acceptable to the Thai/CM authorities?' and 'Is there a risk that I won't know for sure until I arrive at the Chiang Mai Immigration desk?'

   

You will know when you apply in your country.

[dcnx]

12 hours ago, JamesBlond said:

Not to wrangle over this, but when it comes to insurance, where is the logic in differentiating between retirees on a visa and those on an extension of stay?

No logic. They just haven’t got

to the others yet. It will be rolled out to everyone eventually. 

[dcnx]

4 hours ago, sawadee1947 said:

Thank you to clarify this matter. However I got a feeling that this solution is temporary. 

Maybe the day will come that everybody has to have an insurance which would make sense to me. 

Of course it will. You can’t have one group of 50+ who needs insurance and another group of 50+ who are exempt. Everyone will get this. You’d have to be a drunk on a bar stool to think otherwise.

[mitebbots]

I have an O-A and arrive around July 1st, I I will only stay a few months. 

 

Wonder if I will be able to buy 6 months of insurance? I emailed a few companies and got various answers. Most were saying not mandatory. Yes, right now it isn't 

 

I guess wait till the dust settles and see what I can get. 

[ThaiBunny]

15 minutes ago, mitebbots said:

I have an O-A and arrive around July 1st, I I will only stay a few months. Wonder if I will be able to buy 6 months of insurance?

How long you intend to stay will be irrelevant. The visa entitles you to stay for 12 months and the insurance must cover the entitlement, not the intention

[inThailand]

Doesn't accident insurance make more sense based on the rampant number of motorbike incidents? 

 

Thai logic lacks common sense?

[madmen]

15 minutes ago, inThailand said:

Doesn't accident insurance make more sense based on the rampant number of motorbike incidents? 

 

Thai logic lacks common sense?

No . Insurance covers you for that as well. Accident insurance wont cover you for a stoke

[howbri]

How long before the O retirees will be required to have health insurance also?

[Dogmatix]

Now that they have come up with a scheme to charge every foreign visitor a 100 baht insurance fee, they should drop this ridiculous idea. The 100 fee will generate B3.8bn, making a profit of B3.5bn compared to the B300m in medical fees left unpaid by foreigners.   Requiring only OA visa holders over 50 to be insured while ignoring all the foreigners of all ages on all other types of visa makes no sense, particularly now that they have come up with a solution that even makes a profit.

[Prairieboy]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

new requirements only affect people seeking Non-Immigrant Visa O-A.

Since I entered Thailand on a non-B visa and have faithfully done my yearly extensions I presume I am exempt from this requirement.

 

[Prairieboy]

8 hours ago, EricTh said:

Then why is it I got an O instead of OA because I got it from home country for retirement purpose too.

 

This is quite confusing.

 

It is totally confusing especially since every immigration office seems to interpret the rules differently!

[luckyluke]

3 hours ago, dcnx said:

You can’t have one group of 50+ who needs insurance and another group of 50+ who are exempt

Make sense, 

 

but Thailand and sense, is rarely compatible 

 

 

Biggest illustration :

 

except for 3 countries, to get an extension, expats don't need 400/800000 in a Thai bank account,

don't need to transfer monthly at least 65000 to a Thai bank account,

 

as a Letter of Income from the big majority of the countries, is still accepted by all immigration offices.

 

Of course it can change, I hear/read that  since many many years. 

 

In the meantime, I and many others, 

 

don't need money here, don't need to transfer money,

don't need an insurance,

 

if we don't want to. 

 

Make sense? 

 

[Peterw42]

4 hours ago, dcnx said:

Of course it will. You can’t have one group of 50+ who needs insurance and another group of 50+ who are exempt. Everyone will get this. You’d have to be a drunk on a bar stool to think otherwise.

Its been the case for a couple of years now, one group of 50+ needed insurance, OX visa holders and other 50+ dont require insurance.

[Kadilo]

15 hours ago, lensta said:

Correct, but my 2 questions are:

1. Why only O-A and not O/ extensions based on retirement?

2. How long before all people on all long stay visas have to have health insurance?

As stated before, an easier way would be to charge everyone 500 Baht on arrival

for health insurance, then all tourists and expats would be covered and there would

even be enough left over to recoup the money hospitals have lost because of non

paying expat and tourist patients

3. How longs a piece of string?

[brewsterbudgen]

That's ridiculous, it should apply to all long-term visas.

OA and OX are the only long-stay visas, unless you include Elite.

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app