Old age when you are too old to travel

[Lacessit]

59 minutes ago, PAWNEESE said:

 

I would need someone keeping me stocked with beer ????????????????. It would be easier than many jobs paying less. 

 

 

 

Ive seen the naughty maids outfits I want for my staff already. ????????????

 

 

Nice to see someone who has their priorities right.

[StevieAus]

3 hours ago, Baht Simpson said:

Not initially, but I believe that if after a period you can prove that you will be "habitually resident" and you are a British Citizen you can go back into the NHS system. 

I think getting back into the system may only be part of the problem, obtaining treatment is another.

I have a couple of friends in their eighties who live in the North of England where there are several hospitals.

He has several chronic illnesses and they tell me that they often wait months for an appointment to see a specialist at the hospital and sometimes a couple of days to see the local doctor.

Earlier this year he collapsed at home sustaining a head injury and waited 45 minutes for an ambulance 

At the hospital ambulances were queued up and he waited on the ambulance stretcher for nearly two hours during this time the hospital stopped accepting ambulances which were diverted elsewhere.

They were going to discharge him but because he deteriorated he spent the night on a bed in the corridor.

As they said the treatment under the NHS is excellent obtaining it is the problem as the system cannot cope.

[StevieAus]

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

 

Totally incorrect! A UK citizen taking up residency on returning from abroad is entitled to treatment immediately. All one has to do is register with your local GP.

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-the-nhs-when-you-return-to-live-in-the-uk

 Not according to the information contained in the link you have attached.

Emergency treatment yes, but for the rest you have to follow certain steps and produce documentation to support your situation.

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, Old Croc said:

Yes, agree.

The safety net I described included family support as well as things such as carers allowances and other discounted services. After watching my mother die in a home in Australia, I wouldn't vaguely contemplate entering one myself.

 

I know of several old timers on Phuket who hire ladies to care for them and their household, no romantic attachments. They are well paid and  have the promise of inheriting more after the passing. I would do this if my GF pre-deceased me. No reason to return to the old country if you have sufficient funds here.

 

Sadly, in Australia there seems to be a trend of increasing elder abuse - not just institutional, but also from family members who can't wait to get their hands on what they regard as their rightful inheritance. The Baby Boomer generation is now expected to fund the retirements of their children, because they certainly won't be able to fund it from the state of underemployment in Australia. The politicians are kicking the age pension can down the road and hoping no-one will notice.

I'd rather die here - hopefully with my GF on top of me - than be forced to go back to Australia.

[jacko45k]

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I'd rather die here - hopefully with my GF on top of me - than be forced to go back to Australia.

Trying to choke your ATM PIN out of you?

I am ambivalent. Will the good woman currently by my side be as agreeable when I am old and infirm and she needs nothing from me any more? I saw an old friend go in rather sad circumstances in Thailand, food for thought.

[StevieAus]

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Sadly, in Australia there seems to be a trend of increasing elder abuse - not just institutional, but also from family members who can't wait to get their hands on what they regard as their rightful inheritance. The Baby Boomer generation is now expected to fund the retirements of their children, because they certainly won't be able to fund it from the state of underemployment in Australia. The politicians are kicking the age pension can down the road and hoping no-one will notice.

I'd rather die here - hopefully with my GF on top of me - than be forced to go back to Australia.

Totally agree with everything you have said I have a few friends in Aus hardly wealthy but cannot get the  retirement pension despite working all their lives.

I like the idea in the last sentence, not sure that my wife would agree.

[StevieAus]

2 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Trying to choke your ATM PIN out of you?

I am ambivalent. Will the good woman currently by my side be as agreeable when I am old and infirm and she needs nothing from me any more? I saw an old friend go in rather sad circumstances in Thailand, food for thought.

Does it matter, no pockets in shrouds.?

[adammike]

2 hours ago, natway09 said:

I agree that if getting old & frail decisions need to be made. I am getting there quickly

Financials are important so is health care (such that it is in the UK---overloaded & underfunded)

I am not sure what you people expect from Thailand who struggle with their own health care ,,, so why should they look after us as foreigners ? You want to live in Cambodia because it is

cheaper believe me Private health care there is basic, expensive & major cases are flown to Bangkok anyway care 

They are taking steps to put health care in place for retirement visa's & extensions

(someone mentioned 44,000 Bht per annum )  which if no private cover had to be paid before extension granted.

WE all know we are getting old,,,,, get a grip & plan,,,,,answer I do not have the money

Stop blaming Thailand tor your stupid oversights

But I was getting 90 Baht to the pound when I decided to move to Thailand.

[adammike]

1 hour ago, possum1931 said:

I pay my way over here and contribute to the economy, do most of the immigrants

do the same in the UK?

OH! and by the way, am I an immigrant here? The last I understood I was a non immigrant.

Of course they pay their way, most get a job pay taxes and NI, their kids go to school.A lot have a bad deal they are used as little more than slave labour with no rights and the threat of deportation hanging over their head.If and when you need treatment on the NHS you will almost certainly be treated,operated on and nursed by the immigrants you so disrespect.Also when your beloved brexit arrives you will still get immigration just from different countries.There is more than enough information that show immigrants are a net contributers to the UK economy.

 

[jayceenik]

6 hours ago, Apache704 said:

Sir, I am 73 years old and I also have to leave Thailand due to the ever increasing changes with Immigration and with no health insurance which I did have before the Army took over. Ecuador is my next destination with a minimal amount of money per month($800) US and for each dependent $100 more plus they have health care for less than $100 per month for a couple and a Senior have discounts on everything. The rents are cheap, also the food, the climate is better. Also you can own land there as a foreigner but they are a lot more expensive than Thailand. Cuenco has the largest expat population (up to 8000) with English being spoken almost everywhere compared to none elsewhere. There are plenty of restaurants that can cater to whomever. I'll be going there from Canada in November and staying 60 days in Cuenca. I'm sure that I can pick up Spanish a lot easier than Thai. Take a good look at getting a Pension Visa from Ecuador you won't have to go back to England for Health care. If you would like to e-mail me for more information I will gladly send it to you.

I've been living retired in Thailand for three decades now  I had a spacious studio rental in BKK and another one in Pattaya. Now living in Ubon in the house I bought for TGF. Everything was fine until this health insurance sucker punch.

Quite a few years back, before knowing present TGF,  I had come across an article in a foreign mag/paper about living/retiring in Ecuador. I was so fired up that I checked which airlines were flying there. KLM had a good flight from AMS. I was planning to go there for a few months to get established and than share my time between Thailand and Ecuador for a start and eventually move there. I speak Spanish. I didn't pursue this intention. Now I regret it.

I'm quite happy now spending my Golden Years here in Thailand with my TGF but Ecuador would have been a much better choice.

I will now marry my TGF ASAP so that I may be spared this mandatory health insurance which I cannot get because I'm 80.

Otherwise I'll have to go back to Belgium which I left 50 years ago.

[Baht Simpson]

1 hour ago, Gandtee said:

I gree. I'm 85 and still flying to UK and NZ to visit my family. In Thailand I have excellent in laws who treat me as a respected elder. I have no fears about not being taken care of. I have always thought that it's what you give, not in the money sense, but in the way you treat people that counts. What was the parable? 'Reap as thee shall sow'. No. I'm not a religious man.

That's true Gandtee. People won't always remember what you did but they will remember how you made them feel. 

 

It's marvelous that you're still travelling at 85. You're an inspiration to us all.

[geisha]

If anyone is getting on in age here, alone, and low funds, I would definitely advise going back home while you can .Giving yourself time to sort out the new way of life there, and arriving say in April, when weather gets better. 

[Baht Simpson]

1 hour ago, StevieAus said:

 Not according to the information contained in the link you have attached.

Emergency treatment yes, but for the rest you have to follow certain steps and produce documentation to support your situation.

AgeUK has some relevant info on this. 

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs25_returning_from_abroad_fcs.pdf

 

"The UK has a residency based system for secondary care. This means provision of free NHS non-emergency hospital treatment is based on being ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK, not on your nationality, payment of UK taxes or national insurance contributions, owning a property, being registered with a GP or having an NHS number. If you are a British citizen, you have automatic right of abode in the UK. If you have been living abroad, you pass the ordinarily residence test on resuming settled residence here and are immediately entitled to free NHS non-emergency hospital care."

[muffy]

19 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

the decision would be a lot easier if we all knew our end date..

suicide will fix that

[Tradewind777]

5 hours ago, Old Croc said:

I believe far too many retirees here are short sighted in failing to allow for the fact that age and infirmity catches up with us all.

Also, illness or accident could strike us down at any time and, in a country where government assistance is generally scarce for non-residents, health insurance or access to extra funding is essential.

In their planning, people putting down roots here should always be aware of the possibility of bad times, and the inevitable decline of old age. That plan should include whether you want to stay here to the end, or return to the succor of home country. 

If you don't have the family support, sufficient funding, or perhaps the desire, to go through to final expiration in Thailand, and will require repatriation, that should have always have been part of your planning. You should have an evacuation plan ready, and know when the right time to leave comes.

To blame your lack of finances on Thailand because they are tightening up on visa rules and insisting on more control of who lives in their country in this time of borderless criminals and other undesirables seeking a place to thrive, just illustrates a lack of planning or the fact that you should never have left the safety net of home.   

Yes Thailand cannot be blamed for “regulatory creep” but let the tightening of rules be the canary in the coal mine for all those in the relevant age and circumstance brackets to do something about your future before it’s too late. Once thing is for sure, nothing is going to get simpler. easier or laxer in Thailand or anywhere for that matter, so plan for the worst and hope for the best. Remember also if you have adopted Thailand as home, of the old JFK principal of “Its not what your country does for you but what you do for your country”. 

[marcusarelus]

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

What about the other countries bordering Thailand, also other countries in Asia like The Philipines compared to Thailand.

Also, what other countries if any, has retirees doing these nonsensical 90 day reports?

Who does 90 day reports?  I haven't done one in 10 years.  ????

[marcusarelus]

31 minutes ago, jayceenik said:

I've been living retired in Thailand for three decades now  I had a spacious studio rental in BKK and another one in Pattaya. Now living in Ubon in the house I bought for TGF. Everything was fine until this health insurance sucker punch.

Quite a few years back, before knowing present TGF,  I had come across an article in a foreign mag/paper about living/retiring in Ecuador. I was so fired up that I checked which airlines were flying there. KLM had a good flight from AMS. I was planning to go there for a few months to get established and than share my time between Thailand and Ecuador for a start and eventually move there. I speak Spanish. I didn't pursue this intention. Now I regret it.

I'm quite happy now spending my Golden Years here in Thailand with my TGF but Ecuador would have been a much better choice.

I will now marry my TGF ASAP so that I may be spared this mandatory health insurance which I cannot get because I'm 80.

Otherwise I'll have to go back to Belgium which I left 50 years ago.

You can celebrate! There is not mandatory insurance. 

[NoshowJones]

10 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

Who does 90 day reports?  I haven't done one in 10 years.  ????

What about the IOs that don't allow postal reports and online?

[bigginhill]

19 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

the decision would be a lot easier if we all knew our end date..

Totally agree with you. 

We should have an expiry date stamped on the soles of our feet, so if you are if the opinion you don't want to know, you just don't look. 

But for who would like to organise their time it would be far easier. 

????????????

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, StevieAus said:

I think getting back into the system may only be part of the problem, obtaining treatment is another.

I have a couple of friends in their eighties who live in the North of England where there are several hospitals.

He has several chronic illnesses and they tell me that they often wait months for an appointment to see a specialist at the hospital and sometimes a couple of days to see the local doctor.

Earlier this year he collapsed at home sustaining a head injury and waited 45 minutes for an ambulance 

At the hospital ambulances were queued up and he waited on the ambulance stretcher for nearly two hours during this time the hospital stopped accepting ambulances which were diverted elsewhere.

They were going to discharge him but because he deteriorated he spent the night on a bed in the corridor.

As they said the treatment under the NHS is excellent obtaining it is the problem as the system cannot cope.

I do wonder how many people on this forum follow the ongoing BBC 2 series, 'Hospital'.

 

The crisis within the NHS is a recurring theme on these programmes and the elderly seem to be the ones who suffer the most. The scenarios alluded to above are everyday occurrences and what I have noted in particular is that once an elderly patient has managed to get the treatment they require, they have then embarked on a continuous cycle of more of the same as age and frailty take their toll.

 

They may be other reasons why one may wish to return to the UK, but I personally would not put healthcare at the top of the list. It might be free, but it comes at a price.

 

Keeping fit and healthy, through exercise, sensible diet and a relaxed approach to life are, for me the wisest choices and when your time comes, be grateful for the good life you've had.

 

 

[nickmondo]

8 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Got any evidence in support of that very negative and IMO derogatory statement?

if you look you will find an american woman that recently went to the Philippines after being basically kicked out of thailand for being old and sick

She was welcomed with open arms by all accounts

[marcusarelus]

43 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Keeping fit and healthy, through exercise, sensible diet and a relaxed approach to life are, for me the wisest choices and when your time comes, be grateful for the good life you've had.

I'd add mental fitness and not being depressed by Limiting your exposure to complaining by limiting your exposure to complainers and complain only in instances where you believe it will affect real and positive change and avoid dampening your mood by complaining only rarely.  

[nickmondo]

8 hours ago, Apache704 said:

Sir, I am 73 years old and I also have to leave Thailand due to the ever increasing changes with Immigration and with no health insurance which I did have before the Army took over. Ecuador is my next destination with a minimal amount of money per month($800) US and for each dependent $100 more plus they have health care for less than $100 per month for a couple and a Senior have discounts on everything. The rents are cheap, also the food, the climate is better. Also you can own land there as a foreigner but they are a lot more expensive than Thailand. Cuenco has the largest expat population (up to 8000) with English being spoken almost everywhere compared to none elsewhere. There are plenty of restaurants that can cater to whomever. I'll be going there from Canada in November and staying 60 days in Cuenca. I'm sure that I can pick up Spanish a lot easier than Thai. Take a good look at getting a Pension Visa from Ecuador you won't have to go back to England for Health care. If you would like to e-mail me for more information I will gladly send it to you.

a very good idea sir!

and one that I am also considering.

I am aged 62 and have already been researching Ecuador.

I have also lived in Spain, and I can assure you that Spanish is a hundred times easier to learn than Thai.

The climate will be much better for you there.

https://www.ecuadorvisas.com/

the lady at Ecuador Visas is very helpful and will reply to you if you contact her in 24 hours.

She speaks perfect English.

I wish you all the very best in Ecuador, and I am pretty sure I will be there sooner or later

[Moonlover]

2 minutes ago, nickmondo said:

8 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Got any evidence in support of that very negative and IMO derogatory statement?

 

3 minutes ago, nickmondo said:

if you look you will find an american woman that recently went to the Philippines after being basically kicked out of thailand for being old and sick

She was welcomed with open arms by all accounts

That is not correct. If you can find it, go back and read it again.

 

The old lady was not kicked out at all. She had been granted a retirement extension using the 800k method. It was the family, chiefly her daughter who made the decision to move her mother to the Philippines.

[Moonlover]

7 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

52 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Keeping fit and healthy, through exercise, sensible diet and a relaxed approach to life are, for me the wisest choices and when your time comes, be grateful for the good life you've had.

 

7 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

I'd add mental fitness and not being depressed by Limiting your exposure to complaining by limiting your exposure to complainers and complain only in instances where you believe it will affect real and positive change and avoid dampening your mood by complaining only rarely.  

Yes a very good point. And for my part that includes limiting my exposure to the many gripers and moaners on this forum. ????

 

That's it, I'm done for the day. Now where's that Sudoku puzzle I was doing.

[Johnthplumb]

20 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I don't regret a moment of being in Thailand, I do regret the 32 years as an adult I wasted in the UK.

Directly I finished Uni, I should have left the country.

I completely agree with you, I also now think many have regretted not leaving a long time ago, even more so with the state of England now.

It is sad to see once such a good place go down hill so fast, Hey Thailand is not so bad after all.

We know the rules, the brown envelopes, accept them, go with the flow, no problem. "yet" 

[Chris.B]

7 hours ago, Farang99 said:

If you have been living in Thailand for the past 12 years you will not be entitled to free medical care on the NHS if you return to UK.

A British citizen returning to stay will be entitled to free NHS treatment.

[Olmate]

3 hours ago, StevieAus said:

Totally agree with everything you have said I have a few friends in Aus hardly wealthy but cannot get the  retirement pension despite working all their lives.

I like the idea in the last sentence, not sure that my wife would agree.

Surely if your Oz friends are not eligible for the pension,their doing pretty well

[billd766]

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Trying to choke your ATM PIN out of you?

I am ambivalent. Will the good woman currently by my side be as agreeable when I am old and infirm and she needs nothing from me any more? I saw an old friend go in rather sad circumstances in Thailand, food for thought.

My wife knows the ATM pin numbers already and AFAIK she will be with me to the end. The house and land are in her name anyway and all I really own here is my clothes, pc and me old motorbike. I don't need anything else.

[nkg]

9 hours ago, Henryford said:

What are you going to do back in the UK. Find a care home charging 1000 GBP a week?

 

£600/week is the going rate for residential care. 24 hour nursing care is about £800/week. The weekly rate has very little to do with the quality of care you recieve. Do some research in the area in which you live. The CQC inspect care homes every 2 years and provide a detailed report for each care home which is easy to access online. Only consider homes with ratings "Good" or "Outstanding" (outstanding is very rare).

 

https://www.cqc.org.uk/what-we-do/services-we-regulate/find-care-home

 

If you have assets of less than £14250 your local council will pay for the fees once they have assessed that you need residential or nursing care.

 

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by nkg
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