Sorry, But It's Time To Leave

[peterb17]

Weird

if you have been here a while on “retirement visa” OA - the Jomtien/ Chonburi office makes no mention whatsoever of requiring insurance- let’s hope they keep it that way.

[jack7106]

24 minutes ago, Fore Man said:

We have decided to vote with our feet. I can handle quixotic immigration policies and allowing THB 800K to rot in a Thai bank, but I can’t prevent further damage to my weakened lungs...this year for the first time ever, my pulmonary specialist found a thickened bronchial wall and I’ve never smoked.  But suffering thorough several years of the most toxic air in Southeast Asia by remaining in Chiang Mai has been the likely culprit.  We’re leaving here in February with wife’s spousal visa nearing approval. Someday we might dare to venture back, but it won’t be to Chiang Mai.  Good luck to you all, it’s your choice and nobody can argue that right. Just watch your health if you decide to stay. 

[AAArdvark]

1 hour ago, Searat7 said:

Tricare gets you covered here but not Medicare. I am American too and am paying a fortune for Medicare B , Medicare D plus supplement plan. They more income you have the more you have to pay. I lived in Bangkok 7 months a year for 15 yr. but will just come for a shorter time as tourist after current O-A visa (and re-entry permit) expire.

With next years increase, I will be paying medicare $144 a month.  My medicare advantage plan with drug coverage is absolutely $0.  I pay no co-pays except to see a specialist for $30.  I can even find medicare advantage plans that will be less than 0 by partially offsetting the $144.  For the 9 years I was in the US and had medicare advantage my total out of pocket was maybe $1000.00 plus the monthly medicare payment.  My former company pays me $1080 a year if I use their companies insurance agency.

[PhonThong]

1 hour ago, Searat7 said:

Tricare gets you covered here but not Medicare. I am American too and am paying a fortune for Medicare B , Medicare D plus supplement plan. They more income you have the more you have to pay. I lived in Bangkok 7 months a year for 15 yr. but will just come for a shorter time as tourist after current O-A visa (and re-entry permit) expire.

Tricare covers 75%. I must pay first and then file a claim. Sometimes works OK, but the Thai hospitals have been know to pad the bill. Then Tricare rejects it and I have to start all over again. Also, everything must be in English. Doable, but a pain. 

[DUNROAMIN]

Everybody saying health insurance wont affect "O" cat visa's. My prediction is before the end of next year all   Visa categories will require health insurance for extensions of stay. Why, because there is a truck load of money to be made from Expats to line the pockets of all the corrupt officials here. 

[jimn]

Basically the OP is getting old and wants to go home. Everything else is just an excuse. Why everyone goes on about the air I have no idea. There is no problem where I live and the sea is just 10 minutes away. No if you are someone stupid enough to live in the middle of nowhere, where eveyone burns their crops and their rubbish. Then you have only got yourself to blame. Move area and stop letting the wife control your life.

[DannyCarlton]

32 minutes ago, peterb17 said:

Weird

if you have been here a while on “retirement visa” OA - the Jomtien/ Chonburi office makes no mention whatsoever of requiring insurance- let’s hope they keep it that way.

It does now. Big sign up at desk 8 (extensions).

[Bangkok Barry]

9 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Expats packing up their bags and tourists  prioritizing Vietnam over Thailand. If someone would  have told me this about 6 years ago i would  have just laughed however its today’s reality !

 

It hasn't surprised me at all. I was telling the wife several years ago what would happen, with other countries in the region progressing while Thailand was going backwards. They've simply accelerated their backward thinking, and once people leave they certain;y won't come back. It is going to take Thailand a generation to recover, if it ever does.

[UPDEHSOI]

11 hours ago, mstevens said:

The pollution alone was enough to make me leave. I knew it was bad but I didn't realise quite how bad until I left. I used to get ill often, even though I lead a healthy lifestyle. Home isn't as exciting or interesting as Thailand, but not getting sick from the pollution was reason enough to leave. No regrets here.

Yep, know what you mean. I left there three years ago mainly because of the pollution ( plus a few other issues ) Not sorry  I left, but I miss quite a few friends. Might go back for a short visit sometime. 

[DannyCarlton]

Just now, jimn said:

Basically the OP is getting old and wants to go home. Everything else is just an excuse. Why everyone goes on about the air I have no idea. There is no problem where I live and the sea is just 10 minutes away. No if you are someone stupid enough to live in the middle of nowhere, where eveyone burns their crops and their rubbish. Then you have only got yourself to blame. Move area and stop letting the wife control your life.

Never ceases to amaze me that the majority of these "I'm going home" threads are started by Americans. All since the US embassy stopped producing income affidavits and it's citizens are no longer taken at their word as to how much money/income they have.

[Don Mega]

1 hour ago, jack7106 said:

I am an Australian and we still pay for it as part of the Medicare rebate when doing our yearly Tax obligations - whilst I have been living in Pattaya for many years????????‍♂️????????????

Recently spent 18 months back in Aus, Many visits to hospitals and specialists and am now on the surgery wait list for a bypass on both legs (PAD).

 

Not paid any taxes (or medicare rebate) in the past 15years... when I get the letter advising the date for my operation I'll fly back.

[Gillyflower]

6 hours ago, ThaiBunny said:

I thought he said he's going "home" to where his medical costs will be fully covered. Sounds like the UK, Australia or New Zealand to me

my medical costs are covered in France.

[Just Weird]

12 hours ago, PhonThong said:

she has been reading how some expats have been given a hard time by immigration on monthly deposits not being accepted and they want the 800,000 method used. I wanted to go the monthly deposit route, but that seems like a dead end. 

What is her source of that misinformation?  Expats who meet the well-publicised requirements have no issues.  The monthly transfer is not a "dead end".

 

 

12 hours ago, PhonThong said:

I believe the Thai government will demand that all long term stayers have health insurance.

What you "believe" and what is actually in force are two entirely different things.  A couple of sources have quoted recently that the medical insurance requirements will only be for new visas, those with existing extensions will not be affected.

 

It seems that you may have got the air problem correct though.

[Mac98]

Don't go anywhere cold. The older you get the more you will hate it. More likely to die of a heart attack while shoveling snow than exercising with a young Thai lady.

[kevinmartyn]

What a lot of rubbish! Areas of London have far more polution than Bangkok!-Fact.

 

Still not figured out what the 800,000 ina Thai bank is all about and ive been in Thailand 14 years.

 

Anyway why talk about the issues you think you have with the kingdom and jusT leave

[Fore Man]

13 minutes ago, Gillyflower said:

my medical costs are covered in France.

 

[nickmondo]

6 hours ago, DannyCarlton said:

Do you need a number for a taxi to the airport?

thats just ridiculous.

the bloke has posted a very reasonable point of view, but there is always some smart alec trying to be funny.

I agree with him, the pollution is terrible.  Its even awful in Hua Hin, close to the sea, the index was worse than CM over the recent days.

I just returned from my home in Spain, and I have to say, the air quality is miles better than here, and apart from utilities and rental prices, pretty much cheaper than here.

[spiekerjozef]

You want a hug?

[nickmondo]

5 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

Hua Hin is as bad as Bangkok for 3 months of the year when the prevailing wind blows from the north and basically blows all the pollution down over us. that wind runs from nov-end jan

 

it sucks right now - AQI 120+ last few days 150+, kids coughing, windows closed and staying in. <deleted>ty time to be here

 

 

aha, that explains the Hua Hin situation, thanks for that.

[samsensam]

 

if you find it financially stretching to keep 800,000 baht in the bank here why not follow the immigration rules and keep 400,000 baht as required for those who are married?

 

if you are struggling financially to cope with 800,000, or 400,000, baht in the bank here you're going to be in for a shock back home. i'd have to work incredibly hard back home to support anything like the standard of living and lifestyle i have here. 

 

also if pollution is a issue you'll not be living in major cities which will make finding work harder.

 

if you want to leave then leave, i dont think your stated reasons add up. maybe because you let the wife make the decision ????

[Just Weird]

5 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Don't get me wrong , and I don't condone the users, but all this moaning when you can get an agent to do it for 13 or 14 k a year

This sort of thing is not infrequently posted but I've yet to find evidence of any agent that will do a retirement extension for that price, perhaps you could expand on that claim?

[nickmondo]

3 hours ago, kwak250 said:

Must admit Thailand hasn't got the appeal that it had when i moved here 15 years ago.

I won't be leaving though as i have children in school and really dont mind the taste of Leo.

 

got to be honest, I am sorry to say, I am struggling to find any appeal here at the moment

very disappointed with a lot of things here now

[Isaan sailor]

Agree that air pollution in most of Thailand spoils the fun.  We have a small 2.5 pollution sensor.  When we see above 25 reading—we head for the coast.  Will not be trapped by burning season.

[Aussieroaming]

6 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Im just reading visa free entry to Kazakhstan for Thai people, wonder what the midget would think about living in -20 degrees?

We did spend 3 months in Northern Cypress last year it was great at least I got a decent Kebab and a nice bottle of vino for less than 150 Baht, not sure I could live there permanently I believe it can get cold on that northern coast in their winter

Where did you get the visa free entry info for Kazakhstan. My wife and I have an apartment there and visa free would be good. -33C two weeks ago by the way, -20 would have been a treat. The low temps are offset by the nice wine.

[NanLaew]

14 minutes ago, samsensam said:

also if pollution is a issue you'll not be living in major cities which will make finding work harder.

Seeking employment in any major conurbation can be equal parts hard or easy depending on ones skills and the competition for any advertised position. However, if one falls into the older age bracket, and I would assume that most returning from a failed early retirement, marriage or other venture in Thailand are in this group, the ease of quick re-employment and even basic employability decreases. Ageism is real.

 

A friend of mine faced exactly this issue when he returned to the UK after being out of the loop for only about 8 years. Eventually, after a year of false hopes in his old home area, he started to look at more radical work alternatives. Last year he got a job as a 'park ranger' up in Cumbria. Albeit for less than he would have earned in his professional 9-to-5 but his cost of living are below city levels and he has more fresh air and exercise than he can wave empty camp site waste bins at. He's keeping tabs on any vacancies arising for me!

[giddyup]

27 minutes ago, nickmondo said:

got to be honest, I am sorry to say, I am struggling to find any appeal here at the moment

very disappointed with a lot of things here now

Wherever you go you take the weather with you.

[DannyCarlton]

42 minutes ago, nickmondo said:

thats just ridiculous.

the bloke has posted a very reasonable point of view, but there is always some smart alec trying to be funny.

I agree with him, the pollution is terrible.  Its even awful in Hua Hin, close to the sea, the index was worse than CM over the recent days.

I just returned from my home in Spain, and I have to say, the air quality is miles better than here, and apart from utilities and rental prices, pretty much cheaper than here.

Good air quality in Pattaya

[CH1961]

5 hours ago, PhonThong said:

just that this is not the same place I have come to know for the past 47 years.

Yes, time is changing, even the war in Vietnam is over. 

The OP startet early in LOS ????

 

[Tagged]

1 hour ago, DannyCarlton said:

Never ceases to amaze me that the majority of these "I'm going home" threads are started by Americans. All since the US embassy stopped producing income affidavits and it's citizens are no longer taken at their word as to how much money/income they have.

I would say it is a healthy signal to the immigration whats happening now, and hopefully in the long term, they understand what they have to do for fure to be a place for reteirement. 

[emptypockets]

The interesting thing about these types of threads are the posters who tell us they have already left Thailand  but continue to post on the forum, in some cases for years, after they have left.

Why do they do it? Any advice or information that may have will be well and truly out of date anyway.

Have they in some strange way formed a perceived bond with random internet posters? Or are they admitting subliminally that they made the wrong decision to leave and are now trapped and cannot reverse that decision?

 

Why do people need to announce ' I am leaving'? Are they that self-centred that they actually think anyone actually cares. Just go...

 

In the same vein , why don't new arrivals felt the need to sign up to the forum and announce their arrival so that we can all share their joy and happiness? Probably for the same reason.....nobody cares.