Living & Ageing in Isan: Worries?

Passed through Makro today. Sign at a small desk just inside the entrance:

80 years old
has policies insurance
No check-up health (the word No is underlined)
ACE Insurance

There was no one sitting at the desk, so I wasn't able to ask any questions.

in the UK (not USA) dementia care is first class and doesnt cost a cent if you have NHS cover. you have the choice of staying at home with daily visits with carers or off to the nursing home ,medication all supplied free.when it gets too advanced you will be moved to a nursing home . From my observations healthcare for the elderly in the UK is 1st class.
in the USA you will be left to rot of course ,unless your insurance is in order for such care .

[quote="BobHelm"]The odds on getting the "aging' illnesses mentioned by issix are no greater living in Thailand than elsewhere, in fact they are probably slightly less if you look at the causes. The difference is that if you get in Falangland you will be left in it - here for a few baht you can hire a nurse....[/quote]

but how much for the brainscan and where to get one locally ?to establish how bad is your brain hardening .

Everybody is talking about ageing for the old but what about the young ones who are not 50 + and cannot rely on the retiree visa

Is there a good option besides the tourist visa as for example the student visa valable for one year?
Entering a thai learning school and get this visa,does this imply to actually follow the class or not?

BobHelm wrote:The odds on getting the "aging' illnesses mentioned by issix are no greater living in Thailand than elsewhere, in fact they are probably slightly less if you look at the causes. The difference is that if you get in Falangland you will be left in it - here for a few baht you can hire a nurse....

Yes that is true, many foreigners find that their illnesses are exacerbated by their lifestyle here. Drink and in general nothing to do on a daily basis.
For me the warmth helps my ageing process in making my physical pain due to earlier operations easier to bear, so my life has improved. Also ensuring I have an insurance helps, takes the stress out of being ill , when one is ill.
We are quite right in being concerned as the level of our healthcare will be dependant on the whims of our partners if we are incapacitated due to Dementia or other brain related ageing that can affect us all, that is a situation, at which I am looking at to ascetain a solution if there is one to be found.

warmeduque wrote:Everybody is talking about ageing for the old but what about the young ones who are not 50 + and cannot rely on the retiree visa

Is there a good option besides the tourist visa as for example the student visa valable for one year?
Entering a thai learning school and get this visa,does this imply to actually follow the class or not?

No

Many (if not most) will happily take your money and arrange your visa and most don't care if you attend the class or not. They will however insist that you have a group photograph sat in a class (for 5 minutes) to support your application and 'prove' that you do indeed attend !! (allegedly).

Alternatively - find a job , geta work permit and a Non-Imm B visa

or go to your home country and get a non-imm O visa for the purpose of visiting friends/family

Or get married !!!!

kia ora dudes, I will stick my oar in here..I have been to Khon Kaen Heart hospital afew times to see a thai friend who had the heartattack and bypass thingy..I found the staff and care he received aok..hes jumping around ok now..I went to Udon hosital afew times to visit another thai friend with serious head injuries from a motorbike smash..it was pretty much third world stuff there, didnt even put his arm in a sling, and if it wasnt for mama massaging her son a couple of times a day, and feeding him milk with a straw, not sure he would be here now..I went to the Udon Military Hospital ( beginning to sound like a hospital spotter ) and things there seemed the best, including the dentist, and if your partner works for the government its free.

yup the government has tightened up its visas to try and get rid of those who has lived here for umpteen decades, and do the old border hop on a regular basis. Alas the good old days are gone.

As for having a bag packed..yup a wise move to have a plan B. I have afew thai mates in the police force, government, and the ordinary Joe Bloggs on the streeet, and they are worried about civil war breaking out, and have grave concerns once His Royal Highness passes onto the next world...always best to have a plan B..

Cheers for the excellent responses, with a big shout out to UdonExpat for his extensive reply as well, and to PapaG for his second post.

Just back from NK Immig. meself. Did the donuts help? I'd say nit noi - our "friend" there passed them back to a lackey who filed them on top of the cabinets. Don't waste your money, won't make or break your application, unless you're in a particularly "kissing up" mood, and want them to remember what a nice bloke you are in the future... possibly.

Cultural question!: I was getting hungry while my paperwork was being processed; I could've murdered one or two of the donuts I had brought in! But tricky to say, "Yo, would you mind giving me one of those donuts?", especially when no one was obviously eating them at the time. More "funny biz". Sure there would be a way to pull this off in a subtle, humorous, effective way, but couldn't come up with one at the time. Not exactly a critical issue mind you, but interesting to me culturally. (Or maybe I just "think too mutt", as Thais often tell us!)

And yes, they absolutely do NOT want any extra work! Marriage Visas seriously discouraged by them. You'd need to really insist if you absolutely wanted one. Don't know of any advantages to getting one, other than the possibility of wanting to work in the coming year. Tell me if I'm wrong about this.

"He" even tried to discourage my getting a Multiple Entry stamp, to which I did insist, as I really like having this, so I can come and go from the Kingdom as I please, and not worry about having to get exit stamps or other BS.

I forgot the Multiple Entries cost 3800 Baht, though, and fell a couple hundred baht short in the end, even after he told me my papers were "perfect"! I told him I would have had it but I stopped to buy donuts for them, to which they all laughed, and sent me packing to an ATM to get the required cash.

All in all, pleasant enough, like going to a competent dentist. They're definitely mellower now that they're only handling us NK residents. (No offense to all you Udonites, of course!)

Cheers again for all the good intel! Appreciated.

"Did the donuts help?"

I apologize for going off topic, but on the subject of donuts:
I'm not criticizing anyone who cares to bring a box of donuts to immigration or elsewhere. When we first arrived 13 years ago, immigration had just moved from Udon to Nongkai. When they were in Udon, it was (as I've been told) common to walk in with a bottle of whiskey to grease the wheels. The first time I went to Nongkai, I remember asking an old-timer if I needed to bring anything. He told me he used to bring Maekong but switched to Johnnie Walker and suggested I do the same. Luckily, I didn't bring anything and the new crew at Nongkai weren't expecting anything either.
My concern is with setting a precedent....and then the usual one-upsmanship that may follow. It's sort of like buying stuff from the saleslady at Nongkai.....we've never bought anything (although we've wondered whether buying would help our visa process) and never had a problem getting our visa.
So....don't take this the wrong way, Tanuhak.......but I'd hate to see things escalate beyond a box of donuts.
Glad you got your visa!

As regards the donuts,am I right in thinking that all the staff at Nong Khai are ladies other than the guy on the right ?
The ladies are most likely figure conscious so a bag of donuts wouldnt have helped !
Maybe you could have taken some Chanel perfume bought from the Siam Paragon or if you took a Louis Vuitton handbag you would have no problem getting a Marriage Visa.....one of the staff would marry you there and then.....just be careful its not the man !

But back on topic to ageing Issaan worries.....I suppose dementia,incontinence,heart disease,liver failure and cancer are somewhere in the back of the mind but you could get run over and killed by a drunken saamlaw driver tomorrow so dont fret too much.
You are living in a good climate and dont have to work.Compare that to your own country.Freezing weather,pension not enough to exist on,government screwing you for everything youve got......just think about that and you will realise how lucky you are and this is a bonus in your life many many westerners back home would like to share !

Other than being able to obtain a work permit, the other main advantage to the marriage extension is that the financial requirements are about 1/2 as much as a retirement extension. 40,000 baht per month income or 400,000 baht in the bank. If you are doing it with money in the bank it's a lot less money tied up in an account that earns next to nothing.

If you are qualifying based on income you have a lot more cushion should the exchange rates tank. Prior to 1997 the dollar only bought 20-25 baht. I think it averaged about 23 for the previous 20 years.

Hi,
As stated by Paul, 800,000B untouched for three months in a Thai bank is not entirely correct. My latest visa, Imag. stated you need 800,000B in Thai. bank OR a income. pension etc., of more than 800,000B per year. I did not have one baht in a Thai bank when last month I got my visa, but had a letter from the British Embassy to state I was receiving pensions of over 800,000B per year. Cost 1900B plus a trip to BKK.. They excepted this. Plus fee for translating to Thai., Don't know wither this is required, they did not want to look at it in NK.
I have more than this amount in a offshore bank earning good interest and would never dream of transferring it to a LOS bank, and Imag. did not want to Know.
I did this at NK as imag. at Udon airport said they could not do it and I had to go to NK. This was last month and might have changed by now.
Picked up a form for applying for a extension for support a family (wife and children) who are Thai citizens. From Thai Embassy in LAO. As I have since got married.
In section 5 it states.
5 Proof of financial status or pension.
5-1 An amount of 200,000Baht/year deposited a bank in kingdom or permanent salary of 20,000Baht/month.
5-2 The bank balance statement no longer than 10 days before applying.
5-3. In case of the income from overseas such as pensions, security,or social welfare, the pension certification from the embassy of his country.
Excuse the spelling etc. as I copied this word for word from their leaflet.
The Thai embassy stated this was the latest leaflet. TIT.
Cheers Doug.

Getting out of Dodge, Vietene 45 min drive. Maoney in two different countries. Will I ever need it hope not.

Even in the bloody takeover of the government talking with guys who were here it was just another day in Udon.

Is AEK Udon the best?
I went to AEK in June last year and asked them to carry out tests to confirm whether or not I had TB. X-ray results in Russia a month earlier during a Company medical suggested that I may have contracted TB. AEK took x-rays and blood samples for testing and they also took sputum samples for fast track DNA/PCR (30% accuracy) and full culture (100% accuracy) tests. I was given the -ve fast track results after a few weeks and told to wait 2 to 3 months for the full culture test results. (I had TB in Thailand 16 years ago so I am aquainted with the procedures). I have still not received the full culture test results from AEK in response to my emails and personal visits to the hospital. Their answer is always the same, "the two fast track results are the full culture test results". It clearly states on the test results from the laboratory "culture results to follow". 10,000 Baht plus and still no response from the 'best in Udon'. I have now been advised by several friends to take new tests at Udon General. I have been here for most of the past 22 years so I've heard a few stories and for any serious illnesses I would suggest the University Hospital KK as it seems to have the most experienced specialists in the various fields.

Dentists.
6 years ago I went to AEK dental department and they did two root canals plus the temporary fillings for 8000 Baht. I returned a week later to tell them that both teeth were still live, they wanted to charge me again to complete the canals correctly told me it was my fault that they failed the first time. I quit AEK and went to another dentist in town who completed the job correctly for 2000 Baht.

Visas.
Years back the immigration office was behind the police station in Udon Thani and most of the two hundred odd expates who lived in the province at that time had little problem meeting the 12,000 baht/m income or 50,000 Baht bank deposit required at that time. As the local expat population slowly grew so did the arrival of new immigration officers to key positions in control of issueing 12 month visas. The office was moved to Nong Khai and one of the bad apples moved there also. It became quite yucky, expats being coerced to pay bribes for new 12 month visas at private meetings held during out of office hours at this immigration officers private house in Udon. When the income requirement was raised to 20,000 Baht/m one American who had already lived here for 20 years with his Thai wife explained to immigration that his pension was less than this figure, the officer replied "then go home". For several years many expates opted to purchase 12 month visas on the black market in order to avoid paying these bribes to this officer. These rather unsavory officers were moved on by the immigration department and after a time trust was re-established with the expat community Right now I find the system very civil.

Contingency plan.
There can be a risk of a violent uprising when the population is polarized as it is at present in Thailand especially when a former discredited government employee bears a grudge against his former employers and subsequently encourages conflict between large sections of the population. If you were to see gatherings of 1 to 2 million people protesting in Bangkok continuously for weeks on end then you might need a plan B, or, just put it on the back boiler and cross the bridge when you get to it .

Mike

Dook " (I had TB in Thailand 16 years ago so I am aquainted with the procedures). "

When you had the previous exposure to TB,,, you should have been given 1 years worth of prophylaxis drugs as part of your treatment. That is supposed to make it virtually impossible for you to contract TB later.

For something as serious as TB and to still be wondering after tests last year (june 09), you don't seem to be very concerned...