@Wayne *********

It seems pretty common for Thai ladies to leave their kids in the care of extended family for years. And it seems their kids don't think any less of their mother for doing this. Of course she will provide financial support while she is away. I'm 10 years+ from retirement, but lucky enough to be in a job where, in principle, I can relocate to Thailand (or maybe Singapore), so possibly we might end up with a multi-year holiday visa.

@Wayne *********

Remember, if you apply for a visa and get refused, there is no refund on the fee. For a Holiday visa, its only £130 or so. For Fiance, application from outside the UK, £400. And a £1000 to upgrade that later on to partner visa. Do a holiday first, and see where you stand. That's also the HO recommendation. The biggest shock to her might be the toilet arrangements. My wife, when we did a trip to Hong Kong, which still uses UK plumbing standards, was seriously horrified about the lack of a bidet spray. The food she will get over, or pack her cases with Thai spices. Even the weather.

My wife rents a massage shop, doesn't own a house, has a 10 year old Fiesta, a 25 year old daughter, 4 cats to take care of and spent time in a Malaysian prison for immigration offences nearly 5 years ago. She had no issues getting a holiday visa a few weeks ago, being completely upfront, providing details of her old passport and the Malaysian stamps. We used an Agent who was pretty doubtful of success. He tried to get me to write a flowery letter based on what one of his customers wrote. I binned that, wrote a perfunctary letter, sticking to the facts, ie purpose of visit, where she will be staying, my financials. Unless many other recommendations, I didn't provide the Home Office with any running commentary of private messages. Its none of their business. I think my wife showed some photos of us, but I didn't bother. It might have been because we chose to marry; Thai marriage perfectly legal in the UK. I'm also nowhere near retirement, though I technically could in Thailand. The visa application is checked by VFS; remember there is no appeal, so they can turn down for whatever reason they like, including taking too long to assess the application. But, the agents are recommending, for the first time, keep the stated dates for the visit to 4-6 weeks, and stick to those dates. My wife said she was coming for 6 weeks, and got a multientry 6 month visa. I'm not sure all 6 month visas are multientry, or if some are still single entry.

Officially limited to 30 days supply.

You might need a cast iron guarantee that you are cut out of any sales with Thai companies (to avoid your employer being taxed) or subsidiaries of Thai companies.

My wife is coming over to the UK for a 6 week visit in September. The visa expires end of February. She can come again in January? The standard 6 month visitor visa is a 6 month multi entry visa? Just wanting to make sure. We were told for the first time, don't come and stay 6 months.

@Joe *********

On the contrary, the OP seemed to appreciate the comment. Ultimately, the cost of the medicine will depend on the formulary, and Sinemet comes in 3 different doses, depending how far along the patient is with Parkinson's. @ 6 per day, the OP's mother is actually near the maximum dosage. One of the benefits of the medicine is to slow cognitive decline; it won't stop it. There are serious side effects, which means increasing the dosage needs to be physician managed. One of the challenges is assessing the cognitive decline by a doctor with no or limited command of English, let alone being able to recognise cultural cues. I've first hand experience of a close relative who had Parkinson's, and who eventually developed Lowey Body Dementia, resulting in extremely challenging behaviour. I hope the OP has made full preparations when contemplating emigrating to Thailand, which goes beyond knowing the price of medicines there (for a start, there is restriction on supply, you need a prescribing specialist, and not all parts of Thailand have access to the same medications). The pricing will vary depending if you want an imported brand, the same brand used in the US, or if you switch to a Thai version. You also have to consider that there are two prices in Thailand; Public and Private, with foreigners accessing only the Private hospitals. A drug like this will need to be procured through the Private sector. In both cases, hospitals will add a considerable markup to the retail price. And some drugs in Thailand are not available, or have very limited availability through the private sector. For instance, Zidovudine, better known as AZT, is not available through Thai private hospitals, but is available through 70% of public hospitals. Looking at other PD drugs, such as Madopar (original levodopa), because of a pricing dispute between Thailand and the manufacturer, its only available through tertiary and University hospitals. Generic forms, which are considered less effective, are prescribed through community hospitals. Community hospitals are not allowed to prescribe the branded drug. Its very important to secure the supply of Sinemet before traveking; at high doses, the body does become addicted to it, and coming off it causes serious withdrawal functions. As you no doubt know, Thailand only permits foreigners to enter with 30 days of medication.

@Tommy *******

Yep. all those who are worrying if they have 500k baht in the bank.

@Matt *****

Plus, based on queries in this group, many applicants haven't two brass farthings to rub together, not too fearful of inflationary impacts. Price of Lattes might rise, and no seats in those tiny Amazon cafes, as the Digital Nomads pretend to do work with the free wifi.