@Kevin ******

Not in the middle of Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket you didn’t. 😁 I’m from Florida too. Sold my house and retired a few months ago and hit the road, lol. It is horrible what is going on with the hurricanes and flooding there. I feel bad for so many of those people, especially the ones that had no “flood insurance”. Even the people that DID have adequate coverage are getting hit with $12,000 deductibles😳😞. And can you imagine what FUTURE premiums are going to be after inevitable rate hikes?

And for a more in depth explanation of my thought process, you can see my response to Roy. I do love Thailand though!

@Roy **********

As I said, a lot of things are the same or more. And I promise you, you’re not living on $1000 a month. Chiang Mai is the most reasonable city of the ones I mentioned, but you’re still pretty far from the city center. And yes, some things are definitely less expensive (especially HEALTH CARE, which I’m very impressed with). The things I had in mind were nicer hotels, which I’ve been staying in for the past several months. Western food, yes, I get that it’s my choice to go there, but $6+ for a Whopper at BK. $8-$12 dollars for a 12” sub at Subway and $3+ for 3 cookies. Walked out of Taco Bell when I saw the prices. Nice clothes at a mall Logo store the same or higher. My Nike shoes that are $70-$80 in the states are $120 here, unless you can find some “impressive” knockoffs, but the dam sizes only go up to 45 (around 10 US). Spray deodorant, tooth brush/ toothpaste, shaving cream, bug spray, sunscreen, food at a grocery store, etc, etc, etc. I can go on and on. And I’m not bashing Thailand, I love it here, enough to even overpay. Just like I still love Las Vegas. Love New York City. Again, my comment said you’re not going to “live like a king on $1000/ mo”. That’s indisputable. I said ‘the more popular it got, prices trended up”. They have, even from my visit last year until my return this July. You can STILL go on You Tube and see vids from bloggers pushing how ridiculously cheap Thailand is but it isn’t factual, just trying to get clicks. I also said there is plenty of good here, and there definitely is. But I’ll also say that I am in Vietnam now, and the prices here actually ARE less than US and even Thailand. But obviously, prices are going to continue to rise in Thailand, US, UK, Aus and everywhere else. I was simply making a statement not expect the illusion of things being pennies on the dollar. I stand by that.

I had this same question about doing a Non O Visa from another country in SE Asia since I’m already over here instead of having to go back to the US. I thought using a VPN it wouldn’t be detected from the website, and wondered if they’d really go through all of my passport stamps to check on my travels. Even using an “onward ticket” from the US to Thailand for the inbound flight. I wouldn’t have actually done it, but I was at least curious to know if it would have been possible. I asked my agent, who if it was possible would be one who would know, and he emphatically shot the idea down from every angle and scenario I came up with. So I would say definitely not worth risking.

I also had the same question as you on the medical qualifications. It seems most answers you got concentrated on the first part of your question question only. I seem to remember Brandon reply to someone that each office has their own requirements and some want more information and details than others, while he said he knew 1 person that was approved for only a single dental visit. Hopefully someone knowledgeable will have the answer. I am interested in that visa also, since the Non O isn’t possible until I go back home. Hope it works out for you.

@Jon ****

isn’t that what I wrote? There wasn’t a B with a line through on my keyboard. Is it wrong to use the $ symbol?

I absolutely agree with what you said. If you’ve read this forum in depth, there is some good info. NO, Thailand is not the legendary place where you can live like a king on $1000/ mo anymore. I find it just as expensive, if not more, than the US for a lot of things, at least in the larger cities like Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai unless you live in a hut and eat street food. There is plenty of good in Thailand, but over recent years, it kind of went the way of Las Vegas…used to be cheap and people would visit, then the more popular it got, the higher the prices trended up.

Even if you do everything by the book paperwork wise, you are still at the whim of the immigration office/ officer that they will be satisfied and approve it. Then when you get here, same with the banks, and now you’re at their mercy. Now where the big debate is, the $800k baht. You basically have 2 choices. By the book and you’re money sits idle in a low if not 0% account, or you can go through an agent like myself and 1000’s of others have (and this is where the stickers come out…). If you want more info and the name of a great agent, very knowledgeable, well known and reputable, you can message me on FB and I’ll send it to you, or you may be able to click on my name and see past posts I’ve done and recommended him. I’m just getting tired of the hall monitors with their irrelevant comments when I do.

And yes on visiting first, deciding on your preferred area and if it’s somewhere you want to be. I thought it would be for me, but the more research I do, and I am in Vietnam now as my Non O recently expired, the more I see advantages to splitting time between TL, Vietnam (I REALLY like it here and things actually ARE very reasonably priced), the Philippines, Malaysia, etc. Just something to ponder.

I’m also a Veteran, although not on your level if you qualify for VA benefits, so thank you for your service. It has to absolutely infuriate you to see what is happening to our once proud Country 🇺🇸and what it has descended to. I didn’t even realize there were VAs here, but that group that was recommended seems like a good place to start, however the medical care and facilities in Thailand are very impressive and extremely reasonable. There are a lot of things in Thailand that I say 🤦🏻‍♂️, why can’t it be like that in the US?? Sorry so long. Let me know if I can help with anything. Take care and enjoy your trip!

@Ron *****

but there are sooo many of them.🤦🏻‍♂️

@Doc *******

IF they lost it all. People make stuff up and it gets repeated by others. I see it all the time on FB. Someone will just make something up. Hundreds of people will blindly believe them and post their opinion. I’m thinking, hmmm, that sounds suspect. I’ll do 15 seconds of research and find that it is total BS. I read a story like that about a Thai bank last year. But no evidence and no confirmation. I’m just saying that if it were that common, it would be all the forums and internet. Plus, it should have been insured. Plus, wouldn’t there have been a paper trail of where it went?

@John *******

it’s actually getting pretty annoying between them and the trolls.