Airports recommend arriving 3 hours prior to flying internationally. I always go with that.

Thank for the warning Nigel. I bought an on-line Tourist E-Visa for Laos at end September. Nothing as yet. I used a debit card. Perhaps would have been smarter to use a credit card!

@Janey *****

Thanks for your information! There are most definitely limits of distance from medical school. Also, I know others have been declined due to being foreign (Thai’s only). Almost certainly because we need to obtain permission from our Embassies to release our corpses.

@James ********

Have heard this several times James. Thanks for confirming. I think it’s because we need to obtain permission from our Embassies to release our bodies. The inevitable delay can/does render our cadavers unsuitable for study.

Must be under 65 years of age.

@Steve *********

I know what you mean Steve! I have no cover because I was diagnosed with and received treatment for raised blood pressure in 1986. I don’t drive/ride and leave that to the Mrs. If I could, I would take the advice of Marty Pollard and cover the big risks only and reduce my premium via large excess/deductible.

Many ex-pats who are entitled to free healthcare in their home Countries have no healthcare plan. They believe they could always return home for treatment. However, that isn’t always possible if involved in a serious accident or suffer a stroke for example. Don’t forget there is such thing as Personal Accident Insurance and, of course, motor insurance would pay for your hospital treatment in the case of a Road Traffic Accident.

All English speaking Countries are police states (I’m from U.K.). That’s good enough reason to live elsewhere. My Mrs applied to USA to work in her Aunt’s restaurant in Amarillo and was refused. Sister-in-law turned down for Australia. Step-daughter applied to Australia and was recently (last week) refused a tourist visa. Nephew worked in Japan for 12 months and now has a three-year contract for an engineering company in Taiwan. Western Countries need to get stuffed.

@Richard ********

Every time I’ve stayed in a hotel in Phuket the check-in desk requested my passport. Once we stood watching whilst a new staff member was shown the visa/extension stamps and instructed to make photocopies.

Lucky is the most experienced Visa Agent with the lowest prices.