Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Retirement Visas and a recent comment was posted on our channel. I am going to go ahead and quote. Quoting directly: "I am not returning to Thailand until there is an alternative to the scammy and worthless Thai Health Insurance that is an actuarial Time Bomb designed to boot you out after you reach 70." Interesting comment. I like the way he put it, albeit a bit of a cynical comment. It begs a few questions, it raises a few questions that are worth I think going into on this channel. 

First I think there is a misperception as to the situation where he says, or she says, they say "until there is an alternative." Well there is an alternative to insurance. We have discussed this on this channel. Thai O Retirement Visas, those who extend their status in O Retirement Visa status here inside Thailand do not necessarily need to have insurance. It is a different subcategory of Retirement Visa, a different label if you will. I have discussed this at length before. This could change in the future, I am not really going to get into that on this channel but for now, I personally think with the presumptive aftermath of COVID and the tourism situation here in Thailand, the overall travel situation in the world, I do not suspect Thailand is going to change a lot of this policy at least in the forthcoming two or three years because I think getting in foreign tourists, foreign nationals who have foreign exchange to spend here in Thailand is going to be a major priority. 

The point of this video is, yeah there is an alternative. For those who are in O-A status who can no longer get insurance, and we have seen this, it may be possible to convert into an O Retirement Visa and then maintain status without necessarily the need for insurance thereafter. Again this could change but at least for the time being that is a possibility. So those who think that it is just impossible to maintain status in Thailand past 70, again it is all fact dependent  but it is probably a good idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into your actual situation as there may be a viable option just around the corner.