Can I apply for an O-A visa again after my 2-month visa expires, and can I do it from within Thailand?

Aug 10, 2022
2 years ago
Robert ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
I have had several O-A visas and a couple 2-month tourist visas - all in the past six years. I'm now on a 2-month visa after deciding not to extend my O-A. Can I still apply for and receive an O-A visa again after my 2-month visa expires? Can I apply for it inside Thailand or would I have to apply from elsewhere? For my previous O-A visas I never had to move money into a Thai bank. IF I can apply for an O-A visa again, will I be required to transfer a whopping sum into my Thai bank account? The rationale for that money policy seems to be to ensure that Thailand is making money off the foreigner holding the visa. Are you prevented from eventually transfering most or part of the money back to your foreign accounts? I'm too lazy to look for these answers online, where information seems incomplete and sometimes out of date. I hope one of you longtime Thai visa veterans can give me the lowdown.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The user is currently on a 2-month visa and seeks to know if they can apply for an O-A visa again after its expiration and whether they can apply from within Thailand or must do so from their home country. Comments in the conversation clarify that the O-A visa must be applied for from the user's home country. If applying for a Non-O visa in Thailand, there are specific financial requirements, such as the need to transfer 800,000 baht into a Thai bank account. Users also discuss the nuances of health insurance requirements, with some stating that an O visa does not require health insurance, while an O-A visa does. Overall, the community provides insights and regulations regarding retirement and other visas available to expats in Thailand.
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Till ******
Where is the difference between O and TR visa for people older than 50? Why you cannot get the OA when you are in thailand via evisa?
Richard ***********
@Till *****
I’m guessing that it’s because you have to upload your last 12 months passport history to apply for the AO visa in your home country and thereby prove that you’re applying for it from inside your home country. That’s one possible explanation.
Till ******
@Richard **********
Make sense, thanks
Wayne *********
I applied and received OX 5 year visa and did not need any money in Thai Bank account. I just showed proof of monthly income
Robert ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Steve and John, thank you! I've gathered that you can't put the money into an investment account of, say, Bangkok Bank. It has to be a simple savings account (that pays virtually no interest)? And I assume for the O visa you have to have the same local health insurance that is required for the O-A visa? It's funny that they won't let you demonstrate adequate funds to cover and medical procedure (instead of buying high-deductible, rather useless insurance that overlaps with the insurance you already have back home).
David *********
@Robert *****
you do not need health insurance for an O visa, only for an OA visa.
Robert ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
@David ********
David, for an O visa you need to have a Thai relative. (Small detail.)

Stuart, for tbe O-X visa you need the health insurance. I think you are right, David: I'm probably not going to like what they tell me, either. I don't like buying wirthlesd insurance or watching $100,000 sit in a savings account for a year earning no interest. Citizens Access will soon be paying 3%. (It's all rather comical, really...)
David *********
@Robert *****
Robert you are absolutely wrong. My wife and I are both European and we both have Retirement O Visas. We are not required to have medical insurance. The only requirement is the 800,000 THB in each one of our bank accounts
Robert ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
@David ********
wow, I will reread the criteria. I thought it required a Thai spouse or other Thai relative.
John **********
@Robert *****
there are different types of Non-O visa (O stands for other) for different purposes, you need the one for retirement
Robert ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
@David ********
and Stuart Cumming, oh! Wow! I will have to check to see if I qualify for an O visa. Probably not. That would be too easy.... Is that because for an O visa you need to have a gazillion baht in your Thai account - and they figure they can just confiscate your funds if you suddenly need quadruple bypass heart surgery?
John **********
@Robert *****
all you need is to be over 50 (which you must be as you had an OA) and 800k in a Thai bank. To apply for the Non-O inside Thailand it must come from overseas. You can put it in any available account as long as it's accessible.
David *********
@Robert *****
If you do not like the answer then why use this form. Go to a Visa agent. You probably not going to like what they tell you also.
Stuart *********
@Robert *****
There is no insurance requirement for a Non O visa obtained in country.
John **********
You can only get an OA visa in your home country. If you want to obtain a visa inside Thailand it will be an O visa for retirement. To apply for that you must transfer 800k baht into a Thai bank account in your name from overseas. This 800k will also cover you for the first annual extension giving you the required 12 months to build up 65k baht per month from overseas. If on the second extension you move to monthly income the 800k (you can drop down to 400k three months after getting the extension) is yours to do with as you wish
Steve ********
You cannot apply for an OA visa in-country, but you can apply for an O visa based on being over 50 years of age. If you don't have the 800k in the bank, you will need to transfer this in. My advice is to get onto the 65k/month process, where the money remains yours to do what you want with. The 800k is effectively out of bounds until you leave Thailand (except that you can access 400k for seven months of the year, but not a day longer)
Bobby ********
What 2-month visa are you on?
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