Can I convert a tourist visa to an educational visa and later to a retirement visa in Thailand?

Good for you if you are willing to learn Thai. 99% of expats refuse really bad mistake.

Dont bother with the ED visa. You can study Thai on any visa

Just get the Non O from the Thai embassy in the UK.

Come live here for all the seasons to make sure you enjoy it as much as you believe before fully committing.

Pai is very small and can be boring. Chiangmai has much more, including an international airport to go to Vietnam or Phuket for the burning season.

I retired here quite comfortably on about $25k USD annually. Half that might be a bit of a struggle to bank your visa money, buy a vehicle, insurance, and have an emergency fund, especially to drink and eat out.

Before making longreaching descisions, you should make a trial run, Ex. 60 days touristvisa + 30 day extension ( or METV ), where you are living on the same amount for at least 2 months, as you would have to do in the future.

Then you may discover, that everyday life, is far from holiday dream life.

Living in rural areas may not be possibel, if you go down the ED visa road, since there may not be any schools in rural areas.

Also you have to be committed to dedicate much of your time to studying, if your stay should not end abruptly.

35-40k is a pretty bleak existence. So your pension pays out until death ? What is your plan for when you are so old you need help going to the toilet and bathing yourself etc ?

Are you 50+

From your passport country get a multi-entry tourist visa, METV. This is valid for six months. You get a 60 day entry stamp with each entry, then you can extend that stamp for another 30 days each time. You can come, and go, in and out of Thailand as much as you want during the six months validity. With just two exits and entries, with the 30 day extensions, by timing it right you can stay almost a full 9 months. Exit out at that point, and get a tourist visa at the Thai embassy in a neighboring country, come back in for another 60 days, with the 30 day extension, and you have almost your full year. You do not need an ED visa to learn Thai. Be fully aware that a legitimate ED visa requires extending it every 90 days with documents from the school verifying that you are attending classes, and making sufficient progress. There are also no online classes approved anymore.

Actually your best option is to apply for the type O visa based on retirement in your home country, then get your Thai bank account here, transfer in the bt800k, and get your year extension. Then no need for any tourist visa combination, or the cost of an ED visa. If you decide you don't want to stay, the 800k is yours, and you can take it with you. The cost this way is just bt2000 for the first 90 day visa, then bt1900 for your year extension. Like I said earlier, you can learn Thai on any visa extension.

Why not just apply for 90 day Non O visa in your home country, and then if you feel like you want to stay, open a bank account, put the funds in (800k) and extend for a year, that would be the cheapest route. I started with an ED visa and wished I went the Non O route from the start, much less hassle than TV and ED visa.

For an ED visa you need to speak to the school you plan to study at but some immigration offices will frown on it if you are old enough for a retirement visa, you can still study on a retirement visa.

For the retirement visa it's probably easier to get in your home country for the initial 90 day non-o visa then you just extend inside Thailand (makes opening a bank account easier). For the extension you will need 800k baht in a Thai bank 2 months before you apply and it must stay there for 3 months after then can't drop below 400k for the rest of the year. Rinse and repeat for as long as you want

There are other visas and you don't have to have 0bht in your account. I have a one year retirement visa, but you can aslo get a multi entry visa. Vest bet is visit and see a agent

That Amount Should Work In Pai. You Might Have To "Tighten Your Belt," For Any Emergencies- Dental n Medical...Should Work If Your Determined An Conservative In Your Spending.

Yes, you can convert a tourist visa to an ED visa. However most schools will require a minimum of 45 days left on the visa in order to start the process for the ED conversion.

You can survive comfortably on 40,000 but it won't leave you much to do other stuff.

Why bother with the ED visa? You can learn Thai, you can go to class, without the visa. The ED visa is fine but the last I knew, they require you to go to class and take tests to keep your visa. Some people have reported they've had issues because they had an ED visa. An immigration officer once told me ED visas after 40 look suspicious. That doesn't mean much but if you can do without a ED visa, why do the ED visa.

Multiple Entry Tourist Visa (METV) is a good option also. They allow you stay in Thailand up to 90 days at a time. Every 90 days you will need to exit Thailand but you can come back 10 minutes later.

Retirement Visa require you are 50+. If that is a couple of years away for you then you can get by on a couple of METVs. If you are several years away, you will have to get creative (including ED visa) but I find it's worth it to live here.