How can a USA passport holding couple convert their visa-free entry into a valid visa in Thailand?

@Scot ******

, elite visa , if you can afford it .

Scot Smith. No contradiction. You can open a bank account on tourist visa, just a little harder. Many people go from tourist visa onto both O(50+) and O(married to a Thai). The only way to do this is to get money into a Thai bank account. It may entail visiting a number of branches, and the advice I always give is take a Thai person with you!

Tod Daniels. Sorry if I gave the wrong info. I was looking at it from the perspective of having an OA retirement visa and I got my wires crossed with the O visa. Can you have a trailing spouse on an OA visa?

Scot Smith. You can both apply for retirement visa but it doubles your financial stake. So you'd be applying for two individuals who would need 800k baht each in a Thai bank account. If money is no object it's the simplest method. Full year visas are B (business) if you have a job or a business, ED if you are studying at a recognised institute. You can eliminate the requirement of 800k in the bank by using the monthly foreign transfer method of transferring 65k baht (again each if you don't want to pursue the trailing spouse method). This money MUST be transferred from another country. This is my preferred and is what I do. The 65k is yours to spend immediately you get it, whereas the 800k is essentially tied up forever and a day. I should add that before you can apply this way you have to have 12 months worth of transfers, so it's a longer process.