How can I extend my Non-Immigrant-Visa O to a Retirement Visa in Thailand?

totally agreed with you. I am one of who think like you. so I always hired agents and will do it. People who do it by themselves, for any reason, to save money or just go and hit? like whatever reason, are not like us. Their mind is very different from us. I dont blame on them at all. Because when I was short of money, I also did it by myself. At that time, money is the highest value for my life. So I had to do it all by myself, so many efforts and times, energy etc.. But now no more. At that time, I always thought If I have enough money in the future, I will never do this by myself again! I will make someone do it for me!! 😂 I am just lucky I can do this. And at least I am happy that I can hire agents to work for me. 🤣 and I do not care how the agents do it so. I can not know that too. That is their own business knowhow. They will never let me know.

David ********

@Yo***

I think you have the 'short of money' bit wrong. The people that do it themselves have the 800k. Sure there are some guys that have 800k and use an agent, but most of the agents' customers are guys who either can't or don't want to put the 800k deposit down.

Myself, I've done it both ways. Started with an agent because when I was green the paperwork seemed intimidating. But then I got tired of IOs giving me a hard time whenever I crossed the border or went into the office because of whatever mess the agents (I went through three) got entered into their system. Now that I've done it myself, and straightened out the paperwork, it's all smiles and I get waved right through. The not having to pay someone 20-30k to screw up my papers is just icing on the cake.

10 hours ago

Yo***

@David *******

yes. But i just meant there are also people who have enough money and like to hire agents to make better value for themselves. also, there are some people too who have enough budgets to put 800,000 THB immediately, they just do not want to wait for months to get extension or visa, or have to leave Thailand for an urgent personal reason instead of waiting time before permit is done. While process ongoing with visa, people can not leave Thailand. There are some good reasons of why people use Agents for that cases. As well, there are people who just have no 800,000 THB quick to put into the bank. there are many reasons. nevertheless, what is for sure is, to hire agents costs a lot.

10 hours ago

Reply to

Yo***

Udo *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

@Yo***

I also had my O visa, bank, and driver's license done through an agency. I've only posted what immigration requires. Is that so difficult to understand?

Yo***

I understood why you posted here. I just commented to Ribert Ott only. Not to you. Just talked about my case of hiring agents. Sorry if i caused your misunderstanding.

15 hours ago

Udo *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

@Yo***

OK, sorry

15 hours ago

Reply to

Udo *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

That would cost 10,000, and I'd have to go to Pattaya for two days. I don't need a rental agreement there either. Then there's the cost of leaving the country once (1,900) or several times (4,500). I haven't found an agency here in Khao Lak yet. I've only read that they charge even more.

21 hours ago

Robert *****

you can send it to them by courier, but hey if you think it's not worth it and have 800K to leave sitting dormant then that's up to you.

21 hours ago

Udo *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

You have to be there yourself. Yes, everyone has a different opinion on whether it's worth a lot of money or not. If it only costs 1900, it's really not a lot of effort. Especially if you have time here anyway.

21 hours ago

Robert *****

right, for me it wasn't about time or effort ...it was all about being forced to lock up $30K in a non interest bearing foreign bank account. That 30K can generate a lot more than $400 invested in an S&P EFT fund.

20 hours ago

Robert *******

well if you live here permanently it’s not really a foreign account anymore. But agree this account generates 0

Udo *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

What's the point of investing money somewhere else if I want a visa for Thailand?

20 hours ago

Robert *****

ok guy we obviously have different views on how to best manage and utilize financial resources in retirement. Good luck to you.

20 hours ago

Udo *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

On the one hand, you want to save money and invest it wisely, and on the other hand, you're paying ten times as much for a service you could do yourself. That doesn't make sense.

19 hours ago

Robert *****

the long term result is a gain, not a loss. I handed my passport to an agent on Monday. No docs, no bank deposit, no nothing. On Wednesday they handed it back to me with a 1 year multiple entry visa extension. Meanwhile my 800K returned 6.5% interest. In the 5 months it's held hostage at risk in a foreign bank it could have generated 21,000 interest in a FDIC insured mutual fund. And I didn't have to lift a finger, drive anywhere, stand in line and yak with some foreign civil servant in broken English etc. To me it is well worth it.

19 hours ago

Udo *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

You can also write a lot and only get to the point at the end. It's incomprehensible to me. It's nice for them if things are going so well. Whether it's all legal is another question. Why don't they make a business out of it? Let's get to the end. You write a lot but don't provide any concrete examples. I only posted the immigration requirements for Khao Lak here to show others what is required. They offer nothing except their own claims.

18 hours ago

Robert *****

the concrete is the 12 + 3 month multiple entry stamp in my passport and the freedom to use my 800K how and when I want.

17 hours ago

Udo *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

Then make a separate post where you can explain that. And don't post so many messages here that it's bad. Especially since I never said anything in the post about having to do it that way. Once again, especially for you: that they meet the requirements set by immigration if you want to change your visa as stated above.

Udo *********

ORIGINAL POSTER