How can I qualify for a retirement visa in Thailand without a monthly income?

@Chris *****

yep

@Bill ********

It’s all about the correct terminology.

So, you did the "change of visa type" from a tourist visa or a visa-exempt entry, to the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement visa, by proving you got 800,000 THB sitting in your Thai bank account.

This is very different an approach compared to applying for the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa by the e-visa online system inside the U.S.A. or U.K. For an application to the visa, the equivalent of 800,000 THB can sit in your home bank account.

And then, by using both options, from up to 30 days before the 90 days stay permit of the “retirement visa” expired, and as soon as the money had seasoned in your Thai bank account for 2 months, you applied and got issued the "1-year Extension of the Temporary Stay Permit based on Retirement"

(which some people and even Immigration wrongly call "retirement visa", which but is no visa at all but just an "extended stay permit")

@Bill ********

wrong: for the application to the 90-days single entry Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa in the e-visa online system, the equivalent of 800,000 THB can sit in your home country bank or on an account anywhere in the World, as long a you can prove it is in your name. Only for the application to the "1-year Extension of the Stay Permit based on Retirement" on Immigration inside Thailand, the 800,000 THB need to sit in a Thai bank account. . . For the application to a 365-days Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa which can only be made in your country of residence, the 800,000 THB equivalent can sit in any account anywhere in the World as long as it is in your name. You also have the option to arrive in Thailand on a touristic entry and apply for the "change of visa type" to the initial 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, which you can do as long as 800,000 THB are already sitting in your Thai bank account and you can prove the money came from abroad.

@Todd ********

Perhaps that is the key difference as I did not do anything regarding a Visa application until I arrived in Thailand.

@Bill ********

you were able to. Anyone can. You just need to apply from home country.

Can also use an agent to avoid the 800k entirely. Or the 10 year LTR retirement visa has only income requirement. No need to deposit in Thailand at all

@Todd ********

I can only speak for my personal experience and when I did my retirement Visa I was REQUIRED to have a Thai bank to satisfy the financial requirements. If you have a way of getting around this then that's great but I was not able to.

@Bill ********

Graham is correct.