How can my husband and I stay in Thailand for 6 months as tourists before applying for a retirement visa?

A brilliant discussion this one.

You will have to leave Thailand a get a new tourist visa in Laos or Cambodia

Looking through the comments here, as an Aussie I have to agree with the sentiments of my compatriots. For your situation the OA is far and away the best visa to suit your strategy.

I'm 54, so I don't qualify for the Super Account advantages, although I can access my funds at 55, but these would still be taxed at 15%. As I spend about 3-4 months each year back in Aus working, I'm still able to contribute to my Super Fund, and I'm estimating by the time I'm 60 when I can access it tax-free, it will have grown to around $560,000. Even at a very conservative estimate of 6% return, this would still net me more than enough to support the 65K baht monthly transfers, without even touching the capital amount.

I've been on OA visas since I turned 50, and cannot see the advantage of the non-O which is clunky 90-day visa, requiring a visit immigration to get a year, and put 800K baht in a Thai bank account deal. I've been virtually living in Thailand for almost five years and have yet to visit an immigration office, and I'm happy to keep it that way. I get a new OA each time I'm back in Aus, and on one occasion I did do the border-bounce to get the second free year. At this point I haven't started the 65K baht transfers but this will come within a few years, as I wish to get into the rhythm well before I turn 60.

Some people are frightened of insurance, but I'm a firm believer in it. I've never set one foot outside of Australia without insurance. The cost compared to the potential benefits is negligible.

Good luck with your endeavours!

If you can use Sydney, you can get a 10 year visa (O-X) with proof of funds in Australia. Only at Sydney though.

Get the OA visa for two years. Avoid transferring that 800,000 dead money into a Thai bank account.

You could just get the OA retirement visa from Australia (using proof of funds in an Aussie bank or Super scheme) which gives you a clear 12 months with no requirement to visit an immigration office or bounce out to another country. Whilst in Thailand you can open a bank account and start the process of transferring baht each month (which you can immediately withdraw). Keep that up for 12 months and your eventual retirement funding is already in place, negating the need to transfer 800,000 baht as an untouchable lump sum into your account when you do choose to retire

You could buy the multiple entry tourist visa. It’s valid for 6 months. On entry you get 60 days. You can either extend that entry for 30 days at a local immigration office, or pop across a border to a neighboring country and re enter for your next 60 days.

Time your last entry right and you can get nearly 9 months from that visa.

Get a multiple entry tourist visa. You'd still have to bounce out across a border and back but only once if you get 30 day extension on each 60 day entry