What are the requirements for obtaining a Non-O Retirement Visa in Thailand, and can I withdraw funds after meeting those requirements?

Simply go to the Thai immigration website...Non-Immigrant Type “O” Retirement -

From what I have read on these sites once in the country go to your local immigration center and ask them for the requirements for your 12 month extension and a list of the required documents.

Never assume it's best to get the good oil from the horses mouth saves any screw ups!!!!!

Contact Nan or Fon. These 2 girls will sort everything out for you. Cheaper than anyone else. Take care of everything hassle Free

No. The first thing you do is Google the official Thai visa site.

You do not need an agent, it is not complicated, it is very easy, just get the check sheet follow it to the letter, immigration where I go are very very helpful, keep your money don’t give it to agents

do yourself a favor...put the 800k in the bank and leave it there while you are making 65 deposits for 12 months then at renewal switch to the 12 monthly payments criteria...you ca draw from the 65k but drawing from the 800k will be limited to 400k...you have the 2 months prior to application and the 3 months post application to deal with so essentially you get to use 400k for about 6-7 months...is it worth it? likely not...just be safe and secure that money...

Yes use an agent, so much easier, then you don't have to put 800 k in bank , 45 k for agent. Then 14 k every year to extend. Easy solution if you have the funds 😉

If you go down the route of 65k each month yes you can withdraw that 65k each month to live on

Good question .. I’m also interested if we’re better off opening 2 accounts. One for the visa requirements that doesn’t get touched and another for daily local expenses.

I’d be interested to hear what others do.

Keep in mind that if your bt800,000 in your Thai bank account drops below bt800,000 for the three months after you get your one year extension stamp, or for the rest of the year drops below bt400,000, then from that point that your account balance drops below those amounts you are on overstay, and not legally in Thailand.

As you can see from above it’s very complicated. It is probably best you use an agent for the first one. As soon as I got my 15 months visa, I switched to the 65k route. I was informed by the immigration officer that this was fine and I could start to spend the 800k from that day. 15 months later, I taken my 12 months bank statement proving the 12 x 65k and got my yearly extension without any questions or problems.

No, you have part of it incorrect.

You apply for the non-O visa from your Thai embassy at home, using the 800,000 in your home bank account. Then once you get to Thailand you open a Thai bank account and transfer the 800,000. This is the basis for your extension. The extensions rules are that you must have 800,000 in your Thai bank account for 2 full months before you apply for the extension, and your bank account must remain at 800,000 for 3 full months after you get your extension, and then your account can never drop below 400,000.

During this time you will start the monthly transfers of 65,000 baht from overseas. You'll need to be able to show 12 months of these transfers at the time you apply for your NEXT annual extension the following year. Immigration will ask you for a 12 month bank statement to check 2 things, first that you continued to meet LAST YEAR'S requirements, which were 800,000 for 3 months, and then 400,000 for the rest of the time. And then they will also check for the 12 monthly transfers. If everything is done correctly, you can then receive your 2nd annual extension based on the monthly transfers. Only after this extension is granted and stamped into your passport can you then withdraw the remaining 400,000 from your Thai bank account, but must continue the monthly 65,000 transfers forever, as long as you stay in Thailand.

You should also check with your immigration office that they'll accept monthly transfers of 65,000 baht, as not every immigration will accept them, and some that do accept it also require you to prove that it's from retirement income, like a pension or retirement account disbursement.