What is the best visa option for spending 6 months a year in Thailand as a retiree?

@Simon ******

you are correct a METV is valid for 6 months but if you leave and return just before it ends you can get nearly 9 months in Thailand. Please note the 6 month validation starts the day the visa is issued and not when you enter Thailand so don't buy to far in advance

@Simon ******

Can get 8 months as Nongnuch details

@Simon ******

A multi entry Tourist Visa has a validity for use for an unlimited number of entries (“multiple entry”)

The 6 months visa validity starts on the day the visa is issued. Thus, if you enter Thailand 9 days after it has been issued, you lose 9 days of the total of the 6 months visa validity.

Upon each entry, you will get stamped in for a 60-days stay permit

On each and every 60 days stay permit, you can apply for a 30-days touristic extension of the stay permit, for 1900.- THB, on Immigration.

If you take the 30-days extension, you must be aware that before the 90th day expires, you need to exit Thailand.

With the next entry, you will activate another 60-days stay permit

Which you also can extend for 30 more days.

To get the maximum number of days out of this visa, you should therefore enter Thailand as close as you can, to the date of issue

If you exit and re-enter Thailand before the visa validity expires (or any day before this date) you will get stamped in for 60 days for the last time.

You can then still get a 30 days extension of this last 60-days stay permit.

By this method, you can theoretically get almost 9 months of stay in Thailand out of the multi entry tourist visa

@Simon ******

wrong- you can get a total of 8 months out of a multi entry tourist visa, if you use it right

@Simon ******

It should be on the Thai Embassy page it is a well known visa for many years