What Should I Bring When Renewing My Non O Visa with a Retirement Extension in Thailand?

I had an interesting and slightly irritating problem at Immigrayion today. I had gone to extend my Non O visa with Retirement extension and had all the relevant paperwork. Or so I thought.

Everything went as planned until the final hurdle when they asked me for my previous bankbook, as I had taken the one I was issued last December. There was a lot of confusion, mostly on my part as my Thai is minimal. They said I had to go to the Bank and get a Statement that would cover the 6 months preceding the entries in my Bankbook. I had the required funds in my account more than 2 months before my application so I couldn't understand the problem. The Officer wanted to make sure that my balance had not dropped below the minimum 400,000 baht, specified in the new rules. I tried to get a statement at the Bank in Mae Sai to settle the issue, but because the statement was over 6 months old, they had to request it from Bangkok and it would take 5 days and incur a fee. The only solution was to drive 35 km back home to pick up my old bank book and return to Mae Sai before they closed.

So please make sure that if you are renewing/extending a Visa, in my case a Non O, have proof of income going back a year.