What visa options are available for long-term living in Thailand with frequent travel back to the US?

I have a type o Visa or permission to stay with multiple entry have no problems

Go to Viet Nam. Incredible country. Use the translator on your phone

Talk to ex pats. The govt seized or froze their bank accounts. Don’t know why or for how long?

Such life is for a young and very healthy person. You already way to old for that. A single trip to USA here from Thailand is around 20-25 hours, that can end up to 300 hours in the air yearly.

Same as everyone else who asks same question every single day

If you can’t read you can’t survive stay home

Just been there no visa required

Be aware that the non-OA requires you to have medical insurance with an approved (Thai) company but the non-O does not however it does require you to have 800,000 Baht in a Thai bank to get the 12 month extension. You might be able to get a new non-OA visa each year in your own country based on finances in that country but you run the risk of being refused as they probably don't want to keep issuing them and want you to get the 12 month extension instead then you not only have the need to have 800.000 Baht in a Thai bank but also the medical insurance. The non-OA might be better for a 1 year period but is probably worse than the non-O if you plan to live in Thailand full time. The non-O normally gives 90 days to obtain a 12 month extension but there was a multiple re-entry version that allowed you to stay 90 days then had to leave Thailand but you could return immediately for another 90 days and lasts for 1 year but they may have discontinued that one. Please check with the Thai embassy as I and most people commenting are not experts and just offer advice based on our experience and local knowledge.

"Every 2 months"?.. its not worth it.

Non-O Visa

And get Multi Entry

✔️

Contact your Thai embassy.

Asking here will only make you more confused (funny how people always like to tell their own situation, and not answer the question. Do they even really read the question? 😁).

I plan to retire in Sakon Nakhon. More culture less tourist. 7 Months USA. 5 Months Thailand. You can travel anywhere in Thailand cheap once you’re there…

Probably tourist visa will suffice until ready to settle. Currently 60 day plus an extension (60 may reduce to 30?)

Being back in the US for a decent amount of time should disabuse the notion of visa runs, especially to the US and back (keep plane ticket stubs). Although not 100:%, a conversation with senior immigration officer when here would give you a better idea.

Chiang Mai immigration is pretty good and should be able to advise better. Gotta be carefull of Visa firms, some good, some bad. Personally never dealt with them, perhaps someone else living in the Chiang Mai area can provide further info.

And both EVA and Korean Air have direct flights from their hubs in Taiwan and S Korea bypassing the need to go through Bangkok

Many decades

No bank account

No visa

Two long overstay, two criminal cases

No...... nothing that you will be told " you have to have" and

No problem

Just use a reliable agent

Recently l stated this and was told " not anymore"

I checked with two personally and it's business as usual with 100% success

I can tell you from personal experience it’s not fun as it’s gets to a point you don’t know where home is. I do it between Europe and Thailand sometimes every 4 weeks. You could start with. 6 month multi entry tourist visa first.

Non O with multiple Re-Entry

When you see how much the Airfares have gone up you might want to reconsider

Well, it depends on your passport country.

There are several roads leading to the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa and to the subsequent “1-year Extension of Temporary Stay Permit based on retirement”, which is a long-term stay permit

MIND YOUR WORDING:

you do not apply for the “retirement visa” on Immigration after you have entered Thailand on the “90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa” you obtained through the E-Visa online system outside of Thailand.

When you enter Thailand on the 90-days “Non-Imm-O retirement visa”, you get stamped in for a 90-days stay permit. The visa itself will become invalid or “used”. It cannot get “extended”. This is technically just not possible. Don’t fall for the wrong wording used by Thai Immigration, for whom a visa and a stay permit erroneously are the same thing.

I am talking about the most common misunderstanding regarding the rules for applying for the “retirement visa” and the subsequent “one-year extension of stay permit based on retirement”. Misunderstandings happen because a “retirement visa” can mean seven (!) different visas and stay permits, but please let’s remain on topic. The most erroneous wording is from people who call the 1-year extended stay permit a “retirement visa” – a mistake that always makes me cringe.

*** The best way is to show up in Thailand on a “90-days single entry Non-Imm-O Retirement/over 50 visa”. It will get you stamped in for 90-days stay permit. Within this 90-days period, you have plenty of time to arrange for the application to the “1-year extended stay permit”.

The important fact is, that entering on this visa-type enables you to get a Thai bank account opened. If you enter on a tourist visa or visa-exempt, you cannot get a Thai bank account opened any more since February 2025. Only a handful of agents offer a service around the law, and it costs up from 60,000 Baht and I have already been quoted 90,000 Baht.

There is NO mandatory health insurance or a police record check or a medical checkup required for the Non-O visa-type. These are requirements only for the application to the 365-days Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa, which is a completely different visa-type.

You will need the Thai bank account in case you want to convert the 90-days stay permit into a “1-year extension of the stay permit”.

You can theoretically fly on a one-way ticket because this visa allows you to receive a long-term stay in Thailand. Some airlines might not accept this explanation and will ask you for an onward travel proof out of Thailand within these 90 days, that’s why you should communicate with them by email and see what they say.

In order to apply for the “90-days single entry Non-Imm-O retirement visa” through the online E-visa system at the Royal Thai Embassy of your home country or any other country, you can

EITHER

use proof of income of a monthly minimum of 65.000.- THB, by using your original pension or other income documentation,

OR

you can use a deposit of a minimum of 800,000 THB or the equivalent in your home country currency, or on your home bank account, or on your Thai bank account (if you got one), or just anywhere in the World – as long as it is in your sole name.

Most Thai embassies will require 3 months of account statements. You need to check the website of the embassy you will use for the exact info.

ATTENTION! . . .For the application inside Thailand to the “1-year extension of the stay permit based on retirement”, the financial proof will be slightly different. You cannot use any original income/pension documents from your home country.

If you are a citizen of a country whose embassy in Bangkok does not issue a certified “income affidavit” any more –

(which are the embassies of USA, Canada, UK, Norway and Australia)

you would need a “12 months bank statement” showing that for the past 12 months, you have been transferring from abroad to your Thai bank account a minimum of 65,000 THB, consecutively month for month, not missing a single month.

If your embassy still issues a certified affidavit of income, you can use it for the financial proof. You would need a monthly income or pension of a minimum of 65,000 THB.

For British, Canadian, Norwegian, Australian and U.S. citizens, in the first year there is no other way around than depositing a minimum of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account - at least in the first year

The alternative would be, if you don’t have that kind of money or are not willing to deposit 24,000 Dollar in a Thai Bank account, is paying an agent to “arrange” the requirements to get around the law.

As soon as you have accumulated 12 consecutive months of 65,000 THB transfers, month for month, you can apply for the next 1-year extension of the stay permit, using the 12-months bank statement. After been issued the next extension, you can theoretically take your 800,000 THB out of your bank account.

There is a fee of 1900 THB for the application to a 1-year extension, and you can theoretically do it all by yourself. You are free to accept the help of an agent for the simplified legal service.

NOTE: It is income OR deposit.

There is a third method, called the “combination method”: A combination mix of income and deposit.

Some immigrations don’t allow the combination method in the first year.

And some Immigrations want the deposit part to exceed a minimum of 400,000 THB.

The combination method means that the sum of the deposit AND the monthly income exceeds 800,000 THB in one year.

But let’s continue with the “normal method” (visa issued in your home country, followed by the application to the 1-year extension inside Thailand):

On the day of application to the 1-year extension, the 800,000 THB must have “seasoned” in your account for two months, and this has to be confirmed with the “bank letter of guarantee” (in Thai: rab roong thanakan).

After been issued the “1-year Extension of the Stay Permit based on Retirement”, the 800K need to remain in the account for 3 more months. After these 3 months, the deposit shall never go under 400,000 THB. And before the application for the next “1-year Extension of Stay”, a minimum of 800,000 THB must have seasoned in the account for two months, again.

On the day you get issued the “1-year extension of stay permit”, you should buy a re-entry permit.

A re-entry permit will keep your 1-year stay permit alive and valid in case you want to travel around and exit Thailand before the expiry of the extension.

A single re-entry permit is 1000 THB on Immigration. A multi re-entry is 3800 THB. On a multi re-entry permit stamped, you can exit and re-enter as many times as you wish during the whole 1-year stay permit period.

Again, watch your wording, because many people fail in doing so: the re-entry permit is not a “re-entry visa”. It is just a permit.

Good Luck and a great time in Thailand

If your a US citizen you can get

Non -B to Washington they will give you 1 year and pay $100 or less that's what my husband did everytime , you can do it on online but takes time 👍 it's expensive here & many blah blah make an appointment to Washington ;

For what purpose do you want to live in Thailand? If you are truly retired and won't work at all there are 4 or 5 visas that are applicable. The LTR Wealthy Pensioner is at one end of the scale and the 90 day Non-O visa followed by a 12 month extension + re-entry permit is at the other. But given the frequency of travel you might also want to look at the Non-OA visa which gives 12 months with multiple entries

Does the initial 3 months on a non - o allow exit and re-entry within the 3 months ie

1 enter on non o

2 open bank account and lodge 800k

3 leave

4 re-enter and apply for extension.

Thanks for advice

Traveling those distances ever 2 months will get old quickly! Change your routine!

Look up non O retirement Visa with multiple reentry option. Works for me as I also travel more than once per year….