Why do many expats choose a Non-O visa for retirement over a Non-OA visa in Thailand?

My non-o takes about 15 minutes a year of my time to renew.

Thai health insurance companies are sketchy at best.

They can cancel you or decline a policy for any reason including being overweight.

So, having 800,000 in a Thai bank, at today's exchange rates equivalent to , or should I say when I wrote this post for those more pendantic of us here!

£18,860, $24,721.46 A$38,256 and not to forget the Euros €21,453.60. sitting in a Thai bank accruing 0.25%, they may even stretch to 1% interest paid minus tax of course.

Now, the above amounts sitting in a bank back in your home country, would attract... Say 4%?

Probably more if you invest it in higher/fixed term

So you would be getting a return of roughly €858.

So what do you pay an agent to handle all the paper work for you and hold your hand through the process. First time, yes expensive, but when renewing paying some where in the region of €375-€536!

So, with money back home you would be gaining!

But, go which every way you wish. So it is not always a case, as expounded on here by many a disgruntled expat, that people using agents do not have the money, it is maybe a case of they are putting it to better use than leaving it languishing in a Thai bank

Non-OA needs insurance from a limited choice of companies with less than favourable cover. The visa is only valid for the same duration dates of the insurance. Non-O you can buy whatever insurance you prefer.

Some people also have long ago criminal history (some as simple as possession of marijuana, others more offensive). People like to leave their last behind and not have to defend it when it's no longer relevant...

I had an OA from 2017-2023. There was no insurance requirement back in 2017. I bought Thai insurance in 2018 because my US insurance wouldn’t cover me as a long term resident of Thailand. When they added the insurance requirement to the OA in 2019 it didn’t affect me but many people switched from their OA to an O. I guess the insurance alone was the motivation. Since then I have to believe that insurance is still keeps some people from the OA. I often hear people say they want to keep their current home country insurance and don’t want an additional minimum policy just to qualify for an OA when the O is available. All those people using agents are, of course, getting an O visa.

I kept 800,000฿ in my Thai bank account all those years. I got a pensioner LTR in 2023 so I got the 800k back and I am glad to have had the insurance because the LTR has an insurance requirement too.

Insurance gets more expensive as you age. I just put money aside instead of paying for it.

If you don't have bank savings of $ us dollars, how can you contemplate retiring in any country?

A lot of people don't have the 800k baht (in their home country), so they do the Non-O in thailand and pay an agent here to cover the money. Also, you have to be in your home country to apply for it, which many people aren't/don't want to fly back for. Other than that, the Non-OA is the more convenient visa.