I could be confused about this. Please advise. I am still in the USA and was ready to file for a Non Immigrant O-A to move to Chiang Mai to retire permanently. I am 71, can easily meet the 65K per month income burden to a Thai bank.

I am in the process of selling house and everything here but going very slow.

My understanding for 1 duty-free personal shipment to Thailand, I must have my shipment arrive within 6 months of getting the above mentioned visa. My question is: what determines the start date for that VISA. Is it the date I arrive in Thailand, or a DATE that the Thai Consulate in LA establishes when I apply, or ?????

I already have tickets for a round-trip to BKK and back (3-29 to 4-29) but will not be able send that PERSONAL shipment by then, so I will just do a Tourist VISA on arrival.

Is there a better way to do this?