Hi all! Any Canadians in the room? I'm a retired man from Montreal now living in Thailand but still on visa exemptions because filling the form is complicated, more than I thought.

Last week, I was in Laos, in order to get the 3 month retirement visa. After weeks of gathering all the documents, I felt it would go smoothly.

I had the photos, I had proof of health insurance, and certifications about my retirement incomes, both from my personnal pension plan (the canadian embassy in Thailand does no longer provide proof of income) and also from the Québec pension plan. I am above the required 65 000 bahts monthly.

I had a big surprise though : I needed to get a criminal record clearance from the RCMP. Never had I heard about such a requirement for the thai visa. Afterall, my finger prints were taken each time I arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport and I never had a problem there.

So here I was in Vientiane, stuck with this obstacle. How do I get such a clearance? I learned that I needed my fingerprints taken by the local police, send them to Canada for an RCMP approved firm to digitalize them and transfer the results to the RCMP. This process would take weeks, especially since the postal service is not at full gear in Canada.

The thing is that the way the questionnaire is built, you don't know all the requirements in advance because if you are missing a document, you cannot move forward to the next page. So I am wondering what the next surprise will be.

Seriously considering hiring an agency to get the visa quickly but finding one at a decent price is quite a challenge. It would cost somewhere between 50 and 60 k$.

Any brilliant advice would be greatly appreciated at this point.

Thanks in advance folks.

Hi, just wondering if anyone has found an efficient method of moving money from Canada to Thailand?

I've just been using ATMs, but the fees are high, and also found bank transfers to be just as costly

Do you need the 500K baht in your bank account for a certain amount of time or is it okay to just be in there for 1-2 months? (Australian)

Hi there

So we are 2 ladies want to retire to Thailand.

Have 2 dogs, 2 cats

Where do we even start?

We know we need to open an account and deposit $$. Not a problem

Anything we should bring from Canada? I heard sheets cost alot and are only 1.

Electronics? Any other things people brought or regret not bringing?

Any advice would be great ,

When to apply and what visas to start with.

Can we or should we if we come visit, secure accomodations to live.

We plan to sell everything in Canada.

Hua hin is the area we will start with.

Negative comments not needed

Advice please, we are tentatively planning to visit Thailand Nov-March. We come from Canada and will do the visa exempt, can we get an extension for 30 days while we're in Thailand or do we need to get this while still in Canada? Then visit Vietnam and return to Thailand and repeat the process. Thanks in advance.

For the Canadians out there. What is the best method(s) that you have found to transfer money from Canada to Thailand? Starting from the best Canadian bank(s) or other financial institution(s) to assist with transfers, credit card(s), Wise, and helpful bank(s) in Thailand....and etc?

Would also appreciate other expats from other countries also with helpful tips.

Thanks all!