# Thanks for the invite! I am 60 years old and recently retired. My wife is only 46. We are citizens of the US. We are thinking of Chiang Rai because of the air quality and smaller size of the city. We are trying to figure out the best way to obtain the visa. For myself it looks like the O-A visa for one year is our best option (though renewing every year seems like a hassle). The O-X for five years seems nice, but we hate to lock-in a good chunk of money in a bank account just sitting there unused. We do have investments at Fidelity that has partnered with the Krungthai Bank, but even if we tied our accounts to that bank, not sure if it counts as a "fixed" deposit even if my pension went into the account (the Thai Bank would still have a fairly low balance). Now concerning my wife, I heard there is an "O" visa that attaches to mine "O-A" visa? I am not sure how this works. Is it still for a year? What is needed on her end? I truly appreciate any help that you can give! Thank you.

Emergency Workers from Chiang Rai flooding have been in an Accident.

Blood Donors Needed. A Negative. Original article in comments.

Please donate at any of the Bangkok Red Cross Locations or Regional Blood Centres.

💥If you are Rh-Negative, please donate every 90 days to avoid emergencies. ALL Rh-Negative Groups💥

The National blood centre on Henri Dunant Rd and the Regional Blood Centres (Chiang Mai, Phuket, Chonburi, Phitsanulok, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Hua Hin, Khon Kaen, Songkla, Nakhon Ratchasima) are now accepting donors from the United Kingdom 🇬🇧, France 🇫🇷 and Ireland 🇮🇪 who were previously unable to donate due to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease... aka "mad cow 🐄 " disease.

ALL Blood Types are needed and are used, HOWEVER, we always have critical need for Rh-Negative donors.

Even if you do not know your blood type, please donate. Westerners have the highest percentage of Rh-Negative. EXTREMELY Rare in the Thai population.

Donor Eligibility criteria is pinned on the top of my Page. Please review it if you are a new donor in Thailand.

Primary qualifications are:

✅ Under 60 if first-time donor in Thailand

✅ No alcohol 24 hours prior

✅ Healthy low-fat meal at least three hours prior. Low cholesterol, low fat.

✅ drink plenty of water 💧

I live in Chiang Rai. I need to hire a caregiver for about 1 hour a day. Happy to pay well. Please message me! Thanks!

Benjamin

Attention ALL Members

Issues at the land border crossings with Lao in Chiang Rai province (Chiang Saen/SEZ and Chiang Khong/Huay Xai)

I deleted the last post :O as now getting new information from the border run companies

BOTH land borders in Chiang Rai province are requiring people stay out of thailand Chiang Saen says overnight and Chiang Khong says 2 nights out

They are saying it's an order from the immigration dept :/

Sorry to have posted sketchy info. This is the latest we have. If you're up in the Northwest of Thailand and need to bounce you should plan on being IN Lao a day or two.

At this time NO other land borders are are affected...

Hi,

Which city has some cooler weather now? During the day and during the evening and night?

Until now I was in Bangkok and Pattaya. Pattaya has some light wind and cooler air in the evening, probably because of the sea.

How is in Phuket and in Chiang Mai these days? Can you recomend some place or city with lower temperatures?

✨ Updated with outcome in comments 23 July ✨

I'm on a Non B and need to get another bank account. My partner and I got our visas with a joint account back in early 2023, but I'd like to get my own account.

I bank with Bangkok Bank but they're really bad at opening a new account! They take weeks to confirm it's open, and months to sort internet banking out.

I've been waiting weeks for them to confirm it's open and know the internet banking side is going to make me want to stick a thousand forks in my eyes, so want to look at other options.

Does anyone have an easier bank they can recommend? I'm in Chiang Rai.

I arrived in Thailand March 1st 2023 with E-Visa from Thailand Embasy in USA. I got driver’s license and bank account opened and got 90 day retirement visa which I extended for one year and ends 23 July 2024. Everything was completed with just some help from Thai friends (I am up in Chiang Rai).

Today I went to renew my retirement visa and had to provide a copy of my original E-Visa! Went home and fortunately a copy was still saved on my computer.

Is this normal to need a copy of the E-Visa?

Also this site helped me so here is a freebie. I first got residency certificate to get Thai Drivers License. The bank accepted same residency certificate when o went to open bank account even though it said for drivers license.

Where is the nearest visa application Centre to Chiang Rai please ?

Is there a immigration office in Chiang Rai? I will need to extend my 30 day visa

Thankyou

Hi Everyone

Looking for some guidance. We are booking a 3 week trip end of this year and have been talking to a local tour operator. He is going to arrange hotels internal flights and trips out from various locations. We have a driver/guide with us for about 17 days and the vehicle has air con. Trip includes 5 days in Bangkok with 4 days of tours then flight to ching mai for 5 nights with 3 days of tours 1 night in Chiang rai with 2 days of tours then flight to Phuket for 8 nights staying at Bang Tao beach. This costs £6200. Does this seem reasonable

Thanks for any comment first trip to Thailand

Steve