I had an account with SCB for over ten years. Then I moved back to my country and there was only a few hundred baht left in this account, so when after a few years I hadn't used the account the bank closed it. I want to open another account, so got a Thai friend whose house I stay at when visiting, I asked him to take my old bank book and debit card from my last account and show it to SCB and ask if I could open a new account with a tourist visa and tell them I live at his house when I'm in Thailand. The answer was sorry, no.

@Tod ********

When I got a twelve month multiple entry O visa many years ago you didn't need to be married to a Thai, or for your application to be based on any other criteria, apart from supposedly a bank statement and the one and only I got they didn't even ask about money and there was no certain age requirement. I believe this type of visa in London at least is no longer available, but for years work colleagues of mine used to get this visa as we lived and worked offshore in South East Asia.

I'm onto my MP by email about this discriminate frozen pensions scheme here in the UK. I'm hoping but maybe dreaming that the UK and Thailand, who already have a DTA agreement might also sign Upto the social security agreement (whatever they means) so the UK retirees in Thailand get an annual pension increase. There is an agreement between the USA & the UK on this, but how many UK pensioners retire to the US? I reckon not many, whereas there are many living in Thailand. One can only keep up the pressure on politicians and hope for change.

It's the tax avoidance of the rich that people should be venting their frustrations at. I just read an article which had HMRC., input and the fact that the extremely wealthy here in the UK hold back about £39 billion by banking their wealth in offshore accounts.

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@Jeff ******

In 1981 I was working 12 hours a day, seven days a week and tax & NI taken from my weekly wages was around £120 every week. That was going to help the pensioners of those days and I never complained about supporting others through the money deducted from my salary. It's what happens in a decent society.

@John ********

That is good enough reason to use an agent. I see people all the time saying why pay an agent. Well three reasons. One it saves you all the hassle of doing it. Two, as you suggest maybe he doesn't have or want to have 800k sat in a bank account with no interest. Three also that 800k with the new tax laws could be liable for 20% tax, 16,000 baht. Hypotheticaly if say you paid an agent say 25,000 a year, that works out at 68 baht a day, hardly going to break the bank.

@Jeff ******

The money I paid in for forty two years paid for the pensioners of the time I was paying into the system. In my work time you never heard anyone commenting that we were paying for pensioners of the time. It's only these days when all the uneducated morons in the media try to portray my pension as a benefit. I paid tax & NI to support the older retired at the time I was working and in those days, people had ethics, unlike today when people are just selfish self centred wankers.

@Jeff ******

I don't believe anything on FB either, like anyone saying Daily Mail readers telling me I'm a scrounger at 75 years of age and my state pension was bought and paid for in the tax & National Insurance I paid into the UK system for 42 years,

@Brandon ***********

So what is stopping you opening another bank account while on your first year extension, depositing 800k in that bank account. Leave Thailand at the end of your first year extension, then re enter on a tourist, or visa exempt, go to immigration, get it changed to non O three month and then apply for an extension to this new visa with the other bank account you opened.?

When I was in Udon there were language schools but don't know if they offered Thai language or not.