@Malcolm *******

I've done it online successfully the day it was due. Didn't plan on cutting it that close, but it worked nonetheless.

This is the relevant section regarding proof of monthly income from the Phuket Immigration Volunteer site for the Retirement Extension (if you are American and thus served by the US embassy which does not issue income letters any longer).

"The following proof of the overseas transfers are required: Signed and stamped bank certificate AND signed and stamped bank statement for the last 12 months and Copy of the bank book of the last 12 months.'

Tod above gives examples of exactly the letters you need. The stamped bank certificate (which proves you are the account holder of the account) is here:

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The above letter also shows the balance of the account on the date the letter was written. That detail is not really needed for proving the monthly income method but it is just a standard feature of this letter. This is one of the letters you need. Exactly this.

The other letter is the summary of monthly deposits which Tod has given an example of here from Bangkok Bank. Exactly this.

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The above is the other letter you need. Some banks may be unwilling to issue such a summary of monthly international transfers and in that case, you will just have to try to make do with a regular bank statement of 12 months duration. Obviously, the Immigration Officer prefers to look at a summary of 12 monthly transfers than dig through a year's worth of bank statement.

Finally, Phuket Immigration always likes to have you copy each page of your bank account passbook (sign each copied page) for the same 12 month period.

One of the things Immigration Officers do in Phuket is to make sure that all the numbers confirm each other. For instance, the balance listed in your bank letter should match an entry in your bank account book for the date the letter was written. Each monthly deposit listed in your summary bank letter should match to an entry (international transfer) in your bank passbook If all these checks confirm each other immigration gets a warm fuzzy feeling that your documentation is in order..

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@Brett **********

Having a FET is useful to have as it proves where the money came from if and when you attempt to move the money out of Thailand. There is a threshold of I believe $50,000 under which FETs are not typically issued. For immigration purposes, immigration officials look for indications in your bank passbook and statements that the money came from an international transfer. For example, in the case of Bangkok Bank, your passbook transaction will be coded as FET (Foreign Electronic Transfer). Immigration understands what these codes mean and looks for them during your application process.

Yes, you can use TransferWise to do the international transfer but you must take care to do it correctly. How to do it correctly is spelled out in this group but basically, it requires that you use Bangkok Bank as your Thai bank and that you indicate on the TransferWise transfer that you are doing it for the purpose of longterm stay in Thailand. This will result in the correct FET code being applied to your transfer. Using another Thai bank or failing to indicate the long-term stay in Thailand reason is likely to result in a transfer marked other than FET and which immigration will not accept.

1. Ask your local immigration office if they require one. If yes go to 2, if no go to immigration without one.

2. Does your embassy provide one? If yes, get one and go to immigration with the letter. If no, get evidence that they do not (for example, email from embassy saying they don't provide letters, or a screenshot of embassy website saying they don't provide letters), Go to immigration with that evidence.

Do you mean this?

I like this group because of the interesting questions and the generally sound advice given to questions I may have myself or may have in the future. I like that it can touch on related issues and is not strictly limited to immigration issues. I actually like the other Thai Advice Group as well, where the conversation is more focused on only immigration issues and the tone is more brusque

I find the subject of immigration interesting partly because the official information is often so vague, ambiguous, and even contradictory. Some of that can be attributed to the difference between Thai communication style and that of many western languages. Thai is a high-context language and culture, while English is a low-context language and culture. In Thai one is encouraged to drop things that would be explicitly stated in English if the information can be obtained from the context. For example, subjects are often unstated in Thai sentences because it is "obvious" from the context who or what the subject is.

This tendency to rely on context or an unspoken understanding seems to be carried into official Thai orders and laws. Contrast this with the tendency for everything to be spelled out in English as if it were to be argued about in a court of law (which is often not a bad assumption). In western culture, precision is highly valued, while in Thailand flexibility seems to be more highly prized. This disconnect leads to many misunderstandings as westerners try to comprehend and strictly comply with regulations that are promulgated by people who don't see the necessity to be so precise and prefer to reserve the final interpretation to their own judgment.

@Garrett **********

I realize it's most probably a predictive text glitch or a typo but the phrase: "the government tends to leave it up to the many newspaper and media sources to decimate information," made me laugh out loud and I intend to use "decimate information" myself in the near future. I agree with your points and thanks for the laugh to start out the day. ;-)

@Al ****

Nice rate, but probably a good idea not to use it for the extension. Phuket Immigration always wants copies of my passbook in addition to the bank letter and bank stamped account statement. Not sure if not having a passbook would be a problem.

@Al ****

That's not a bad idea. For example, Krungsri Bank offers a Mee Tae Dai Savings Account currently paying 1.00 % annual interest paid monthly, which could be raised if interest rates go up (it's a floating rate). Other than the slightly higher interest rate it's basically the same as a regular savings account except it restricts you to two free withdrawals per month (you have to pay 50 baht for each withdrawal in excess of that). Once you set up the account you don't have to do anything so it is convenient as compared to fixed deposit accounts which mature and have to be reinvested.

The two requirements are that the amount is immediately available for withdrawal and that there be no possibility of a fluctuation in the value of the principal (that is the 800,000 is not subject to market risk). Fixed deposit accounts are fine as long as you can withdraw immediately at any time with no loss in principal (loss of interest is acceptable). This has been my experience obtaining my annual retirement extension of stay over the last seven years in Phuket.

You should confirm if this is acceptable with your local immigration office.