@John *****************

You can fly in as part of a tour... 1/laos-officials-allow-entry-of-tourists-from-additional-international-locations-as-of-jan-3-update-40

@Kev ***

yep, then no requirement. Personally we contacted our local consulate several times during the process to clarify everything. They were very helpful.

@Jonathan ******

someone managed to get it back in December 2021 so it might be available now?

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STV, must be in your home country to apply. Is the SMART visa an option? Not sure if the ever started with the Digital Nomad visa.

Are you applying for a Non O based on medical reasons? Then that's a clear yes. If your Non O is not for medical reasons, then only call if need help

@Jim *******

recently went through the process. We had also considered the elite visa but felt that the benefits didn't justify the cost as we would each of needed one, so 1.2M THB to start.

If over 50 the best option is the Non O, based on retirement. If it's for you and a spouse, you can have one of you as a "trailing spouse". To do this, each of us applied for a 90 day Non O before leaving our country. We found our local consulate was really helpful with the information required.

When we got to Thailand we were able to open a bank account with the Non O visa. As we are Canadian we didn't have to deposit the 800k THB and were able to get proof of income and our marriage license verified at the local consulate. I'm not sure if you can also do the trailing spouse with the 800K THB but I'm sure others here have experience.

Went to immigration with our lease, TM30, consulate letter, copy of marriage license and the other requested forms and applied for the year extension on the Non O based on retirement. We are both stamped in till January 2023 and can get re-entry permits. It was all quite easy and meant we didn't have to spend $50K CAD.

Here is a link to my husband's post in another group.

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@Ernesto *******

where did I say people can't afford elite? My comment was the costs were high for the benefits.

There should be an option for those who are financially independent and retired early to have an option for a Non O based on retirement based on income not just age.

I would avoid any immigration office until they either announce an extension or after the 25th. It will be crazy. Getting your own extension shouldn't take hours. As long as you have everything you need it can be less then 30 minutes.

Some people are using covid extensions as stop gaps while they season $$ in banks for other visas, waiting to switch to a work or education visa. Some people are waiting for marriage documents, etc. I think there are many reasons aside from the border bounce.

For people who retire early, it was difficult to find a way to stay longer term in Thailand between 40 and 50. Would be nice to see a option for people who are financially independent, not married to or parent of a Thai national but under 50. The only one we could find was the Elite buts the costs of that were high for the benefits.

Or this one... they can be rough, so search before asking.

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