@Charles *******

one year for us, we did the same last year too.

@Pierre ********

in case you missed it - you are advising about a tourist situation whilst we are talking about a non-O retirement annual extension for our stay (living here legally) and the time it takes to acquire this with different banking and paperwork requirements to that of a tourist - two completely different ways to legally be in Thailand. There honestly is not a one size fits all for all of us farangs since each of us have different needs and requirements based on the type of visa we are looking at. (90+30 = 120 days for your type of visa suggestion versus 365 days for ours - which is a more permenant type of visa)

To give clarity - What you are talking about would require border hops to stay here long term after the 30 day extension since only one extension can be sourced for a single tourist entry - whilst ours only requires we submit a 90 day report on where we are staying that takes about 5 minutes to complete online.

Maybe before trolling another person to tell them to research it - you should read the actual words that were typed and fully understand the conversation? Because the "advice" you gave does not fit the situation that the person this comment was made to needed.

@Polat ******

I think as long as all your documents are in order and you have the funds in the bank as per the requirements it is fairly quick and easy. From memory though for the first time we did it, they had to send approval to Bangkok which took a full day. This was our third extension.

@Kerry ********

The best way to use wise is to transfer using the currency of the country you are sending from and convert it within the wise app. Wise gives a far better conversion rate than any bank. If transferring into Wise from the US you should be adding USD - once you are ready to send to your Thai bank you convert it to Baht and then transfer the funds into your Thai bank - you will save heaps in the conversion.

@Kerry ********

Never transferred from the US but I did to the US (from Australia) and always got a better rate than the bank offered.

Wise always seems to give me a better conversion rate. Been using them for years between Aus, the US and Thailand and never been disappointed. Check your conversion rates your bank gives and then look at Wise's rates - it can make up the difference or the cost of the transfer depending on the amount you are sending.

@Graham *****

Thanks, I forgot the amount we paid the first time - I just knew the last two times we paid 1900 each.

Open bank account and deposit at least 800k baht. Do not let it drop below 800k. Get letter and statement from your bank showing the seasoned funds on the day you plan to apply. Get a lease or contract for a place of residence. Dress appropriately and respectfully to visit immigration - get checklist as each province can have slightly different rules to abide by. Be patient at immigration - no matter how irritating it may be, show respect. Its really not hard. Pay 1900 baht and that's it.

Thai woman are no different to women everywhere. Especially if you get out of the touristy areas like Bangkok, Pattya and Phucket. There are good and bad woman. Good and bad men. That's life. Not all will see you as an atm, some will. Be cautious, visit her, see what happens. If it's worth pursuing you'll know, but it takes time, like any relationship.

@Rob *********

We have only actually gone under once which was during my surgery so I wasn't sure, thank you for the clarification! Our method of transferring when AUD is up has worked a treat for us and the seed money we put into the Thai bank already has returned in super thanks to wise investiments. It is nice to know should an emergency pop up that the funds are right here and accessible.