As many have already told you, a retirement visa is easier with regard to the paperwork but you must maintain twice the bank balance and you cannot work on the retirement visa. I've been married to my Thai wife 8 years next June and living in TL 7 years as of last month. We have a fantastic marriage. My wife is awesome. It's easily the best relationship I've ever had and I've had my share, including a divorce many years ago. I'm retired so I have no need for the work permit so I've decided to remain with the retirement visa. I considered switching to the marriage visa a while back but then I saw on the news where a Thai woman married to a Farang man died and he was on the marriage visa. He had to report her death to immigration immediately and they gave him 7 days to exit the country, since his wife was now dead and therefore he was no longer married. I think if my wife were to pass, the very last thing I would want to be dealing with would be immigration. I'd be busy planning a funeral and all the things involved with it and obviously mourning the death my wife. My wife is 12 years younger than I am, she's slim, exercises nearly every day and eats super healthy. I think it's unlikely she will die before me but hey, you never know, she rides a scooter and this is TL. Odds are if I switched to the marriage visa everything would work out fine but I guess I just like the autonomy of knowing that my ability to stay in country isn't all based on my marriage. That's my 2¢ on the matter. I wish you and your future bride all the best and I hope you are as happy as I am. Cheers ~ Bill

Doesn't immigration offer online TM30 reporting, like they do with 90 Day reports? 🤔

Mots & TikTok, I've never used either one but they both get good reviews in this group.

@Garry ******

Wise ony sends into Thailand. There is a service called "Dee Money." I set up an account with them maybe 5 years ago and sent a token amount of money (฿500) just to test the service. It worked, I received the money in my US account. However, since that time I've seen other people post horror stories about their money being lost in the ether. Having read these stories, I would probably just use my bank's options if I need to send cash out of Thailand (e.g. Western Union, SWIFT or International Prompt Pay.)

@Graham *****

I saw guys posting earlier in the year (maybe October) saying it was gone. Some of them had contacted Wise customer service and apparently they were told to choose "purchase of property" in place of the long stay option, in order to show in their Thai bank book that the money came from outside Thailand.

When I sent my money in early November the long term stay option was gone. When I sent money in early December it had returned. 🤔

@Jay ********

no problem and I appreciate your civil comments. So many people become argumentative and even combative over small disagreements in groups like this one. Pleasure conversing with you, hope you enjoy this beautiful weather we are having. Cheers! ~ Bill

@Jay ********

he would have to be here in person and he does say in his original post "WE are fixing to go to Thailand 🇹🇭 again in January" so he will either arrive on a visa exemption or apply for a short term visa before he arrives. Additionally, agents get bank accounts open for people on visa exemptions all the time. That said, he could absolutely make it happen. It might cost him a little money but he could definitely do it.

Like you, I am an American married to a Thai. It is ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE for you and your wife to have a joint account. I know this because my Thai wife and I had a joint Krung Thai Bank account in the past. I now have my own bank account (for the 800K retirement Visa money verification purposes) and a separate bank account for all of our typical monthly activities/expenses, while my wife now has her own accounts. If you are not planning on using the JOINT account for visa purposes, then it should be fine.

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