The people being told to get a tourist visa have already been in and out of the country previously for some time recently. Getting a tourist visa requires some level of financial evidence so they are making repeat travellers who are pushing the visa exempt scheme a bit to go have a bit of screening before entry. They mostly trying to filter out illegal workers

@Brook *******

because it’s mostly holders of tourist visas of various types mostly being affected and this bank was the easiest to open previously. This same subset of people are still unable to open at the other banks unless they get a long term visa. A lot of them may have Thai spouses but no long term visa since they are likely to be bouncing back to home country to work a bit before returning.

@Andrew *****

I went on air nz. Their check in counters are now automated kios that you scan your passport to get your boarding passes. Major changes compared to a year prior. There are assistants floating around to help if get stuck. Then someone at the luggage counter to weight and tag your bags. For someone with carry on only luggage, they would likely skip and human interaction before reaching security. Other airline counters were the same old manual style check in so more chance being asked questions there. For peace and mind though, the onward ticket site is a cheap just in case. Be sure to buy one of those no more than 24 hours before the flight since they are only valid for maybe a couple of days. The website will tell you the amount of time.

First just checking if your intention is to retire in Thailand or just a holiday? You didn’t mention that. I’m kiwi and already over here for a few months. Wasn’t asked by airline about an outward flight at Auckland airport. Check in was all automated. First person we talked to was the girls putting the luggage through. If you have already been to Thailand and already have a Thai bank account you may be able to skip the visa process entirely. Currently there’s 60 days visa exempt for kiwis with extension of 30 days available if just a holiday. For retirement you’ll need the visa for opening a that bank account. If you expand on your plans for Thailand the experts here should be able to guide you further.

@Greg *******

5% chance maybe

Perhaps able to go to the ministry of foreign affairs building in Bangkok? Since it was their department that created it. They may have a solution, if have a Thai partner perhaps easier. Just a thought.

@Alex ********

it’s also a New Zealand thing, particularly in the Polynesian community. Even our two former female PMs got called Auntie by younger people while they were in office.

@Alex ********

Auntie 😛

@Glenn ******

it would depend on your nationality and the immigration branch you use. There’s only a handful of countries embassies that do it so you are best to ask both your embassy and then your local immigration office. There’s a few past posts about this on the forum so best you start searching through here first.

@Einat ******

it’s your country embassy in Bangkok may verify income once per year when someone goes for their 1 year extension. Not many do this service