@David ******

Are you talking about that asshole Tod McGowan? I've had him blocked for ages.

Visas are meant to be obtained before traveling to a country.

Your options are use an agent, or go to a nearby country and apply for the non-O visa from the Thai embassy, and then return and do it yourself.

I don't understand what you're asking about.

Are you asking about applying for your 1-year extension based on retirement, that you only do once per year? There's no piece of paper that would be stapled in your passport for your extension. You can apply for the annual extension 45 days early in Bangkok.

Are you asking about your 90-day report that you do every 90 days? These are not the same thing AT ALL. A 90-day report reminder is the only thing they would staple in your passport. You cannot go 3 weeks before this date. You can go 14 days early until 7 days after the due date.

@Jeffrey ******

Yes. Just be careful to ignore anything without the red asterisk, as without that it's not required and you can ignore it. But as soon as you click on it, it will become required.

Once you have submitted it, it should be linked with your passport. They will see it when they scan your passport at immigration, nothing further for you to do.

It's always better to do it in your home country, especially because it will save you 2 trips to immigration which can be all day affairs.

And if you don't already have a Thai bank account, you will need to have the visa already when you arrive in order to open the required bank account.

@Gerhard *********

That post says your money "can" be seized, not that it will be seized. You would also still be able to fight for it after that.

But most of these accounts were not frozen based on government request, they were frozen by the Bank in order to limit their liability based on the new government law that went into effect a couple of months ago holding banks responsible for all fraud and scams.

My first trip to Thailand I stayed for a year, as was my plan. I had already laid out my timeline of booking a hotel for xx weeks, finding a condo to lease, etc.

But I still had everything back home including my house, my car etc so I had a fallback plan if things didn't work out. Without that, I don't think I would have picked up my entire life and moved everything. It's easy to test drive Thailand because it's very easy to find somewhere to rent, fully furnished. If you end up not liking it, the most you are out is your 2 months deposit.

The biggest issue is visa. Do you have a visa or plans for obtaining one that will allow you to "move" to Thailand and remain long-term? That can be the biggest hurdle that you need to figure out.

That depends on your immigration office. They each have their own policy about TM30. Most require you to file a new one if you left Thailand and return. Some require it if you stayed the night somewhere else inside Thailand and returned.

You'll get many wrong answers about this, as it's a little confusing.

Short answer is no, you don't need to do a 90-day report yet.

When you entered Thailand on your 90-day non-O visa, you were not on a stay that allowed more than 90 days, so the responsibility for that had not started yet. When you get the full extension in your passport, the immigration officer will insert a slip of paper (possibly stapled to the inside) that will tell you the date for your first 90-day report.

It's only once you're on a stay that allows greater than 90-days in Thailand that the counting for 90-day reporting begins.