I've never heard of a Thai joint bank account with 2 foreigners.

@Sai *******

why are you planning to arrive visa exempt? It's going to be all but impossible for you to open a bank account if you do that. And the bank account will be required for you to apply for the non-O visa.

Get the visa from your Thai embassy before traveling to Thailand.

@Billy *****

each embassy sets their own price. You would need to check with your Thai embassy

There's not really any visa that's going to fit 5 months. I suppose you could get a non-OA visa but that's going to be a lot of effort that isn't really necessary.

You could get a 90-day non-O visa and then when the 90 days are up, do a border bounce where you leave Thailand and return. Then you can get a new 60-day visa exempt stamp that should get the 5 months you're looking for. You can even apply for a 30-day extension on that visa exempt entry if you need a little more time.

And starting with the non-O visa should protect you from being questioned about spending too much time in Thailand as a tourist.

There are some scam sites for sure. Some claiming "24 hour express processing" and bullshit like that, when it's an instant process already. And some charging insane fees like $80-$100.

But there are some like the one from the owner of this group who doesn't charge at all if you're submitting within 3 days of arrival, same as the official system. And if you want to submit earlier than that, they charge a small fee to hold your data and submit it for you when you're within 3 days of your trip.

Official site:



Site from the agent who owns this group:

Are you saying you traveled to Laos to apply for a non-O visa from the Thai embassy, or that you traveled to Laos to activate a visa you already have?

If you need to apply for the visa, then you do that online, not at the embassy. Use the Thai e-visa system You don't need to wait until Monday to submit the application.

Upload all the information and submit it, and then on Monday go to the embassy between 9-11 and pay for your application. After that it should be 3-5 days until your visa is approved and sent to you. After that, print out your visa, then you can return to Thailand.

You're going to be visiting multiple countries in 90 days? That's all the time the visa will give you. A re-entry permit is only for the stamp you're on. So if you purchased a re-entry permit it would only be valid until the end of the 90 day stamp you receive when you arrive.

You need to arrive, open a bank account as soon as possible, and transfer the money. If you can't get this done within the first 25-30 days you won't be able to apply for the 1-year extension. Once you get all that done you can worry about traveling. After you apply for the 1-year extension you can purchase a re-entry permit for that stamp, which will only be valid until the end of that stamp. There is a single re-entry for 1000 baht and multiple re-entry for 3800 baht. If you apply at the airport instead of your immigration office, they charge an extra 200 baht to fill in the form and take your photo.

Note: Phuket airport doesn't sell multiple re-entry permits.

@Billy *****

The "90 day visa" is a non-O which IS the retirement visa.

You CAN apply 30 days before in all offices and 45 days in some. But that doesn't mean you have to. You can apply up until the last day of your permission to stay.

@Kenneth ******

yes you can. They literally say you can right on the government website.

"There is no limit to the amount of money that you can travel with, receive and send overseas."