Ok, we’ll in that case, seeing as you may have the option of doing it at either office, I would call both offices and ask them. It usually depends on exactly where your house is, where that falls in the coverage areas of the immigration offices and the way each immigration office operates. As I’m sure you’re aware, government offices in Thailand have flexibility kind of built in to the way they operate so rather than all of us guessing as to what applies in your situation with these immigration offices, I would just give them a call, tell them your address and go by what they tell you.

They would have sent you to Mae Sai for your conversion to a non o visa because that’s the main immigration office in the province and the Chiang Rai city office doesn’t do them (slightly counterintuitive as Chiang Rai City is obviously the main city in the province) but if Chiang Rai City is ‘your’ immigration office then you’ll need to do your yearly extension there. Mae Sai will likely just send you there.

Also worth noting that although the six month validity does indeed start from the day its put in your passport, if you leave/re enter Thailand on or before the last day of that validity, you will be stamped in for another 60 days.

I would go and ask them.

@Scott *********

yeah I heard that too. But essentially, if the Thai authorities won’t let you back in to Thailand, you’re stuck in a small part of Myanmar, with no visa, so they check that you’re ok to come back before they let you leave Thailand.

And, if they were going to ask you they'd ask you BEFORE you left Thailand when you stamped out because they can't let you out then deny you entry coming back. At that border post you only get a day pass for that particular region of Myanmar and if they refused you entry you'd be stuck in Tachileik with no visa for Myanmar so they check everything they want to check before they let you stamp out.

@Di ******

depending on where you are. Some people are a long way from the border.

@Dai *********

usually because the original Non B visa is a single entry which allows a 90 day stay. This gives enough time for the completion of the work permit application and then an extension of stay based on the person’s employment. Without the extension the person only has the 90 days permission of stay in the country.

If you get enough, you get a free room ;)

A bit of research before you went there would probably have saved you some stress. It's been well documented in this group that if you're asked for proof of funds when buying a visa from a consulate or embassy in SE Asia that you would need to show those funds by way of a bank statement. Also, given that printing of online bank statements is fairly easy these days, rather than reacting with anger (which serves no purpose other than to cause you to not get what you want) it might have been possible to just go and print one.

As for 'what's going on with the immigration system' there are many people who are living in Thailand on visas that are primarily designed for tourists, some of whom are working illegally as well. Tourists are people who go somewhere on holiday, then go home. This doesn't seem to describe your lifestyle. You are retired with enough income to live in Thailand. That's why it was suggested that you get the appropriate visa for your circumstances. That would be the 'retirement visa'. Oddly enough, the staff in the Thai Consulate are not telepathic and aren't aware of your stated financial situation, or the fact that you don't need to work. That could be why they a) suggested the Non-Imm O-A type visa where you would provide proof of your earnings and work status and b) asked for a bank statement that, presumably, would also show them that you are not working in Thailand on a tourist visa.

Whilst you seemed to be angry at their requests, they're just doing their job. If you had provided them with what they asked for, you would have got the visa you wanted. You instead chose anger as a response and walked away with nothing.