You cancel your visa when you leave without a re-entry permit. There’s no 7 days extension, it’s just an extension denied stamp and you get 7 days to leave the country.

@SAra **********

This is a quite universal question that comes up from time to time, and the only possible answer is that it’s embassy dependent. Some embassies allow you to get a visa on just an inbound ticket, some also demand an onward ticket within 60 days even though you also are entitled to do a 30 days local extension. So therefore it’s no other option to suggest that you call the embassy and ask and buy a changeable ticket or a cheap online onward ticket if this is the case.

@Philip **************

No, but visa exemption back to Thailand is not a visa. Just a free stamp.

@Steve ******

Correct, if you apply in UK the formal requirements is “income”. For your extensions in Thailand the requirements are also “income” transferred over sea for twelve consecutive months.

If you plan to move permanently or retire in Thailand I would recommend that you apply for a regular 90 days Non O retirement visa at your thai embassy at home first.

The formal requirement is that you’re passed 50 years for a non O retirement visa.

The financial requirement is a pension/income minimum equal to 65K thai baht a month OR funds equal to 800K thai baht. This may vary somewhat between the different embassies. You can use your bank at home to verify your income/funds.

When you come to Thailand you’ll need to open a bank account and put 800K thai baht within a month for to apply for your first year extension of stay, as your embassy doesn’t offer to give you a affidavit letter to confirm your income.

For your next year extension of stay you’ll have time to prove a monthly pension/income minimum 65K baht a month for twelve consecutive months and you can switch to the income method and don’t need any money saved in your bank any more. For the future yearly extension of stay you’ll just repeat this procedure. If you get a re-entry permit on your extension of stay you can more or less come and go as you wish in the future as long as you’re back in time to apply for your yearly extension of stay. The 90 days report is suspended while you’re out of Thailand.

@Michael ******

There’s no official statement from the immigration in Thailand supporting this.

@Michael ******

This is removed on the updated website.

@Tim ****************

Sorry, but the general requirement is also be age 50 years unless you’re married to a Thai. There are some options anyway.

A multiple entries tourist visa can give you up to nine months in Thailand.

If you like MuY Thai, attending a course could also give you a visa for a period.

If you want to study or learn Thai you can get a one year ED visa.

There’s a privilege visa which gives you from five years if you can and are willing to pay.

Some people do border and visa runs for a period, but this is not an easy way to spend time in Thailand after a while.

@Brittany *******

I see now. We just pay 53 NZD for single entry tourist visa in Norway. Then a cheap onward ticket bought online is far cheaper.

This is from the embassy in Norway, it’s equal in London, but there’s no official statement regarding this. It’s several ways to “leave” Thailand and I know people are allowed check in just with a bus ticket bought online from Nong Khai to Vientiane. I know someone also was allowed check in Malaysia with a bus ticket after some discussion.

As said this is rarely checked at the immigration, but the airlines can be fined and responsible for your return if formal requirements are not fulfilled. So I advise you to call your airline and ask directly. If you feel unsure a cheap flight ticket out could be a cheap insurance.

@Wayne ********

Ohh gosh I see. 300 NZD gives us 6 700 thb!! In Europe we still pay € 30-35 for a single entry, this is 12-1400 thb. Then it’s of course cheaper to buy a cheap onward ticket and do an extension, even though you’ll also need to spend some time at the immigration.