.

I once knew a guy (back in 1987 or so) who was upset because the US Embassy figured out that his Thai girlfriend had been a prostitute and denied her entry. When I checked with the Vice Consul in Bangkok (yes, I was bold back then, and back then it was still possible to talk to actual people in the US Embassy), the Vice Consul explained that the idea was to get her history on record so that nobody could try to blackmail her later, and the friend's next step was to appeal the ruling. I do not know if a similar issue applies here, but it might be worth the poster's time to find a way to check, just in case.

@Stuart ********

Thanks for the extra details

@Stuart ********

When I was first hired by a Thai university in 2013 they sent me the paperwork for obtaining a non-B visa at a consulate in the USA and I took the paperwork to the Thai consulate in Los Angeles and obtained the non-B visa. Then when I was in Thailand the university helped me obtain my Work Permit and work visa within the province. I suspect it is a similar process now, except that I do not know how Thailand's new e-visa system changes things.

@Bonnie ******

You raise a valid point. Fortunately, my friend's current source of income is *not* the USA Social Security system, and they have never made a late payment to him in the 4.5 years since beginning the payments.

@Brian Thurkettle, that makes sense to me. Especially since I get the impression that the provincial immigration offices can issue these kinds of visas without my friend having to leave the country. So we may do exactly what you are suggesting -- go consult with local immigration officiels -- thanks!

Not a useful response. Because if my friend had THB 400,000 to put into a Thai bank account, he would not be asking this question about how to prove income, now would he?

And...The graphic provided (which I see is not from the Thai government anyway) is ambiguous in an important detail -- in one section it appears to suggest income OR bank account, and in the next section the wording suggests that both items may be needed. So I think I and my friend are still looking for a more definitive answer.

@Brandon ***********

Thank you for the details. And if I may clarify, according to the Internet, an affidavit is merely "a sworn statement put into writing," which is exactly what the USA embassy provided to me when I myself got married in Thailand back in 1990 -- the USA official simply had me raise my right hand and swear that what I had just written was true. (And that is all the USA will do for its citizens, possibly because doing more than that would be considered by many Americans to be "an invasion of privacy by our government"). So does that principle still apply? Just a sworn statement stamped by the embassy officer?

@Robert *********

Thanks.