@John *********

No. It depends on the office you use. Some retirement visa holders have to go to immigration twice.

@Jarmo ********

In the government bureaucracy, it's defined as a special tourist visa. Hopefully, in time, they'll re-categorize it though I'm not holding my breath on that one.

@Jarmo ********

Thais usually do refer to all foreigners as tourists. Of course as you state, this isn't actually the case but it does reflect how many [most] Thais see foreigners as.

@Neil ****

WRONG. It doesn't matter what visa you're on. Again, BOTH visas state "employment prohibited" but in practice online work is allowed, regardless of which one you're on.

You're either wilfully ignorant or you misunderstood the concept behind the DTV. Even the ministry of foreign affairs, immigration and the labor department are not on the same page about this visa.

Anonymous participant 786 Yes, in a sense, but so far, the authorities don't mind this approach if you're on a DTV. That might change in the future.

@John *********

No. A retirement visa isn't designed that way because it's not a permanent visa! You can only spend 1 year at a time on a retirement visa before being up for review again. There's always the possibility you won't be allowed to extend it. There's no certainty with it.

@John *********

No, you might be given a "pending" status first for 1 month, before being granted the remaining 11 months on the second visit.

Anonymous participant 786 At some point, that might happen. For the time being, all multiple entry visas continue to allow you to come and go and establish a quasi-residency in the country, but in the future, that could change and you might be advised to switch to another type of visa.

BrilliantMouse3131 Not sure what you're talking about. Exchange rates are fine. The only issue are all the fees charged both by the Thai ATM (250 Baht) plus whatever your bank charges (usually 3% + an approx. USD 5 foreign ATM withdrawal fee). This means you could easily be looking at USD20-30 for a typical withdrawal, just in fees. It is what it is.

Use a fee free credit card wherever credit cards are accepted for payment (95% of gas/petrol stations in Thailand accept cards), all chain restaurants, malls, supermarkets, convenience stores (for payments of 200 Baht and up), many chain coffee shops, hardware stores, department stores, all hotels of 3 or 4 star and higher standard, even the Bangkok MRT and BTS I believe, as well as most hospitals (including all private ones) and even most Bangkok tollways (the remaining ones will start accepting credit cards soon).

Basically, most merchants except for taxis, street vendors, hole in the wall restaurants, national parks, museums and other historical sites, local tour operators, local markets and plant nurseries will accept cards. For these aforementioned places, use cash.

@John *********

No, I don't think that's the correct way of looking at it. Besides, even with a retirement visa, you have to renew it every year and that usually involves going in to immigration twice, as first you get your conditional approval and then the final approval a couple of weeks later.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't think the DTV is as good as it was initially made out to be. However, don't assume that a retirement visa guarantees your status in Thailand. Unless the government changes it's policy, being a retiree will never qualify you for PR, for citizenship, for land ownership or anything more than a DTV does, except for owning a bank account and getting a 5-year driver license extension (although for DTV holders, this is also possible depending on which office you use).