@Alain **********

you are not old enough to apply for a Non-IMM-retiremnet visa. Only if you are married to a Thai wife, you can apply for a visa

well, you got stamped in for a 60-days stay permit, when you entered visa-exempt on March 18. However this stay permit now is void and expired, because you left Thailand on March 29

@Wayne ********

I hope each of your three insurances allows other insurances alongside it. Have you read their fine print?

@Osian *******

here in this group there are people who claim that you can open a Thai bank account on a tourist visa, if you use and agent and if you are willing to buy more of their services, like a visa service, from that agent. I just wonder why they all keep quiet and haven't posted yet, directing you to the "right" agents

@Wayne ********

oh really, I didn't know O/X has a mandatory health insurance

@Wayne ********

that's because on an O/X you don't require a mandatory health insurance. Only on an O/A visa and its Extension. That you haven't been asked, doesn't mean anything. Once you need to apply for the next yearly extension, they won't issue one if you didn't show a one-year Thai tgia-listed health insurance

For the “1-year extension of stay permit based on retirement” (the 1-year stay permit) from out of a Non-O visa, you got a free choice of your health insurance provider, as there is no mandatory health insurance requirement for this long term stay permit

You do NOT have this freedom choice of a health insurance, if you start out of a Non-O/A visa! You will need a mandatory insurance.

During the first two years, you can use a foreign insurance provider. That’s okay so far as this means you can use a reliable insurer.

However, you will need to take out a private Thai health insurance as soon as your “second year” out of a Non-O/A visa is close to expiring, that’s when you need to apply for the “1-year extension of stay permit” based on retirement

If you start with the Non-O/A, and switch to the 1-year Extension of stay, you will have to deal with the compulsory Thai private insurance, one provider out of the “tgia”-list of insurances, for the rest of your life.

They all are limited regarding the entry age, and their yearly insurance premiums will rise the older you get

You should give it a second thought if these contracts are worth the paper they are written on, should push come to shove

You have to take out a "tgia"-listed Thai private health insurance provider, Immigration will not accept any other health providers

You could of course avoid an application for the 1-year extension of stay, fly back to your home country and restart the whole process of applying for the next Non-O/A visa, again – and keep your preferred insurance

. . . well that's not everything that speaks against a Non-O/A visa!

The effort you need to mount in order to apply to the Non-Imm-O/A visa is MUCH GREATER!

*** You need a minimum one-year health insurance for the visa (better to take one up for the first two years). Your insurance provider will have to sign the F.I.C. (“Foreign Insurance Certificate”) by three of their representing members

This F.I.C. is not required for the application to a Non-O visa

*** You need a police clearance certificate (not required for the Non-O visa)

*** and a special, official medical certificate (not required for the Non-O visa)

*** you need the equivalent of a minimum of 800.000.- THB in your home bank account or a bank account anywhere, as long as it is in your name (also required for the Non-O visa)

OR an official proof of a monthly income of the equivalent of a minimum of 65.000.- THB

*** For the application to both visa types, the 800.000.- THB money deposit can be kept in a bank account in your home country.

*** If you however convert the Non-O visa on Immigration in Thailand into a long-term stay permit (the "1-year extension of stay"), then you need the 800,000 THB deposited a Thai bank account

On a Non-O/A visa, you can keep the funds in your home bank account for the first year and 9-10 months of the second year, however after this period, the funds must be in a Thai bank account, if you wish to go from the visa to the “1-year extension of stay”

For the “1-year extension of stay” out of a 90-days Non-Imm-O retirement visa, you can buy a multi re-entry permit for 3800.- THB. This re-entry permit will keep your stay permit alive until the expiration date, should you exit Thailand. And it allows an unlimited number of entries into Thailand

The Non-O/A visa comes as a multi re-entry type for the first year. This means, as soon as you slip into the second year and the visa validity is expired, you don’t have any re-entry permit any more. If you wish to exit Thailand and keep your last stay permit stamp alive, you will need to buy a re-entry permit.

Every time you enter the country with a Non-O/A within the 1-year visa validity period, you have to show the border official the proof of health insurance and the F.I.C. He will stamp you in for another 365 days, yet only given as long as the insurance is valid for another 365 days

You do NOT have to mess around with any health insurance certificates while being on a 1-year extension of stay out of a Non-O visa.

What did we learn?

To start your long-term stay in Thailand, it should be the Non-Imm-O retirement visa.

It means the least effort, no mandatory proof of insurance required, no police clearances & certificates of good conduct, no F.I.C.

Fewer documents to carry, less fees, less time spend on Immigration for future renewing applications

the fee for the EOS is the same for both visa types, it’s 1900.- THB, but yeah, but behold!

Some people will tell you, that binding 800.000.- Thai Baht in a Thai bank account on a Non-O extension, that pays only a meager interest or no interest at all, would be a loss of interest, compared to the opportunity you have when on a Non-O/A visa, leaving the funds on a home country long term fixed bank account

They even claim that even if you are paying an agent something like 25.000-32.000.- THB for fudging a “1-year retirement extension” for you without own funds (which enables you to keep your money in your home country), the interest gain on a fixed term 20.000.- US Dollar at home, would be higher than these yearly (!!) 900.- USD fee for the agent

(I have heard and read about agent fees demanded in the amount of 70.000.- THB and many people fell for these scammers, so beware!)

I dare to say, if a person really needs to weight the loss of interest against a legal approach towards the 1-year Stay Permit based on retirement, instead of paying an agent, this person has financial problems and should not be in Thailand

Your 800,000 THB investment into your Thai bank account is paying for the luxury to live in the country at less than half of the expenses than in your home country, the opportunity to embrace the culture and enjoy the weather. That alone can’t be weighted against monetary assets or any f….g interests

@Victor ******

yes you can open aThai bank account on a Non-Immigrant visa class

@Kedi ********

it's TM30, not T-30. And you never needed three months in one place before you could apply for an extension of stay on a DTV or on a Non-Imm visaclass. A DTV holder could ask for a 180-days extension while being accomodated in a hotel, it's just that the hotel would need to supply a TM30 receipt to show Immigration. A DTV is a tourist-visa class, it is not a longstay visa or Non-Immigrant visaclass. So there is no need for a rental contract. What my issue with this form is, that it doesn't mention other means proofs beside a rental contract, as there are a few other accomodation options

"rental contract for a house" is total hogwash. What if you reside in a resort , guesthouse or hotel ?