you should get an insurance with a two years coverage, because only then you can get into the "second year" of a 365-days Non-Imm-O/A Visa by doing a border-bounce shortly before the visa validity expires . . . . . .and keep in mind, if you go from the first year of the visa and after the second year, to the "1-year Extension of Stay Permit", Immigration will not accept a foreign insurance any more. From the "1-year extension" onward, only a tgia-listed Thai private insurance will be accepted

@Mark *******

There is no guarantee . . . . . if you had more than 180 days "touristic stays" within a recent 365-days period, they will probably pull you aside and interogate you. Regardless if you have a tourist visa or not. And only THEN it would be wise to have the famous three proofs at hand

@Theo *******

you are a Dutch citizen, so your embassy in Bangkok still issues the income affidavit for you. Apply for the Non-Imm-O visa as many Immigrations want to see that you actually have a Thai bank account into which you transfer some money coming in from abroad, despite your income affidvit being sufficient for the financial proof to apply for the 1-year extension of the stay permit based on retirement

@Marc *******

they might have said "calendar year" but actually this is bad English, what they mean is "per one year" or "per 365 days" which is the way visa-exempt stays as a total get calculated

@Marc *******

until 24th of March the stay would be 5 months, so they said they would allow him into the country for 5 months and 2 weeks, on visa-exempt entries plus two 30-days extensions, if he showed them an onward ticket. I believe it, absolutely possible. . . . However it proves exactly what I said: they calculate per 365-days period, they do not calculate 180 days per calendar year. The period they allow him in spans across two calendar years, so HOW would they want to calculate it? The Immigration officer in his bad command of English used the WRONG terminology: he should have said "365-days period", but he said "calendar year" because he thinks this is the same! He was not able to express himself correctly . . . I am used to these misinterpretations - I am reading and giving visa advice since 25 years, and I am the admin of a very well known and reputed visa advice group

@Marc *******

your wires are totally crossed, and your friend is totally lost in translations. . . . . Tell me, HOW is it possible to enter Thailand by October 2026 and return by April 2026 😂 is your friend an expert in "time machines" ? If you ever wondered why I don't believe you and your friend: THIS is the reason

@Marc *******

I think you are obviously miscalculating . . . if he returns by October 2026, you mean they will enforce that he has a return ticket in April 2027 ? Why do you write April 2026 ? It should say April 2027 😆😃

@Ralph ******

that's unclear as I can't make any sense out of what Marc Widmer tried to explain

@Ulrik ************

no, won't be a problem but you should not maximize the first 60 days with a 30 days extension, and then expect Immigration at the border not raising their eyebrows when you try to do a border run closely to the previous expiry of the 90th day

@Ralph ******

yes you should normally stay in one of Thailand's neighbour country for 2-3 weeks holiday before you attempt a second visa-exempt entry. And you chances are greater if you haven't maximized the first visa-exempt 60-days with a 30-days extension but exited Thailand before the 60-days stay permit expired. Then you are regarded as being a "real" tourist travelling South East Asia