@Matthew ********

the idiot you called out is somebody else, because 800,000 THB are not 0 US Dollars 😂😄😂

@Roberto ********

it sounds good for you, but don't forget that 11.5% interest is only a dream for most people. Can't get that anywhere outside of Australia (maybe in NZ)

@Roberto ********

calling a Thailand parking ticket for only 800,000 THB of MY MONEY (yes it is still my money!) and a yearly fee of 1900 THB "dumb", shows your low level of admiration for the opportunity Thailand is offering you price-wise. Why don't you stay in Australia, you got good weather, blue skies and turquoise waters and many islands where to snorkel for your 92,000 Thai Baht treasure 😂😎😂

@Roberto ********

countries worldwide where any peanut money can get more than 5% interest in a bank account, are rare. In European countries, anything fixed like your "Australia SUPER FUND" that earns you 11.45% tax free interest in Australia, doesn’t exist in Europe or the USA

You as an Australian citizen are receiving conditions most people can only dream about

If you feel better, sleep better, and think your life decisions are wise and well planned, go ahead, nobody is rolling any stones into your path

Here comes the same old cliche, again

weep weep weep

“Oh those 800,000 Baht ( 24,000 U.S. Dollar) can make so much interest if I keep them in my home country”

*** well, countries worldwide where your peanut money can get more than 5% interest in a bank account, are rare. In European countries, a fixed "SUPER FUND" like yours in Australia in these days, gets you 3.5% at the utmost . . . same in the USA. You as an Australian are receiving conditions most people can only dream about

*** It is ONLY 800,000 THB, and this is the CHEAP parking ticket for a country, where everything costs less than half the price from the prices in your home country

So, are you the “Cheap Charlie” type?

In case the opportunity to live long term in a country with all its advantages, does not satisfy your greed and hunger for an acceptable ROI, you should not come to Thailand at all, but keep your peanut money in your home country

You picked the wrong visa from the list

What you show are the requirements for a 90-days Non-Imm-O FAMILY Visa (based on being married to a Thai wife)

You are instead looking for the 90-days Non-Imm-O RETIREMENT/over 50 Visa

This is a 90-days Non-Imm-O "retirement visa" which you get issued by the E-Visa online system of a Thai embassy. For this visa you can EITHER show the equivalent of 800,000 THB in your home bank account, OR original documents showing a monthly income of a minimum of 65,000 THB.

This visa allows you to enter and get stamped in for a 90-days stay permit. The visa itself becomes "used" or UNVALID upon entry.

After you entered, you are in Thailand on a "stay permit". And this stay permit you can get "extended" on Immigration for one year.

For the application to this "extension of the stay permit based on retirement", you need the 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account (on the day of application the money must have been in your THAI bank account since 2 months). . . . .

As a British, Australian, Canadian or US American citizen, you cannot use the monthly income proof, because your embassy does not issue any certified income affidavits. At least in the first year Extension of the Stay Permit, you need the minimum of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account

KEEP IN MIND:

***for the application to the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, you can use the equivalent of 800,000 THB in your home bank account or in any account anywhere in the World as long as you can prove it is in your name

***for the application to the extension, Immigration only accepts the 800,000 THB on a Thai bank account.

I don't understand you complaints - if the monthly-transfer of 65,000 THB method is too costly to maintain, why not just keep the minimum of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account for the whole year, making your application to the yearly extension a walk in the park? Since 17 years, I spend 20 minutes and 200 Baht on the bank for the 2-months seasoning confirmation letter, and 20-30 minutes and 1900 Baht on Immigration for the next Extension stamp, along with a 1000 THB single re-entry permit. I never touch the 800,000 THB - they are a pretty good emergency fund in case I get hospitaized I can send somebody to the ATM to withdraw and prepay the hospital, before my health insurance kicks in

@Thomas **********

No you definitely didn't. You are confusing things

@Stuart ********

Well, there are several roads leading to the 90-days Non-Imm-O retirement visa and to the subsequent “1-year Extension of Temporary Stay Permit based on retirement”, which is a long-term stay permit

MIND YOUR WORDING:

In Thailand, you do not apply for the “retirement visa” on Immigration, after you have entered Thailand on a 90-days single entry Non-Imm-O “Retirement Visa” you obtained through the E-Visa online system in your home country.

When you enter Thailand on this 90-days “retirement visa”, you get stamped in for a 90-days stay permit. The “retirement visa” itself will become invalid or “used”. It cannot get “extended”. This is technically not possible. It is just wrong wording used by Thai Immigration, for whom a visa and a stay permit erroneously are the same thing.

(I am talking about the most common misunderstanding regarding the rules that come with applying for the “retirement visa” and the subsequent “one-year extension of stay permit based on retirement”. Misunderstandings happen because a “retirement visa” can mean 7 different visas and stay permits) but let’s remain on topic.

The best way is to show up in Thailand on a 90-days single entry Non-Imm-O Retirement/over 50 visa” as it will get you a 90-days stay permit stamped. Within this period you have plenty of time to arrange for the application to the “1-year extended stay permit”. There is NO mandatory health insurance or a police record check or a medical checkup required for this visa-type. These are the requirements only, for the application to the 365-days Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa, which is a complety different visa-type.

If you have arrived on this 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, you can get a bank account opened on it. You will need the account in case you want to convert the 90-days stay permit to a “1-year extension of the stay permit”.

You can theoretically fly on a one-way ticket because this visa allows you to receive a long-term stay in Thailand. Some airlines might not accept this explanation and will ask you for an onward travel proof out of Thailand within these 90 days, that’s why you should communicate with them by email and see what they say

In order to apply for the “90-days single entry Non-Imm-O retirement visa” through the online E-visa system at the Royal Thai Embassy of your home country, you can

EITHER

use the proof of income of a monthly minimum of 65.000.- THB, by using your original pension or other income documentation,

OR

you can use a deposit of a minimum of 800.000.- THB or the equivalent in your home country currency, or on your home bank account, or on your Thai bank account (if you got one), or just anywhere in the World – as long as it is in your sole name

However, for the later application inside Thailand, for the “1-year extension of stay permit” out of the 90-days Non-Imm-O retirement visa, the financial proof is different.

If you are a citizen of a country whose embassy in Thailand does not issue a certified “income affidavit” any more - these are the embassies of USA, Canada, UK, Norway and Australia) you would need a “12 months bank statement”, showing that for the past 12 months, you have been transferring from abroad to your Thai bank account a minimum of 65,000 THB, consecutively month for month.

If your embassy still issues a certified affidavit of income, you can use this method for the financial proof, which needs a monthly income or pension of a minimum of 65,000 THB

For British, Australian and U.S. citizens, in the first year there is no other way around, than depositing a minimum of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account, and use this deposit for the financial proof which is required for the application to the “1-year extension of stay permit based on being over 50/retired”, at least in the first year

The alternative would be, if you don’t have that kind of money or are not willing to deposit in a Thai Bank account is, paying an agent to “arrange” the requirements, which I, however, do not recommend

As soon as you have accumulated the 12 consecutive months of 65,000 THB transfers, month for month, you can apply for the next 1-year extension of the stay permit, using the 12- months bank statement, in the second year. After being issued the next extension, you can theoretically take the 800,000 THB out of your bank account.

This application to a 1-Year Extension costs a 1900 THB fee and you can theoretically do it all by yourself, or accept the help of an agent for the simplified legal service.

NOTE: It is income OR deposit.

However, there is a third method, called the “combination method”: A combination mix of income and deposit.

Some immigrations don’t allow the combination method in the first year.

And some Immigrations want the deposit part to exceed a minimum of 400,000 THB.

The combination method means that the sum of the deposit AND the monthly income exceeds 800,000 THB in one year.

But let’s continue with the “normal method” (visa issued in your home country, followed by the application to the 1-year Extension inside Thailand):

On the day of application to the 1-year extension, the 800,000 THB need to have “seasoned” in your account for two months, and this has to be proven with the “bank letter of guarantee” (rab roong thanakan).

After been issued the “1-year Extension of the Stay Permit based on Retirement”, the 800K need to remain in the account for 3 more months. After these 3 months, the deposit shall never go under 400,000 THB. And before the application for the next “1-year Extension of Stay”, a minimum of 800,000 THB must have seasoned in the account for two months, again.

On the day you get issued the “1-year extension of stay permit”, you should buy a re-entry permit for it.

A re-entry permit will keep your stay permit alive and valid in case you exit Thailand before the expiry of the 1-year stay permit.

A single re-entry permit is 1000 THB on Immigration. A multi re-entry is 3800 THB. With a multi re-entry permit, you can exit and re-enter as many times as you wish during the whole 1-year stay permit period.

Good Luck and a great time in Thailand

@Jim ******

No, it is not Thai Immigration requirements. He got most points wrong - check Brandon's reply