in Thailand you cannot apply for the "1-year extension of stay based on retirement" (the thing people call wrongly "retirement visa") if your enter Thailand on a "365-days Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa". You will be forced to sign up with a Thai Private-Health insurance, if you go from the visa to the Extension of Stay out of a Non-Imm-O/A Visa. You should now apply for the 90-days Non-Imm-O RETIREMENT Visa (Non-Imm-O without the "A") in your home country on the e-visa system, enter Thailand, open a bank account, transfer the required 800,000 THB onto it. And as soon as the deposit has seasoned in your account for 2 months, you can apply for the "1-year Extension of Stay based on Retirement" (which is the REAL "retirement visa"!!) There is no health insurance required, no police record check, no medical statement as it would all be required for that Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa.

Todd McGowan . . . . 46 likes for my humble opinion, that's a strong signal

@Graham *****

that's what is to it. Correct

@Mike *******

and be aware: when you enter on a Non-Imm-O visa, the opening of a bank account is easy, can be done by yourself, or by an agent for 5000 THB. When you enter on a visa-exempt or tourist visa, you cannot open a bank account any more since February, when banking rules have tightened. Some agents have deals with Immigration to circumvene this, and banks that are willing to cooperate. But this will cost you a sh.... load of dosh

@Mike *******

When flying one way on a 60-days tourist visa, or planning to enter visa-exempt and get stamped in for 60 days, be aware that the airline CAN ask you for a proof of onward travel out of Thailand within these 60 days. You can risk to buy a "onwardticket" or better a REAL flight ticket, one-way Air Aisa to Siem Reap is something around 40 USD. Flying one-way on a 90-Days Non-Imm-O Visa, doesn't require this proof, because this visa normally is used to gain a 12-year stay permit inside Thailand

@Liam **********

yes, afaik the Irish Embassy in Bangkok still issues income affidavits. The Northern Irish are not so lucky

@Liam **********

yes you can, IF your embassy still issues an affidavit of income. The U.K. , AUS, Canada and U.S. embassy have discontinued issuing them

@Jesper ******

applicants whose embassies don't issue any income affidavits, are allowed to use the 12-month bank statement method for their application. A statement from the bank for 12 consecutive months, for incoming from abroad a minimum of 65,000 THB, uninterrupted, month for month, will suffice. And you need to update the bankbook on the day of application

@Lotti *****

. . if you only receive a small pension and have no financial backup, you should not settle down in Thailand permanently. . . Thai Immigration demanding either 800,000 THB in a bank account or a minimum income of 65,000 THB got introduced on a good reason - It is the minimum budget that would ensure you have enough funds to support yourself in case of need . . . . . . . Do you have any health insurance? I have seen many westerners fall into poverty and despair after getting sick and needing hospital care.

I am kinda bored by people arguing about “lost” interest profits. When you are well suited and retire in Thailand, you don’t care anymore about peanut shells you leave behind in your home country.

17 years ago, I happily deposited 800,000 THB in my Thai bank account, it granted me the opportunity to receive a one-year stay permit, and the luxury and freedom to live in a country, where I spend less than half on the living expenses I would have to pay in my home country.

The 800,000 Baht IMHO are a cheap “parking fee” for a fully legal stay in Thailand.

If you are happy paying agents to bribe corrupt Immigration officers, so be it. But be aware that you are caught in an agent hamster wheel you can’t easily escape, and the risk keeps floating over your head all the time, that a clampdown will reveal that you have bribed your stay in Thailand.

Which can you get arrested and deported.

Who tf cares about the interest your 800,000 THB would allegedly earn if I put it into a fixed term account in affixed account in your home country, and paying an agent in Thailand more than $1000 to bribe your way through to an illegally achieved stay permit?

I did never need an agent.

I came to Thailand 17 years ago on a 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, I opened a bank account, transferred 800,000 THB onto it, and 2 months later applied for the "1-year Extension of the Stay Permit Based on Retirement". It is not rocket science. Everybody with an IQ past 80 can do it.

You can do it all by yourself. It cost me 200 Baht for the bank statement that my money was in the account for 2 months, and 1900 Baht for the application to the 1-year stay permit.

If you can't afford to park 800,000 THB on your Thai bank account, you should ask yourself if Thailand is the right place for you to retire. Living expenses are less than a half from what you would have to spend in your home country, And this includes wasting any thoughts on "lost interest earnings" for those 800K