@John ********

However, your problem is, you cannot open a Thai bank account on a tourist visa or visa-exempt entry. You need the bank account, because you have to use the deposit method (since your embassy does not issue any income affidavits)

yes you can do the "change of visa type" on Immigration, If you want to "change" to the 90-days Non-Imm-Family Visa" (married to a Thai partner) then the requirements are listed under number 6 here:

@Doug ******

keeping your money in your home account you could do so in the first two years out of a Non-Imm-O/A visa. Getting your 800,000 THB out of a Thai bank account, if you decide to end the "1_yer extensions" and move on, is no problem at all. You can even get it paid out in cash and exchange back to USD at SuperRich or SiamExchange in Bangkok

@Doug ******

when you applyfor the Non-Imm-O Visa in the USA, you need to prove that you have got more than 800,000 THB in any bank account anywhere in the World, as long as it is in your sole name. When applying for the 1-year extension, the money must sit in a Thai bank account in your sole name. On the day of application to the 1-year extension, the money must have already seasoned for 2 months in your Thai bank account

@Doug ******

you will require aThai bank account in any case. . . .an agent has no say in what a border official thinks about your previous visa-exempt entries. Some people swear that a booked VIP-Fast Track entry agent helps to secure entry when entering through an airport. What I am saying is: apply for the 90-days Non-Imm-O Visa in the USA, enter Thailand on it hassle-free, open the bank account (with help of the agent or without) and transfer a minimum of 800,000 THB onto it as soon as possible. After the money has seasoned for 2 months, apply for the 1-year Extension of Stay based on retirement

why don't you apply for the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa through the e-visa online system of the Thai embassies and consulates, outside of Thailand, or in your home country? It would make many things easier, such as opening a Thai bank account. And it would ensure that you won't be denied entry, in the wake of your recently done multiple visa-exempt entries and extensions

@Nick ******

your wife, if over 50 years old, must apply for her own 90-days Non-Imm-O visa. She will need to prove her own financials - 800,000 THB on her bank account (for the visa the account can be anywhere, but for the Extension the account has to be on a Thai bank). She can try to get a "dependent" Non-Imm-O visa, but many Embassies are only willing to issue it if you, as the main applicant, are on a Non-Imm-O/A visa.

@Richard **********

if you entered Thailand on a 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, you don't have to prove that the 800,000 THB deposit came from abroad, for the application to the 12-months Extension of the Stay Permit. This proof is only needed when you apply for the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa on Immigration inside Thailand, after you entered visa-exempt or on a tourist visa. This process would be called "change of visa type". You probably mixed up these two different approaches to the Extension

the 1-year extension started on the day after the 90-days stay permit from the Non-imm-O visa expired. So your next application will happen a week or two before the Extensions expires on July 2, 2025. You should have collected 12 months of consecutive transfers by then

@Tony *********

wrong, a cheap "onwardticket" is just a ticket "reservation", and it is blocking the ETIX system of the airlines. Many airlines hate this thing