@Max ************

he gets "grandfathered"

@Lyn ********

your son gets the "grandfathering" rate for the next 15 years. If he had started out in 2024 and finished 5 years later, the 15 years renewal would cost him something like 5 million Baht. He can call himself lucky for entering the Thai Privilege Program much earlier before the price hike in 2024

you should use a "real" credit card (Visa or Master) to withdraw Thai Baht on a Thai ATM. Many card issueing banks do not charge any extra fees for foreign withdrawals, so you will only be left paying the Thai bank ATM fee of 250 Baht. The exchange rate of a Visa- or Mastercard provider actually is a VERY GOOD rate - it is only marginally less than the rate for exchanging cash at a Superrich booth in Bangkok

@Simon ******

even if you didn't enter on a Non-Imm-O Visa, when you did the "change of visa type" inside Thailand, the visa itself expired the very moment it was issued. You were then on a 90-days stay permit, which Immigration changed into a 1-year stay permit

@Simon ******

you cannot "renew a visa". You can only get another 1-year extended stay permit. That Non-O visa you entered on, became invalid when you entered. You have been in Thailand on a stay permit since.

@Simon ******

How will the bank know what your future visa status is after they have opened the account based on having a Non-Imm-O visa? The accounts being "closed" were opened on a touristic entries (including DTV in some cases), or the SIM-card number registrations didn't match the person holding the account. Everything else is irrelevant after the OP has opened a bank account on the correct visa

@Simon ******

FIRST: you didn't renew your visa, as you have no visa any more. You only got a new one-year extended stay permit. SECOND: the OP will open the bank account on the correct visa. What he will be doing in the future, is irrelevant to the bank account

@Barry *********

you can apply for the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa through the E-Visa online system of the Royal Thai Embassy London. Once entered Thailand, get a bank account opened and transfer a minimum of 800,000 THB onto it. And as soon as the money has sat in the account for 2 months, you can apply for the 1-year Extension of the Stay Permit based on Retirement

@Peter ********

he can apply for the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa through the E-Visa online system of the Royal Thai Embassy London

@Peter ********

the Non-O/A visa is the "Longstay" visa. The "Retirement" visa is the Non-Imm-O visa (without "A"). I do not recommend the O/A visa for people who wish to retire in Thailand because it includes a mandatory Thai private tgia-listed health insurance after the second year. If you start out of a Non-Imm-O visa, you maintain a freedom of choice regarding your health insurance