It's not a 7 day "extension". Technically they deny your extension and give you 7 days to leave the country. There is no such thing as paying to overstay when you have been ordered to leave.

You need to show the 800K in a Thai bank every year when you renew your visa.

You should have all of this already.

At age 50 you can apply for a retirement visa. Consult a visa agent as soon as you land in Thailand to get everything set up before your birthday. I was able to switch from a visa waiver to the retirement visa without even leaving the country.

Work permit will be enough

The visa "on arrival" has to be organised in advance. Allow at least 7 days.

Some exchange places won't even take pesos

@John *******

Australians: You guys get paid when you're out of the country?

The moment our passport pings at an Immigration exit point, all government payments stop until we ping back into the country again.

It is possible to get permission to go overseas for two weeks on some pensions and payments won't be interrupted, but in general government benefits are only for people who are onshore in the country. Sigh.

Thai bureaucrats REALLY like piles of paper. Even more so if it has a stamp and signature on it from some international authority.