@Brandon ***********

If you are going for a retirement visa, you need to plan ahead a bit. After comming to Thailand with a 30 days visa excemption, you go straight to immigration, and extend it by 30 days. Give you 60 days alltogether. On the same day, you get a residence certificate, from immigration direct or from an agent. I woukd the cimmend staying in a condo instead a hotel. Next day you apply for a bank account in bangkok bank. After open this, you transfer 800.000 thb into your new account, and let them print out a certificate for it. With that you apply for retirement o visa 3 months, which you can extend then to a year

@David ********

of course david, i full understand your point. 800.000 thb or 21. 000 usd is alot of money, and i am sure, your Bank gives you a ton of interest for the 5 months you need it. I just try to help with what i expirience and share what i find out.

@David ********

The money sits in your account only a few months. Because you can withdraw half of it after a while. After your Retirement Visa is apprived, you will be feeding your thai bank account with bath per month until your first renewal. Then you have a proof of income for 12 month and do your renewal with that. In reality you need 800.000 for the first few months, then 400.000 until end of the first year and then take 400.000 out and your visa runs on the 65.000 you put in each month.

@Deby *************

Not sure what their facebook page is. But they are only in Chiang Mai

My agent charged me 3500. But i had to do a bit if work too. They set up appointment with the bank, i had to go there. They set up residency certificate, i had to pick it up. They checked all application papers for retirement visa, and i had to go to immigration myself. I think thats worth the efford if you see 3500 vs 45.000.

Its true, there are quite a few things what can go wrong with the visa application, thats why heaps of people use an expensive agent. I have done the middle way, using an agent called Visa Paper Ready. These guys are assisting you with getting a bank acount, guiding you to get all the paperwork you need and they even check onsite all required Papers before you hand them yourself to immigration. And it was pretty affordable too. Bank account, guidance and preparing your Visa application for the Retirement visa did cost me 3500 bath. And i handed in my application next day and it was approved almost on the same day.

@Kevin *******

central Festival shopping centre have an immigration office. On 2 floor

Immigration will ask you to go to tge Tm30, office in the back to get a white paper. But if you do the extension in Central festival, they let you go with that one