The number of hours per week that you need to attend classes to qualify for an education visa is not much. Can be as little as 3 days a week, 2 hours at a time. Perhaps you can juggle the care of your baby between yourself and your husband in order to do this?

@Marty ********

Totally This

@Sharron ******

I would agree with the previous comment about not rushing to buy a condo. But I would say wait 2 years before you invest big money like that. Many people think that they are moving to Thailand to live out the rest of their lives, however a good many are gone by the two year mark once the novelty has worn off, the rose coloured spectacles have come off and funds are diminishing. Coming to Thailand on a holiday is much different to living here long term. Real estate rarely gains value here due to an oversaturated market, and often it is very hard to re-sell. Many people sell at a loss

@Brooke **********

no need to have a Thai bank and a retirement visa plus the 800K baht working back home. You can apply for your Non immigrant OA visa in your own country and not move a single dollar to Thailand, if you choose. Downside of this visa type is that you need to have medical insurance that covers you for the length of the visa (12 months) . With clever management you can get almost 2 years out of this visa without requiring a Thai bank account, an agent or the transfer of any funds into Thailand. However a Thai bank account is very useful and most peoople will need to access funds from their home country so transferring directly into their Thai bank account makes sense. Otherwise someone from the US can come into Thailand on a single entry tourist visa or a 30 day visa exempt entry which they will need to extend at their local immigration office. Then apply for a non immigrant O visa, on the basis of being over 50 years and having 800K baht. The non immigrant O visa costs 2000 baht and is simple to do by yourself. Once your 800K baht has sat in a Thai bank for 2 months and you have 21 or 30 days left on your visa (depending on your local immigaration office requirements) you can apply for a one year extension at a cost of 1900 baht. So basically for a total of 3900 baht this gives you 15 months in Thailand and saves you tens of thousands of baht in agents fees

Make sure you have the equivalent of 20,000K on you in cash, evidence of a future flight out of Thailand and accommodation booked (may not be able to use your home address as your evidence of accommodation if you're using a tourist visa. A real tourist would not have a permanent address in Thailand)

@Pui ****

multiple entry tourist visas can only be applied for in the country of the person's passport or permanent residence. If the OP and his father are not official permanent residents of Mexico, then it would require applying at a Thai Embassy or Consulate in the US. Requirements for a multiple entry tourist visa will be on the website or whichever Thai Embassy or consulate they choose

@Matt ***********

If you are 49, just wait a year and move to Thailand as a 50 year old then both you and your Dad can apply for retirement visas within Thailand. You will each need to have 800K baht which you can deposit in separate Thai bank accounts to show that you each have sufficient funds to meet the financial requirements for this visa. Alternatively come earlier on a single entry tourist visa that will give you 60 days and can be extended by another month to give you 90 days in total. You can then leave Thailand through a land border and get a 30 day visa exempt entry when you return back in to Thailand, which you can also extend by 30 days giving you 60 days (30 + 30). You can do two land border bounces in a calendar year meaning you could get another visa exempt entry and another extension 60 days (30 +30) giving you 210 days in total in Thailand. Hopefully by then you will have turned 50 and become eligible for the retirement visa.

@Dave ********

I have never spent more than 2 hours doing my yearly extention. Those saying that it takes many hours and lots of queuing can't be for real

@Brian *******

bar stool experts will tell you that visa requirements are changing all the time. When this just isn't the case. Yes, there was a change to income verification methods for "retirement" visas in 2018, and the addition of medical insurance for Non OA visas but nothing since, and nothing for more than a decade before that!

Not sure where this notion of visa requirements changing all the time. Perhaps some people enjoy scare mongering or speculating without facts.

@James *************

they are Canadian, they don't need to open a Thai bank account or bring a single dollar/baht into Thailand. Their embassy will sign a verification of their funds in Canada