@Frank ********

so you don't need the mandatory 100K USD health insurance

Kathy Spencer you will indeed get stamped in until November 2026 when you return to the country with new insurance,

you are correct when you go to exit the country again in April next year you will need a reentry permit and you will get stamped back in until November 2026

Don't confuse an entry stamp with the validity of the Visa itself those are two completely different things.

The Visa runs out in March that is the latest you could enter the country on it and get stamped in.

The entry stamp that you're going to get this November will be until November next year because you get stamped in for a year or as long as your health insurance is valid for up to a year.

So when you leave in April which is after the Visa itself expired you will need a reentry permit and when you come in you will get stamped in until that November 2026 stamp

You couldn't "swap" to anything from an OA,

If you get the OA visa from the thai consulate in your country before you come here, you get stamped in for a year (or as long as your mandatory insurance is valid for up to a year)

THEN

when that year runs down IF you got another year of insurance you could exit/re-enter before the visa itself expired and get a whole new year entry stamp (or as long as the insurance is valid for up to a year)

Most people on OA visas (who plan it out right) manage to get almost 2 years of stay out of that one year visa by renewing their insurance and bouncing out/back for the second year entry stamp.

However IF you're wanting to get OFF the OA visa you'd have to exit the country, get stamped out, then either buy a new 90 day Non-O visa from a thai consulate before you come back OR enter free stamp 60 day visa exempt, have the 800K banked in a thai bank account in your name only and apply for the in country 90 day Non-O visa at the immigration office where you live.

There is no way to "swap" an OA for an O without getting completely off the OA and starting the Non-O visa/extension process from scratch

@Paul ********

yep, tough lesson to learn 🙁 but now you know

There are over 80 immigration offices in the country and you do 90 day reporting based on the office that serves the address where you stay in thailand

You should be able to get in/out of that Nonthaburi immigration office pretty fast though WAY faster than queuing with the zombie horde at Chaengwattana 😛

@Paul ********

you need to go to the main one in Bangkok IF your actual address has Bangkok in it, 😉 😛

If you're being told you do your 90 day reporting at the Nonthaburi office I would wager that your address doesn't have Bangkok in it 😛

Live and learn, 😉 best of luck with it,

@Brian ********

right, that's when you'd be able to bring the balance of the account down to 400K and then once you got the following years extension using monthly income method you could empty the account as you'd be on an extension that used a different method of proof of funds.

@Lia *********

you're not asking a question related to this topic (moving the funds to a new bank) so if you have any more questions please make your own post

@Lia *********

I know there will be a problem 😕

The rules are clear 🙁 In fact, you signed a form stating it when you were at the immigration office (even if you didn't know you signed it)

in Bangkok they make you hold up the paper and take a picture of you holding it so IF you say you didn't know next year they can show you 😮

This is the english translation of the rule

note; there is nothing in the rules saying you can't move the funds to a new account, and there is nothing saying you have to do it in 'chunks', I was suggesting that so you don't run afoul of any seasoning requirement or have an over zealous officer go thru the banking stuff with a fine tooth comb looking for a problem

I would say you'd move the money in 'chunks' so that 400K baht was always in one account or the other 🙂 AND don't do any moving of funds during the 2 months before an extension is due OR the 3 months after it's granted <- when you're required to have 800K baht in the account.

After that (when you only need to have a balance of 400K), move the money in two steps, 400K at a time would be the safest 🙂

The next year you would need a print out of the old account statement and the new account statement to show the money trail, but you should be able to do it no issues other than that