You can apply for medical insurance at any time, from anywhere. As the non o has no requirement about insurance, it is not connected to your visa at all. Start to shop around and find the one you want.

@John *********

doesn't work like that. Dependent visa is for spouse/kids (up to 20yo). It is not for parents, siblings or any other kind of family. They will need their own visa to stay.

I have been here for close to a decade, and no one has, yet, forced me to do a cooking course. I did do a bachelor's degree while here though, and soon-ish can say the same for a master's degree.

Kidding aside.. Sounds like you are asking about a DTV, which I have never had.

Typically you will need to sign up for something that will satisfy the embassy to give you the visa. How many days/hours of whatever? I don't know.. Ask them where you will apply. Once you have the visa, it is good for 5 years. Every time you enter Thailand within those 5 years, you will get 180 days of stay stamped in your passport.

The only "however", is that if you want to extend the stay for 180 days without leaving Thailand, it will be up to the immigration office you will use, how they interpret the wording of the law. Will you need to again show finances/documentation/registration for cooking courses? Only they can tell you.

@Ally ***********

having a tourist visa is not a guarantee for entering the country. Especially with an extensive history of visa exempt entries/tourist visas.

@John *********

while that is true, as per the law, do remember that the immigration office/officer has the discretion to require further documentation than the law requires as a minimum, if they deem it necessary. Many people have been asked to provide proof of the source of income. Both for banked money and monthly transfers. For most that means providing some pension documents and/or statements from the home country bank.

Normally though, you are absolutely right.

@Greg **********

you are absolutely right. Forgot about the recent issues with opening bank accounts. So yeah.. Has to exit and re-enter to activate his non o e-visa.

Your problem is that you have a visa that isn't active yet. You entered visa exempt, and applied, while inside Thailand for an e-visa in Australia. You need to exit and re-enter Thailand to activate the visa. You can't use it for anything as it is now.. It's a piece of paper that shows you have the right to enter Thailand.

The bank is right, and you will probably get the same answer in any bank, because ypur current stay is not on a non o as you haven't used that yet to enter Thailand. Only way without exiting Thailand, would be to deposit 800K in a Thai bank in an account in your name only, and buy the 90 day non o directly at an immigration office here.

Well.. That depends on what kind of non o, and where you tried to get it. For a marriage non o for example, only some immigration offices will sell that in-country.

In other words, don't sign anything in this regard. Choose another bank if they won't do business without holding your money ransom.

You might have to prove the money is legit. But if not locked away from a signed agreement, they have no rights to just hold your money for any time. Let alone months.