@Priti **********

Hi Priti.

I’m in the process of getting my Non-O extension at the moment, so I’m no expert but am familiar with the route I’ve taken so far. I might receive criticism but hey ho!



Simplest to apply for the Non-O visa while outside Thailand, using the Thai e-visa site which will get linked to your local Thai Embassy. During the application you must be in the country you are applying from until the visa is issued. There are obviously questions regarding your Passport, funds in a bank account (outside Thailand) and your present location. You pay the visa fee too. They may get back to you with further requests but the whole process should likely be completed within 2-3 days if applying from a Western country. Once they are satisfied they will send a copy of the visa to your e-mail in PDF format. You should print off at least one copy of that. (I printed it off and laminated it for durability). It will define the 3 month window within which you need to enter Thailand, so don’t apply too far in advance of your planned trip.

Fill out the online TDAC information within 3 days prior to your arrival in Thailand.



On arriving in Thailand and passing through Immigration, present your visa together with your passport. (They will have a copy linked to your passport but more rather than less is preferable.) The immigration officer will stamp your passport with your Non-O stamp and write in the date that the visa expires, 90 days later. (Know the date yourself prior to going to the desk and verify this is the correct date.)

ASAP you should obtain a Thai SIM card then visit a bank to try to open an account ASAP. The bank will inform you of any further requirements depending on the individual branch. I opened an account with K-Bank quite easily while SCB were asking for a Yellow House Book (Tabien Baan) in order to be able to open an account with them. A residence certificate from your local Immigration office might be required in lieu of a Yellow Book. (My Thai wife and I own a house).

You need to deposit the required amount of money into the account in enough time to have it deposited there for fully 2 months (not 56 days!) prior to applying for the extension, be it Marriage or Retirement. The amounts required in the account are 400,000 baht for Marriage or 800,000 baht for Retirement.

This means that the bank account has to be opened and the money deposited within the first 28 days of arriving in Thailand. Also check with your local immigration office in advance to see what their requirements are and from what time prior to the expiry of your Non-O visa that you can apply for the extension there. (Usually from 45 to 30 days before, but the money must have been in the account for the required 2 months).

(To obtain my Yellow Book I had to visit my local district office [Amphur] to find their requirements. These were extensive and apart from local things, involved getting my passport certified at the British Embassy in Bangkok [2 weeks until I could get an appointment] then translated into Thai and validated at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MFA] office, with further requirements from them! Anyway, I did receive it together with a pink Thai I.D. Card eventually. You’ll likely not be required to go through this for your extension of stay, but in the long term having them will simplify your life.)

@Kieran ******

-Top spec iPhone 17 MaxPro. Identical

U.K. Apple Store - £1,999.00

Thai Apple Store - 80,900.00 Baht

This moments conversion: £1,860.49

Do the math!

@Dylan *******

which is cheaper than the U.K. or Europe.

@Kieran ******

Likely cheaper in Thailand, from experience.

@Paul *******

Good to hear. There’s a bit more visibility (maybe my eyesight doesn’t help) on a bigger screen but if it work well, it works well. I’m no expert on the PDF apps available for Android and IOS but I’m sure they have similar capabilities to Acrobat. Could likely do it with picture files too then convert them to PDF.

@Paul *******

That’s straightforward to do if you have an Adobe Acrobat account or can access one. You can combine multiple files to one binder then save it as a pdf. You can then reduce the size of this file massively, to create a pdf to submit to the embassy. Maybe some other pdf apps do similar?

@John *********

You can apply in Switzerland too as long as you are in the country throughout the visa application and submit the required documents. The usual advice is to apply for the non-o rather than the non-oa as the requirements are simpler.

@Roger *******

Go to your local Amphoe and check their requirements to obtain a Yellow House Book and a Pink Thai I.D. Card. Might require an appointment at your embassy to certify your passport and you can obtain a copy of your birth certificate online (if UK citizen?) Get everything that is in English or other language officially translated to Thai and visit the MFA to get it certified and clear up any requirements that they might have. Fulfil all the Amphoe requirements which likely will required photos of you at the house with the local headman and witnesses. Get signed photo copies of all the ID cards of the Thais involved and submit the documentation to the local Amphoe. There will likely be a meeting to attend at the local Amphoe with the Thai witnesses and possibly your local headman (men) in attendance too. (You can compensate them for their time financially). Get your thumb prints and photo taken at the Amphoe and you should be ready to receive the Yellow House Book and pink Thai ID cards. Obviously your wife’s assistance during this process will be invaluable.

Once you’ve achieved that, nothing will seem difficult again and life should be much simpler when dealing with bureaucracy, banks and phone companies etc.