you said you hold a valid work permit, this makes you - in case you have to leave Thailand - elegible for an application to a COE at the Thai Embassy of your home country. (However with all the financial burdens & hoops included - ASQ quarantine/ flights etc)
explains, is, the "bank guarantee letter" for the "deposit method" must now be issued for the full period of one year, instead for - as was the rule before - only the 3 (now 2) months prior to the date of the new application of Extension of Stays based on retirement. So the old style "bank guarantee letter" (rab rong thanakan) for three months, for the "deposit method", is according to
, not sufficient any more ? That's good to know, because I have never before needed to ask my bank for the full year statement, only for the 3 month statement, and I don't know how long it will take them to issue it
he will have to jump through many hoops, but it is absolutely doable, since September 29th and with the beginning of half-commercial flights to Thailand since October 15th. Some Germans have already successfully received the CoE and the Non-O/A visa and have arrived in ASQ quarantine now in Bangkok
he can return to Germany and later at any time apply for the "1-year Non-Imm-O/A vbased on retirement", on the embassy Berlin or one of the main consulates Frankfurt and Munich only. It is doable and allows applicants to receive the CoE for entering Thailand. I guess he first needs to make his existing extension "void" by leaving Thailand WITHOUT a re-entry permit, though. And then follow step-by-step all requirements
at the moment you can indeed apply for a "1-year Non-Imm-O/A visa based on being over 50" and the CoE at the embassy Berlin and the two general consulates Frankfurt and Munich in Germany. However you will have to fulfill all those added requirements, though. One of it is the documented (!) financial proof (65,000 THB or 800,000 THB) and the health insurance full coverage. These are listed on the webpage of the Munich consulate ("thaiconsulate dot de") In order to be able to apply, you need to void your existing Non-Imm-O Extension by leaving Thailand WITHOUT a re-entry permit