@Jón *************

yes

@Jón *************

each immigration office is slightly different, so the best thing to do is go to the office and ask for their list of requirements for the extension. It's usually; photocopies of all documents, passport, passport size photos, information from your bank, your lease agreement or tabian baan if you own a house, a hand drawn map of where you live. There's a 2 sided a4 form to complete with about 15 basic questions like; name, passport number, address, date entered Thailand. It costs 1,900 baht and on average takes me 45 minutes each year.

As long as you meet the requirements, until you die.

Lot's of people use agents legally because they perceive the visa process to be problematic or they might have health issues.

Some use it if they don't have (or want to tie up their money in Thailand), but this is illegal and people do get deported as a result. The rules are there for good reasons (to ensure people have enough money if they need medical treatment etc). If someone doesn't want to deposit 800,000, they can avoid it by applying for the non OA visa instead, this mandates they have health insurance instead of money in Thailand.

@Jón *************

depends. If you are from a country that provides the affidavit, no. If you transfer 65,000 per month, no. If you are relying on the money in a Thai bank method, it can drop to 400,000 2 months after the extension is granted, but it must be topped back up to 800,000 3 months before the next annual extension.

@Gerry ******

Jon was stating an agent can help circumvent the 800,000 requirement for the first year, that is illegal. If the person is from a country that provides the affidavit, there's no need for 800,000 at all. For the second year you can switch to 65,000 per month transfers instead.

@Jón *************

I think Graham is pointing out it is illegal to not have the 800,,000 in your bank account, so if they knock on your door, your visa will be cancelled and therefore deported (this does happen).

I don't know the answer, but it does seem to be linked to (and following) the arrest of Chinese people that were operating illegally.

As others have stated it is easy to do yourself.

The only thing I can add to the other comments is to be organised. Get a folder and put copies of your documents inside, make plenty of copies of your passport pages. Then when you apply for subsequent extensions, everything is already in one place, so you just need to; add the bank letters, fill out the 1 page application and you are done. Good luck.

Agencies are in business and want you to pay for as many of their services as they can. So yes you can do it this way, but you will end up paying a lot for these services and likely have to use their services every year thereafter. Much easier and cheaper to get the non O before you come to Thailand. You will also then have no problem opening a bank account, as you have a long term visa, instead of being a tourist.