@Tony *******

it says these insurance companies are for the OX and OA visas not O, or did I miss something?

Apply for a non-O visa based on being over 50 (retirement) from one of the Thai Embassies in the USA online. You then fly to Thailand open a bank account and deposit 800,000 baht in the first couple of weeks. Get a list of requirements from the local immigration office to extend your stay for 12 months. After your money has been in your Thai account for 2 months take everything on the list to immigration and extend it for 1,900 baht. It's easy to do yourself. Good luck.

@Mic ****

i don't know what you are talking about, I presume 800,000 baht? I use the monthly income method, so I deposit more than 65,000 baht each month instead.

@Mic ****

nope. I have a long term visa a phone number in Thailand and own a home in Thailand, so even though I use Bkk bank my account has not been frozen.

@Mic ****

no i do not work as an agent and I don't know any agents. I applied for my own visa and have extended it 3 years since without any help from agents. It's very simple to do.

@Mic ****

that's not the message. It's about having a long term visa when opening a bank account. No need to use an agent if you don't want to, but you do need to get the correct long term visa before travelling to Thailand if you plan to stay.

@Martin ********

yes you can, but a Thai bank account will be required, and opening an account without a long term visa is virtually impossible these days. If you already have a Thai bank account it's not a problem. Most people find it much easier to get the non-O visa before coming to Thailand.

@Peter **********

no, that's not a good idea as it's virtually impossible to open a bank account in Thailand without a long term visa. It is possible to get a non-O visa from outside Thailand and this is definitely the easiest way to do it, and avoids the need to use an agent. The other option is to get the non-OA, but most people seem to choose the non-O as there's no mandatory health insurance requirement.

@Peter **********

i think David's information is clear, but I am confused with yours. So to clarify, are you suggesting you can only apply for the non O visa inside Thailand?

@Gregor *********

it's a really good response, other than 'theoretically'. I applied for my own visa and extended my stay 3 times. It takes me on average less than an hour each year to do this (and I have used 2 different IO). It's really, really, really simple to achieve. I can still get on with the rest of my retirement plans (riding into the sunset etc for the other 364.5 days a year) without paying an agent to do simple things for me. Up to the individual, but that's what I do.