@Tod ********

sounds good- thanks

@Stuart ********

thanks all. Guess it's best to take the drive out to Krabi and ask them. One never knows with that office

@Benjamin *****

hah! So true. I've noticed over the years that our Krabi immigration office has its own uh, interesting and unique way of doing things.

@John *******

thanks for all your helpful info. In my strategizing and researching into the tangle of OA vs O and healthi insurance I have found that the government is talking about requiring health insurance for the O visa now as well. It might take some time, but it looks like that's coming. Game changer, and I thought it might be helpful to know

@John *******

I'm fine with having the 800k over here, and I already have it here... But with this new rule about anyone entering Thailand needing 100k covid insurance, then wouldn't I need that insurance in order to re-enter Thailand (from a holiday in the states) in either case? I guess I'm just unclear if the insurance would be required for only those first 3 months (duration of the initial O-visa, before turning in documents at immigration), vs insurance for the year with an OA.... Or if now (due to the new covid requirements) I'm going to need to keep that insurance year round regardless.

I've been doing the OA because I wasn't required to bring the money over and was traveling to the states each year anyway- plus with a multi entry, I was really getting about 2 years out of it if I did a quick border bounce trip just before the 1 year expiration. But since covid, doing it all in the country, I definitely wish I was on an O. But in either case, this new insurance to re-enter on any visa is making me rethink my strategy, as this new requirement is a lot more expensive. My previous required insurance was just under 8k baht a year so very reasonable. This new one, I'm not seeing it available for less than 30k baht unfortunately. If I'll have to have it for the year either way, I'd prefer to keep my funds in the states where they do more good and just go with the OA... But if the requirement for insurance would be less if going with the O (3 month duration instead of 12), then that would be a factor to consider... And that's the part I'm still quite unclear about.

Thank you