@Einat ******

step one on that is right. It doesn't say you can't apply while on a tourist visa though. You can apply outside Thailand in your home country, and show money in your home bank. Or can convert in country, which it says as well. The requirements for converting though, generally you need to get on it pretty much immediately as there are time cut offs which can be quite tight. If you are too late on your current stamp you can extend or leave and come back and then you have time again, it's not a deal breaker.

@Einat ******

that website isn't official, it's a law firm. It's a reputable law firm, and most of the information on it is accurate, but just to note it's not immigration, or a Thai embassy, or the government.

@Matt ******

all extensions are the same price, 1,900B. For tourist that's 30 days but if you qualify for a year extension, that's still 1,900B. It doesn't vary by the duration. That's the official price direct with immigration if you do it yourself. You can pay an agent, that's fine and costs more, some do this because they don't meet the requirements and need an agent to smooth that over, others do meet them but use an agent to reduce queuing or peace of mind or whatever. Fine. But a year extension is 1,900B, Nick MuayPlam is right on this.

@Frank *********

because you can extend. A few days overstay used really be no issue either. I wouldn't do it now though, climate has changed.

@Mic***

also, FWIW, your plan of 2 months in Jan/Feb, 2 months in Jun/Jul, maybe another after that- that sort of pattern, where it's not 5 months all straight together, I think that would have a far higher chance of working long-term. It's the big blocks of time all together extended visa runs they particularly don't like. Multiple 2 month "holidays" where you go somewhere else for an extended period in between I think would be more acceptable to immigration.

I still think a straight 5 months repeated annually is not necessarily impossible, but what you have outlined is even better.

Nothing guaranteed though.

@Mic***

you'd have a second issue there, that you can't legally buy a villa. So that's even more complication, of fake buying an asset in a country you don't have the right to enter. I mean, it can all work out... I wouldn't do it in your position.

60k sounds inexpensive for a "villa", I know this is absolutely possible if you are Thai looking for a house, I mean I would buy one myself if I had the right to, but more difficult if foreigner who can't legally own it in the first place. Maybe you have done more research on this, and you have something specific in mind.

While 60k invested outside Thailand should return more than enough to pay your rent forever, without ever having to touch the principal.

I get the desire for a base, there are places you can rent very reasonably. Some will do deals, like I know people who come here around half the year and they do keep a place but they pay half rent for the months they aren't here. Or, where an apartment has a storage and they will keep all their stuff there for free until they come back the next year.

@Mic***

this is the rule you'd be risking falling foul of. The thing is, this is NOT a law. But it is a rule of thumb, and it's published not only on the MFA website but also several embassy websites. People will point out the MFA and embassies are not immigration and that is correct as well but there are definitely rules of thumb about duration of tourist entries and what this means is it's not a hard no denial of entry but higher possibility of questions/hassles/warnings of last time.

Note it says visa exemption, so if you get a visa, at least theoretically that doesn't count and you can do the visa exempt entry after that.

"Furthermore, foreigners who enter the Kingdom under this Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme may re-enter and stay in Thailand for a cumulative duration of stay of not exceeding 90 days within any 6-month period from the date of first entry."



Other anecdotal evidence, many people have been told by immigration officers, more than 6 months in a year is a problem.

@Mic***

I think he's right that if you push it over 6 months you will have issues. You would absolutely be able to do 60+30 and 2x ground border = 7 months the first time. It's when you fly back the next year to try that again, you could be questioned at the airport. Or if not the second year, the third or the fourth.

Or you may not, you may be fine. But it's a possibility. My feeling on it is under 6 months/year is the max that this will be reliable, if it's something you want to keep doing long term.

Definitely don't buy a condo if you have no long term visa, that makes little sense. With how cheap rents are, it makes little sense anyway, but makes even less sense if there's a *possibility* you'll be denied entry to the country, which there always is if you are spending a lot of time here on tourist visas.

I think if you keep it to 5 months a year, there is a very good chance you can do that indefinitely. Not 100% guaranteed, but as things are, good chance. Over 6 months, I'd suspect you will have a problem, at some stage.

@Ni***

right but I'm saying you will be fine when you get the retirement visa, they won't have any issue or question you then.

@Ni***

you'll have no issue when you get the NonO. It's just specifically, people who were previously living here on long-term visas, but then come back on a tourist visa, I think they look at that and wonder. I guess it is a reasonable inference that you are more likely to be "living here" than someone who hadn't lived here before.