@Stuart **********

in late sixties. 'Marriage' Visa is what I would intend to get. Over the past almost three years, I've seen plenty of foreigners say that the 'Retirement' Visa is pretty easy to do. While there's some extra stuff to do with the Marriage Visa and quite a few comment that with the extra requirements each year compared to the Retirement one and they complain about the difficulties, maybe that's a personal issue. I've also been told directly, that most of the documents required for extensions are the exactly the same year after year, so keeping copies from previous years makes the process fairly easy.

THB60k is pretty steep. I reckon that I could do it myself for a lot less, including the actual fees and going to say, Vietnam or Laos and getting a decent holiday to one of those countries while applying and waiting for the approval of the Non-O based on Marriage. Enjoy your day 🙏🙂

@Stuart **********

As I'm not yet married to my Thai fiancee, so I can't get the Non-O Visa based on Marriage in my home country, Australia. I don't intend to return either, so I'm not fly to Thailand to get married, then fly back to Australia to get the Visa. So, I'm thinking that I'll need to fly to Thailand, get married asap, take my fiancee (by that point, wife) to a neighbouring country and apply at a Thai Embassy/Consulate for a 1-2 week holiday, then return to Thailand & then be able to open a bank account so that I can apply for the Extension of Stay. As I didn't mention it to you, you might have assumed that I would get the 'Retirement' Visa.

I just noticed that

@Grace ***********

respond to you, so if their fees for opening a Thai bank account is less than the costs of what I mentioned in my previous paragraph, that would be better than the hassle of booking return flights out of Thailand, accommodation etc. and maybe Visa fees.

@Stuart **********

as to providing documents for an Agent to do a Visa application, that's something I've read a few others say.

In a separate comment specifically naming the OP, I too mentioned going to a neighbouring country if he hadn't already opened a bank account on a previous visit to Thailand, as it's become almost impossible to open one now on a short term Visa, even for Agents. That will almost certainly be what I'll need to do when I move to Thailand in the near future.

@Kim ********

thank you for coming to my defence, when I only offered an alternative view, which wasn't criticising or ridiculing anyone else or their opinion. 🙏

@Ben ******

yes, everyone has a choice. Anyone can argue to use an agent or do it yourself. You chose to say "Go to an agent. Wasting your precious time". Many might also have the view that their money is precious (if they're not wealthy).

I'm just looking at the opposite view, which is also a 'valid comment' and I'm not here to ridicule anyone. Besides, I'm not a "keyboard warrior" and you don't get to decide based on your opinion or mine, who is welcome in the group. Enjoy the rest of your day.

@Stuart **********

my understanding is that using an Agent to obtain A Visa, the applicant still needs to gather all the required documentation and give it to the Agent, so one might as well do the whole thing.

@Jeff ************

have you been to Thailand on a previous visit and opened a Thai Bank Account in your name only?

If you have that, that's great, as it's become just about impossible to open A Thai Bank Account as a foreigner this year. If you're in Nakhon Sawan, you could try enquiring about opening an account (From my knowledge, there's very few foreigners living in that Province, so who knows if it will be easy or impossible). It would depend on if the Banks strictly follow their headquarters rules and policies. If this is the case, then from many comments I've read over the past, almost three years, it's not too hard to do the Visa application yourself without paying an Agent to do it for you. All you would need to do is go into the Immigration Office in Nakhon Sawan, which I believe from my search is part of the Royal Thailand Police Office precinct. Ask them for the list of requirements for applying for that visa, gathering the required documents and presenting them, along with the completed application form and fees.

If you don't already have A Thai Bank account, it's not quite as simple. In this case, you would be best to go to a neighbouring country of Thailand, such as Malaysia, Laos or Vietnam (wouldn't recommend Myanmar or Cambodia due to conflict issues) and apply for the Visa through the eVisa system of the Thai Embassy or Consulate there. Then, once you have the Visa, you can re-enter Thailand on that Visa and quite easily open a bank account with that. If you're already in Thailand in a tourist visa, you may not want to fly back to your home country (USA, it seems), so a short holiday in one of the countries I've mentioned, while waiting for the Visa to be approved, might be best.

Please note: I'm not currently living in Thailand, but the information I've given is based on knowledge built up over almost three years of reading posts by others in this and a couple of other Fb grouped, and a little bit of personal research also.

I am keen to know how you go and maybe keep in contact, because I have a Thai lady in Nakhon Sawan who I intend to marry as soon as I can get things sorted out at home (Australia). Feel welcome to contact me in Facebook Messenger if you want to.

@Ben ******

what about "wasting your precious" money? As long as one meets the requirements for the visa, many will say it's not very hard to do for oneself. I find it hard to imagine that a foreigner looking to get a Non-O based on either retirement or marriage doesn't have the time to do it for themselves... after all, they wouldn't be allowed to work.

@Damien *******

that's fine as an initial step which the OP may have already done, but if you have any experience yourself, you should know that the Immigration Offices in each Province have their own individual variations on what is required.

Question 2...with The extension based on 'marriage', once the extension has been stamped into the passport, any amount of the money can be taken out of the account. It then has to be a minimum of 400k in the account two months before applying for the next extension.