@Sharron ******

you're welcome 😊

@Sharron ******

hi Sharron, I'm planning on retiring to Thailand in the near future when I have reached Aged Pension age. I won't claim to know anywhere near as much as many in the group, but have been reading a lot of posts for the past year and a half to learn as much as I can.

Get your Non-O visa (not the OA or OX, right?) in your home country, as it will make opening a bank account in Thailand considerably easier. With the Non-O Visa, there's no health insurance requirement, unless the Thai Embassy/Consulate in your home country specifies that it is. If there's no mention in the Embassy/Consulate website, then if you prefer, you can get insurance when you arrive in Thailand. When you're ready to do that, ask in a separate post for opinions on what insurance companies others have used and you'll get plenty of responses. In fact, you could first do a search in the group for health insurance and you'll probably find plenty of opinions. As far as changes go, I don't believe there's been any mention of changes to the Non-O visa. The OA & OX Visas, the minimum amount of Insurance coverage, I believe has, or will shortly be reduced.

I realise that you want to get help with opening your bank account. Perhaps contact Siam Legal and ask how much they would charge you to help open an account for you (you will need to be with their representative at the bank anyway). Quite a few foreigners use Agents to help opening bank accounts and it seems the average that they charge is around 5000 Baht. Once you arrive in Thailand, you will want to get that done asap, because your initial Visa is for 90 days and the 800,000 Baht must be in a Thai bank account for two months minimum before you apply for the first 1 year "Extension of Stay". When exactly you apply for the "Extension of Stay", I'm not really sure, other than it's before your 90 day visa expires. You do that at the Immigration Office in the Province you will live in and each may have their own rule about when you need to apply. If you specify what city or Province you'll be living in, someone will give you more specific information. Hope that helps a little 🙂

@Dirk *************

has

@Sharron ******

said that she is looking at an 'Non-O A' Visa? All I read is that she's looking at Non-O, which doesn't require health insurance, unless it is country specific.

@Leigh **********

you do need to be at least 50 years old at the time of lodging an application for the 'Retirement' Visa.

What type of answers do you expect? You're opening yourself up to a lot of smart*ss comments like 'maybe a good cook', or 'a comfy mattress to bounce up and down on' 😜

@Trevor *****

I see that this is just your second post in this group. From what you wrote in your original post and your response to Alan Alan, which he won't be able to read directly, I can see why you've got that response from him and are likely to get from others. In my opinion, which you may or may not like, you have included far too much information, that while it may be true, can easily look to others that you've had trouble holding down a job for very long, perhaps bragging, and that you're trying to find a way to stay in Thailand long term, when most of what you've said, wouldn't allow that. When I first joined Thailand related Facebook groups, I learnt the hard way that revealing too much information will bring about negative comments for sure. Though I don't live in Thailand yet, but hope to do so in the near future, I've endeavoured to learn as much as possible that will help me, both here in Facebook and online searching. From reading what you've said and all the comments in response to this point, what

@Kool ******

said, looks like it might be the best course for you.

@Graham *****

Australia doesn't

@Kool ******

what a comprehensive response of what can be done legally, with appropriate cautions! 👍

@Bonnie ********

Troll... and you're the baby, very immature!

@Craig ******

ok, but my thought was that simply providing a piece of paper that states that a couple is "still" married isn't proof, any more than the original marriage certificate. Having IO's visit the marital home, which I haven't read is being done away with, is better confirmation, though even that could be manipulated with a bit of help.