@Robin *******

from everything said in this and similar groups over the past year, a Retirement Visa is pretty easy to do without an Agent. It might be a lot easier to use an agent to just open a Thai Bank Account though. Others with better knowledge, might chip in, but if you apply for the Retirement Visa before moving to Thailand, it's not so hard to open an account yourself, but if coming in on a Tourist Visa, then it's a lot harder and best use an agent to open an account for you

@Keith *****

perhaps, but I'm not diabetic

@Jacob *******

while Thai language is completely different to English and others, because the characters are different, I'm confident given time, that I can learn the language sufficiently well. When in school (a long time ago... Lol), learning French language seemed to come fairly natural to me, so I'm confident that with time and effort, and also as you said, "immersion" when the opportunity is there, I'll get there.

"tours"... I hate the thought of being herded around like sheep or cattle, having to such to timetables of others. If and when I go anywhere, it's too my timetable as much as possible. I can't participate, for example, in my photography hobby if I have to go where others say, when they say. I hate crowds too and avoid where possible.

Out of curiosity, I'll look at that YouTube video.

@Jacob *******

my visiting Ayutthaya and Lopburi was because of my interest in photography and to a lesser extent, their history. Fascinating to see and walk among the wild monkeys too. Thanks for mentioning the language; before my visit to Thailand, I had a try at learning some basics, but in the time I had available, it just seemed to hard. I've now got a lot more time, so this is a reminder for me to try again to learn some basics before I get to go back there. Did you use any Apps or anything else to help you learn Thai?

@Chris ********

I bet that didn't hurt 🤣

Did she apologise by saying 'sorry for the b@lls up' ? 🤣 🤣 🤣

@Why****

did you extend your stay? Are you still there? 🤣 🤣 🤣

@Xjwhudkwhry *******

they say that nothing is impossible... well, maybe that's not quite true 😉🤣

@Nick ***********

could have been worse...a hose connected to a drum of car oil

@Nigel *************

was she on her knees just in front of you when you found out? 🤣 🤣 🤣

@Jacob *******

while calling them"tourist/expat slums might be a bit harsh, I think that I get where you're coming from when I hear about the number of foreigners that get themselves in trouble in Thailand. When I was there for a holiday & to meet someone I didn't see any foreigners outside of BKK and the ones when at The Grand Palace. The rest of the time, I was in provinces 1.5 to 3 hours north of Bangkok. Being around only Thai people for a few weeks, life seemed so peaceful and happy, even though not able to speak the same language, except through using Google translate. I felt so welcomed. Besides The Grand Palace, Ayutthaya & Lopburi for a couple of days each, I wasn't near any popular tourist areas. No scams, no fears, just peace and a feeling of wanting to stay permanently, which I hope will happen in the not too distant future