@Greg **********

yeah, the mind boggles alright... all those foreigners swarming to Pattaya, 'the most corrupt IO' & all those other 'full services' provided for the enjoyment of foreigners. Probably plenty of scammers there too. 😲

@Nelson *****

haha, I bet there were some strings attached that she hasn't told you about.

So, if you got an offer from an Immigration Officer, why are you asking about using an Agent here?

@Nelson *****

do you mean that you've tried to bribe an Immigration Officer yourself?

@Liam **********

why is it "Dead money"? Maybe it's not earning 4-5% interest like it would in an Australian bank account, but if you don't have it in a Thai bank, then there's potentially a big risk you're taking... see my other comments.

As for 400k Baht, yes that's the minimum balance the account has to be with the retirement visa. 800k has to be in the account for 2 months prior to applying for an Extension of Stay, then has to be kept in the account for 3 months after an Extension is stamped in your passport.

@Roberto ********

right, how hard can it be... see my comment earlier, which although I haven't got to doing a long term visa yet, my understanding is correct?

@Nelson *****

are you aware that if you don't deposit YOUR OWN 800k Baht, instead having an agent deposit it, then withdraw it as soon as your Visa is approved, what is actually happening is the Agent is 'paying off' an individual to do what is illegal? If for any reason, the Immigration Officer is investigated and the 'bribe' is discovered, that Officer most likely will lose their job and your Visa, or Extension of Stay will be cancelled. From a few comments by Moderators in the Fb groups in, Immigration is starting to clamp down on this. Your choice, but your taking a risk, maybe a big one.

I haven't got to that point, but I've been following the Retirement and also Marriage Visa posts for two years now, read hundreds of posts & thousands of comments in three Facebook groups. There's always some that use agents, but I would say that there's just as many, if not more, that do it themselves. The reason: Agents charge tens of thousands of Baht for doing Visas, but the client, you, have to do most of the work yourself anyway, the Agent can't get the required documents for you, you have to do it yourself. Once you get the documents together, you hand them to the Agent and all he does is go into the Immigration Office and lodge the application. If you are retired, which means not working, surely a little time out of your day to go into the Immigration Office yourself can't be too much of an inconvenience.

@Neil *******

have you gone and checked the Embassy website for yourself? The Thai Embassy, Canberra website has changed since I previously looked, being due to the change to the eVisa system.

It seems that one is now required to open an account to get anywhere before you can see the option that you want to apply for the'over 50 retirement' visa, or any other Visa. Open the link I've included, then scrolling down and tapping on "other Visas" , you will find there's a list of documents required for the *Retirement" Visa. This is only information though. If this Visa is the way you want to go, then I would suggest to open an account on the website and you'll probably find a 'starting point' for applying for the Retirement and all other Visas.

My plan if one obstacle is removed in the next 2-3 months, is to enter Thailand around the middle of the year, Visa Exempt and do what I need to do to get the Non-O Visa based on marriage, so I don't need to open an account myself on this website, otherwise I would, so I can find out more info for you.

@Neil *******

someone obviously don't know what they're talking about. If you go to the website of the Royal Thai Embassy in Canberra, find the Visas page & you'll see an option for a Non-O Visa & from memory, in a drop-down box, there's one for over 50 (years old). It's a while since I looked, but it's there.

@Neil *******

you might already know, but I believe that you and your wife would need to have your funds in two separate bank accounts, not a joint account. I may be wrong & a Moderator would know better than me.