Judy Blyth this is not what the Royal Thai Embassy in London advised me before Christmas. They said 800,000 THB in a Thai bank account OR proof of a minimum of 65,000 THB monthly income.

@John *********

I was told by the Royal Thai Embassy in London that I must demonstrate for the previous year that I had a pension income of at least 65,000 THB and show that moving forward that income would be paid in to a Thai bank account.

My private company pension funds and the UK State pension people have said they can all pay directly in to a Thai bank account.

Now that I am getting married I need to show I have a monthly income of 40,000 THB in the same manner.

Before my Thai fiancée and I decided to get married, I was going to apply for a Retirement Visa. I am from Scotland and I spoke to the Royal Thai Embassy in London.

They said I did not require an income affidavit from the UK Embassy in Bangkok if I could provide bank statements for the past 12 months showing I had a monthly pension income greater than 65,000 THB.

They advised me not to deposit 800,000 THB. They said this was only necessary if I did not have bank statements for one year showing I had monthly pension income of 65,000 THB or more.

Excellent post! Factual, detailed, and comprehensive.

@Graham *****

yes I was.

@Michael *******

good point. Mine is with Virgin and I made sure it covered my long enough for me to get private health insurance once I decided to stay.

@Daniel *****

we’ll excuse me for having the audacity to ask a question in a forum which I thought had been set-up for people like me who don’t know the ins and out to ask questions 🙄

@Graham *****

I was originally applying for a retirement visa until I met my Thai fiancée and we decided to get married.

She was previously married to a Danish guy and thought he had to get private health insurance as part of the application process.

@Pete ******

thank you for clarifying that.

@Pete ******

so far I would say that every question I have seen asked in the group has been met with at least one hostile response.

I was an ex-pat in the San Francisco Bay Area for 5 years; Stockholm, Sweden, for two years; Kyiv and Uzhorod, Ukraine for 2 years; and El Paso and Austin, Texas, USA, for 1 year.

There always seems to be an element amongst the ex-pat community which is embittered and cynical.

I have already seen the same thing in Thailand and so I am consciously not fraternising with other farang. I moved to Thailand because I love the country, the culture, the people, and the food and want to get immersed in day-to-day Thai life which is why I am learning the language.