Most people book their flight months in advance yet you want to leave it until a couple of hours before the flight to get the necessary documentation to get back into Thailand. This just doesn't make sense to me unless you are more than 100km from the nearest Immigration office even then I would still got and get it and make a day out of it. That's if you didn't know when you last went to the Immigration office like for doing the 1 year extension. All you need is a bit more traffic than normal and you might miss your flight because you need that permit and they coulld be busy.

Things take time over here, first they have to announce the change, then it needs to be published in the Royal Gazette and even then there is normally a time period for it to be implemented. Keep an eye on the Thai Immigration posts and website and if the change is implemented (it may never happen) then if you are arriving after the change you can still get a 60 day tourist visa before you come. If you arrive before the change then you will get a 60 day stamp in you passport and any changes after that will not effect you as the stamp states when you have to leave. If you are really worried then you can get the tourist visa anyway but it does cost money and just like the entry visa/waiver you can normally extend this for another 30 days.

If you are refused entry and the airline brought you without meeting the entry requirements then they can be held responsible for taking you back so if you don't have some form of exit from Thailand booked within the terms of entry it is very likely that the airline may refuse boarding. I was refused boarding when I came over on a one way flight even though I had a non-O visa, I think the woman at the checkin desk either didn't see the visa stamp (I handed the passport to her opened on the visa stamp page) or didn't know about them. I was OK after explaining the stamp and that I was not coming back so all was OK. You don't have to have a flight back to your own country, you just have to have proof that you are leaving Thailand within the visa terms and I've seen posts that recommend just getting a train or bus ticket to Laos (before the end of the days) before traveling to Thailand and show them that as it's proof of leaving Thailand within the visa period if you have a problem, you don't even have to use it but it's cheaper than a flight.

Graham Seal Isn't that exactly what I said "Be aware that one of the Thai banks...."

If you are talking about a non-O extension based on retirement then do the same as most people have done, get the non-O visa in your own country before coming to Thailand and when you arrive go to Immigration, present details of where you are living etc and get a residency certificate then use that to open the bank account. transfer the 800k Baht to that account and wait 2 months then go back to immigration with a letter from the bank and all the necessary forms filled in and you get the 1 year extension. It's easy and only costs about 2100 Baht (200 Baht for the bank letter and 1900 Baht for the Immigration fee). Alternatively if you think that this is too difficult then you can use an agent to do it for you but that will cost significantly more.

Be aware that one of the Thai banks has a habit of freezing your account after issuing the letter for immigration when getting a retirement extension, just make sure that you are not using that bank. There's plenty of posts about it and even reports on some expat Thai news sites but I won't name them as I don't want to get in trouble with the Thai anti-defamation laws. I use 2 bank accounts with Kasikorn bank, one that holds the 800k and the other for living expenses to ensure I don't accidentally drop below the 800k.

According to all the reports I've seen Thai Immigration are cracking down on 'non-tourists' entering on a tourist visa. Like those people that come in on a 60 day visa waiver (visa on arrival), extend it for another 30 days then leave for a few days and come straight back and try and do the same again. Meaning those people that are trying live in Thailand for 6 months or more without a long term visa. There are lots of real tourists who stay for a couple of weeks then leave only to come back a month or 2 later and keep repeating this (like oil rig workers) these don't appear to have any problems as they only stay a short while and the total is well under 6 months each year.

Why would anybody want to go to USA at the moment, I've heard that even USA passport holders are leaving in droves.

Graham Seal I didn't say it had to go back to 800,000 I said that if you are transfering the 65,000 each month and living on the same then the original 800,000 would still be in the bank unless you have spent it.

I'm no Thai immigration expert, just an expat who's been living here on a retirement extension for over 14 years but this does look a bit like a 'catch 22'. You have to prove you have the funds so have to have 800,000 Baht in the bank to get the first extension and after that you have to prove you have the income so if you have to transfered 65,000 each month for the next 12 months then you can use that instead of the 800,000 in the bank. Here's the catch, you start with 800,000 in the bank and the transfer about 800,000 more during the next year and you can't touch the first 800,000 (Ok it can drop to 400,000 after 3 months but must go back to 800,000 3 months before the next renewal). Assuming you are living on the 65,000 each month then you end up with 800,000 in the bank when you do your 2nd year renewal and still have to transfer 65,000 each month that I'm assuming you are living on so unless you are using the 800,000 for a large purchase like a car it stays in the bank and you just end up with more paperwork to do than using the 800,000 in the bank method. This is why I've always done the 800,000 bank method as most of my large purchases were in the first year of being here and I coulldn't touch that sum in the bank. Just my take on it and other people will think differenly.