@Steve ******

do you have to go to the consulate or can you do the whole thing by post?

@Steve ******

Easy is not a word I would ever use in 25 years of dealing with Thai embassies abroad.

@Steve ******

I think it took me no more than 30 minutes messing around filling out a form in an immigration office in Thailand.

@Steve ******

On the contrary. It is extremely easy to convert from a 30-day tourist Visa exemption to a Non O and then a one-year based on retirement. And you don't have to prove the 800k came from abroad. I should know because that's what I did.

@Andrew ******

If you get a non O overseas you have to provide more information about finances including a background criminal check. If you get it in Thailand there are no such requirements. I converted my 30-day exemption then put the 800k in my account let it seed for 2 months and then I applied for the yearly extension based on retirement.

@Andrew ******

you are correct. The monthly pension income must come from overseas. However when I got a non O Visa inside Thailand on the back of a 30-day exemption entry I did not have to prove the 800k came from outside. It came from a Thai Bank. But in fact there is no financial requirement to obtain a Non O in the first place it is only when you use it to get a one-year extension based on retirement that you need to prove funds. And when I did that I just had to show the funds in the bank account no proof that they came from overseas. I've been doing this for 20 years.

@Andrew ******

yes. It will have to be sitting in the account for two months before you apply for the extension the first time. The following year it is three months

@Steve ******

No such proof is required that the 800k funds came from abroad.

@Andrew ******

you don't have to prove the funds came from abroad.

@Steve ******

You can go straight from a 30 day tourist extension to a Non O at Immigration in Thailand. Better to do it here than overseas. Then convert the Non O.to a retirement extentsion after seeding the 800k. That's exactly what I did.