@Thomas ********

Bety, very bad advice. Whatever dodge you use you do not own the house/land and can end up losing it - as a number of people have discovered over the years.

More than one option applies to me!

I’m renting long term but don’t actually live full time in Thailand. Lots of people in my condo building are similar. Eg Scandinavians own condos here and visit each winter for a few months. It’s much quieter in the building now than it was in December/January.

No, you don’t have to do anything. The legal requirement is for the place you are staying to notify Immigration of any foreigner staying there. Hotels generally do it automatically online. If you’re staying in rented accommodation such as a condo then it is the owner/agent of that condo that does it. If staying with Thai family then they should do it.

If you don’t intend to go to Immigration for an Extension then you really don’t need to worry about it.

If you are going to Immigration then they might fine you (though it should be the property owner) for it not being done.

At the airport you theoretically need to have proof of accommodation to enter the country but I’ve never been asked in 36 years of visiting Thailand.

Get a Tourist Visa, you’ve plenty of time. You app,y online. Do it 2 months or so before travel. You could have problems when you check in at the airport and, in any case, you don’t want to overstay if you can help it.

You can convert to a Non O visa ‘for Retirement’ and then do annual Extensions of Stay. You can come and go as you want as long as you get a Rentry Permit each time. You need 800k in a Thai bank account for the Extension. You might need this for the initial one depending which Immigration Office you are dealing with.

One of you can piggyback on the other’s visa but that means leaving the country and returning.

(You can pay an agent and avoid the cash in bank etc but it’s not cheap. Probably 25-35k each)

Edit: sorry, just saw you said partner not husband so you can’t piggyback)

@Howard *********

I took out an annual multi-trip as I’d planned 2 trips of 3-months each. The broker is well known on various FB groups (especially during Covid). Arawan Namak

@Howard *********

it isn’t for annual Extensions once in Thailand but it is listed as a requirement for the initial application in the U.K. and other countries.

I always get Travel Insurance anyway so I just made sure the one I bought matched the requirements. I actually got it through a Thai broker as I knew they’d provide whatever paperwork I wanted. They were also very helpful when I made a claim during my last trip to Thailand.

@Roger *******

I typed this for someone else, just to give you an idea:

Visa Procedure

I was applying for the Non O ‘for Retirement’. I just followed the online instructions- though I had most documents etc ready on my iPad.

From memory, I uploaded:

1. Photo of details page of passport;

2. Headshot of myself taken on phone (when I submitted I got a warning that the photo might not be good enough but submitted it anyway and it was accepted);

3. Declaration form which appears during application- I printed it off, signed it and took photo;

4. My occupational pension statement. I’m too young for State Pension and the occupational pension amount isn’t very high;

5. I used a bank statement as proof of residence showing well over £10k in account, though I only uploaded one month;

6. No travel history so I wrote ‘None’ on a piece of paper and took a photo;

7. Photo of me holding passport;

8. Flight details - return flight 92 days after arrival;

9. hotel booking for first week;

10. Insurance that included 100k Covid. I was getting insurance anyway, used a Thai agent/broker and they provide a one page summary for me to upload;

11. Paid the £60 fee.

I did everything on my ipad and had no problems. Uploads each need to be less than 2mb but it’s easy to choose size of file on ipad. Some had to be jpg but PDF was ok for others.

I got the visa in about 3 days.

@Roger *******

I paid 8000 baht plus 4000 for a multiple re-entry permit. They do the 90-day reports for no extra charge.

Worth it for me, though I know others will disagree 😊

@Roger *******

Depends on the immigration office. They can decide to make it difficult if they feel like it. Better to get Non O in U.K.

I still used an agent for my extension to save myself the hassle, even though I had the cash, Non O, accommodation etc etc. I never plan to set foot in immigration if I can help it. A couple of friends are the same.

It’s worth it to me. I’ve no problem if others would rather spend the time to do it themselves, but I’d rather part with a few baht.