The actual time scale to move to Thailand depends on you & what you want to bring. You could literally pack a suitcase & get on a flight visa exempt & check into a hotel while you look at houses. Difficult with a dog but there are boarding kennels here.

If on the other hand you want to be a bit more organized then apply for your visas before you come, maybe make a pre move trip to find a house, some won't accept pets, get a bank account opened.

It is possible to ship all your worldly goods but expensive & alot of rentals are furnished.

In short your time scale to move is anything from 24hours up depending on how you want to do things

You have to get your embassy to certify that it is an original & valid document then get it translated to Thai & certified at MFA, hopefully your embassy will be able to point you in the right direction.

I used a local agent to run around bangkok & get this done for me as it was more effective than spending a couple of days there to do it myself

@Mac ******

correct, O visa does not require health insurance at least at he moment, its advisable but at least you have more options.

From memory to legalize a UK marriage cert it has to be certified somewhere in Milton Keynes then translated & taken to ministry of foreign affairs in bangkok.

Once mine was certified I did use an agent for the MFA bit as it was cheaper & easier than going to bangkok myself.

Its a while since I did mine but a google search should turn up some information

You have the choice of

1 OA visa which you apply for in your home country & requires proof if 800k equivalent each each plus quite specific health insurance. You can show the funds in your home country but they will need to be moved to Thailand before you can extend the OA visa & will need continued health insurance.

2 Coming on an O visa ( or tourist visa which you will later convert to an O) quickly opening & depositing 800k & then applying for retirement extension.

It is possible for 1 of you to hold the visa & 800k & the other to be a dependant but you will need to have your marriage certificate certified & legalized or you will both need a 800k account each.

At most immigration offices you can show 12 monthly international transfers of instead of the 800k for your annual extension.

A lot of people do find the process confusing & use agents & they do have their uses but it can be costly & sometimes result in non legitimate visas.

Bear in mind that an extension actually costs 1900bt each & if you can open & fund a bank account they really shouldn't be needed.

Travel insurance!

You should be OK with either. The airline are the ones who might create an issue with either visa option.

This happened to a friend recently so best advice is to book a throw away/onward ticket within the time frame so that you can show you plan to leave Thailand (even though you won't use it)

I use a foriegn currency deposit account for visa funds no problem but you do have to keep en eye on exchange rates or keep a little extra to allow for fluctuations.

The other questions are pretty impossible to answer I'm afraid

Rent 10k utilities 2k food&drink if you cook a little & go out a couple of times a week 12k depending how much you drink. Possible to live modestly on about $750 a month, cost of living varies dramatically in different towns. Initial settling in costs like visa, buying a motorbike etc will be a couple of thousand. Your biggest cost could be health insurancel or you at least need to be happy that you can cover any emergency yourself

Look at the visa pages of your local Thai embassy &Thai immigration. More information in needed for anyone to help, ages of parents, will children go to school etc

@Wren *********

funds are required for the visa but not dependants.

It is also possible to show 12 monthly deposits of 65k instead of 800k on deposit but that's probably only relevant when you come to extend in a year.

Marriage & birth certificates will probably have to be legalised & translated for use in Thailand, each Immigration office has slightly different interpretations if the rules.