As long as you are here on the proper visa then I wouldn’t think you should have any problem switching from one visa to another. Sometimes people staying in Thailand on educational visas as students have future problems but it sounds like you are pursuing a work visa at a university.

If he is in the very first year of the OA visa then he cannot cancel it. He has to wait until that first year runs out. The original visa has to expire. After that you have options.

Many people maintain a separate bank account for the 800,000. I assume that is what an agent would be doing.

@Nathan *****

This is true. It is very hard to buy ingredients for Mexican food. I really stocked up on chili powders on my last trip to the US.

Unless it is one of a kind or has sentimental value I wouldn’t ship anything. Anything for day-to-day living you should replace in Thailand. Six years after moving here I shipped some artwork made by my father who died 20 years ago. The shipping was expensive but it has sentimental value.

@Patricia ******

Google LTR BOI

@Dennis ******

On the BOI website it is advertised as being for wealthy pensioners. Not so wealthy in the US but here in Thailand . . . I guess so

I wouldn’t think you would want a car in Bangkok so it would just be your time in Hua Hin depending on how you spend your time between the two cities.

I lived in Phra Khanong, Bangkok for 6 years and did not need a car. I used the BTS/MRT, taxis, motorbike taxis, and Grab. Occasionally we rented a car for excursions. We moved to Sisaket province in 2023. There is no public transportation out here. I bought a Honda CRV. I loved not having a car in BKK but I really love the freedom of having a car now that I am outside of BKK. I’ve got a motorbike here in the countryside for short excursions. Motorbike accidents are common everywhere in Thailand. My wife’s daughter got in an accident a couple of weeks ago. I see accidents pretty regularly.

@Pat ****

No. I showed them my tax return which showed over $80,000/yr in the US. My income is a work pension and Social Security. It’s what you receive, pre-tax, outside Thailand.