@Mayuree *******

Yes. A tourist can apply for a non- immigrant O visa while they are in Thailand on a tourist entry. Luckily he has a Thai bank account already. There is some tricky timing regarding what to do and when. I’m not the expert on that. You want to ask Tod Daniels in this group or the Thai visa advice Facebook group.

It sounds like he is on a 1 year extension of an OA visa. If he also bought a multiple re-entry permit then he must wait until that ends. If he didn’t buy a re-entry permit then he just has to leave the country without a re-entry and that will end his 1 year extension of stay. After he re-enters as a tourist he can apply for a 90 day O visa and at the end of the 90 days he can apply for a 1 year extension as a retiree. It is the same as the 1 year extension for an OA but it doesn’t have the insurance requirement.

I had an OA for 6 years. I now have a 10 year pensioner LTR

I think the problem here is assets owned before and after the marriage. If the assets were owned prior to the marriage and protected in the prenup then it doesn’t matter what country or state they are in. If you open new bank accounts and buy property outside Thailand after the marriage then that could be more complicated.

In my case I have a couple of bank accounts in the US that I have had for decades. I’ve not acquired any new assets in the US. The benefit of the assistance of an American lawyer in Thailand in a Thai law firm is to explain all this and if necessary recommend what to do legally in the US such as a referral to a US based lawyer.

If a Thai is divorced from an American and wants to go after assets in America, acquired during the marriage, then I guess she is welcome to try. As a practical matter I not worried about that myself. Those assets would have to be pretty substantial to make it worth the effort.

@Ruth ******

If you want to declare all your assets acquired prior to the marriage as off limits then I think you would be able to do that with a Thai prenup in Thailand. If you want to direct a portion of your foreign assets as off limits then no, I would not expect a Thai prenup to have any validity to direct distribution of assets in the US.

@Ruth ******

I think we are talking about a Thai marriage in Thailand and they are living in Thailand. If the prenup protects assets acquired prior to the marriage then does it matter where the assets are? If I want to get married to a Thai in Thailand and live in Thailand then I need a prenup in both countries?

@Ruth ******

Are you saying a Thai prenup in Thailand cannot protect assets you acquired prior to the marriage?

@Neil *****

It is a Thai law firm writing a Thai prenup covering a Thai marriage in Thailand. He was an American lawyer able to assist me in the process. He did what you said in your comment to this post. It was a Thai lawyer that accompanied us to the marriage registration.

@Neil *****

I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he is practicing legally and ethically in the context of his position in the Thai law firm.

@Neil *****

OK but the lawyer writing you prenup can assess your specific situation and explain it to you.

I used a law firm in Bangkok. One of the partners was an American lawyer. He, of course, explained whatever I needed to know but in fact my assets were pretty simple and there was nothing complicated about the prenup. My American assets and pension income were excluded. This is true in the US too. Assets you bring into the marriage are still your assets. What you acquire together while married are joint assets. The prenup was in Thai and English and the Thai lawyers explained the terms to my Thai fiancee. The law office insisted on assisting with the district office wedding to make sure the prenup was filed correctly. We are still married so we've never tested the document.

Of course, this will depend on your wife's education & skills but there is little chance they would even know where to start regarding looking for assets in a foreign country.