@Susan *******

That is what I did. I kept 800,000฿ in the bank + a couple of 100,000฿ emergency buffer and then topped off the account with my monthly expense money. The buffer keeps you from accidentally dipping into the 800,000฿. This way you can use just one bank account. Often people get a separate bank account for the 800,00฿ to protect it from monthly expense accidents. That’s OK but I sounds like it is a chore to get a bank account these days for new arrivals.

Note that yearly extensions for the O and OA are identical except for the OA insurance requirement. The 800,000฿ deposit is the same for both visas. As I recommended earlier, you might as well get an O and deal with insurance separately.

@Jan *****************

I got my OA in 2017 before the insurance requirement. It made more sense then.

@Susan *******

The O and OA visas are not the same thing. I would really recommend pursuing an O visa followed by yearly extensions. It will give you more insurance options that aren’t tied to your visa.

I switched from an OA to a 10 year LTR visa. The LTR is another option that is not well known.

@Stuart **********

OA yearly extensions also require the 800,000 baht deposit.

@Andy *********

At least I am not asking stupid questions about rawdogging.

My idea - stop looking at IG and Tik Tok

I have a pensioner LTR. While you don’t have to report that you meet the financial requirements each year it is unknown what they are going to want to look at when you extend at year 5. I am going to make sure I have all financial and insurance documents to show that I did meet the requirements each year.

What you are getting is a queue number to get a queue number. I used to get there at 8:30am. All the early birds streamed inside in about 15 minutes. Then I entered and got my queue number in a few minutes for section L.

@Andre *******

Thailand has a remittance based tax system meaning they will tax money brought into Thailand. What gets taxed depends on the tax treaty Thailand has with your country. For example, US Social Security is not taxable but my private pension, that portion I transfer into Thailand, would be taxable (except for my LTR exclusion).

I've seen the 2023 tax form and it mentions the skilled professional LTR. You check the box and then are subject to that tax rate. What I don't know is if the 2024 form addresses the other LTR categories. That is , do they expect you to file even if you don't owe tax. I'm a US citizen and we have to file whether we owe federal tax or not.

I have a reason to have the tax lawyer file my US tax return this year so I will just add the Thai tax return as well. For those waiting until January-March to see what happens you may be caught up in a rush if you choose to have someone else help you with your taxes.

There is no right advice on this . . .

I have a pensioner LTR. This year I am planning to have a tax lawyer file a Thai tax return just to see how the process works. If I don’t really need to do this then I will find out this year. I have a pink government ID card which is my Thai tax ID. If you decide to file a tax return you are going to need a tax ID.