Richard Reitman I plan to be around for the full 10 years. It works out to be about 2x more expensive than my OA yearly extensions. There is no money in the bank requirement so I got access to my 800,000 baht. There is no 90 day reporting which to my surprise is really quite nice. At least it makes some sense for those of us over 50. The Elite visa makes no sense to me for retirees though, as I mentioned, I know wealthy retirees that have it with no regrets.

I am married but the hassle of marriage extensions vs retirement extension wasn’t worth it to me. I paid the 50,000 baht and if I die tomorrow what do I care? I easily met the LTR requirements and it was incredibly easy to apply for it. I’m quite happy with it 6 months later. It’s new since last September so I like to make people aware of it as an option.

I got a 10 year pensioner LTR (Long Term Resident) visa this past January. It is 50,000 baht for 10 years. I had previously been on an OA visa. It is not too expensive but requires an $80,000/year pension income.

There are 5, 10, and 20 year versions of the Elite visa. The Elite makes the most sense for those under 50 years old who want to stay long term though I’ve met retirees that love their Elite visa. It is relatively expensive. You pay a fee (600,000 baht for 5 years) upfront and that money is gone. The 800,000 baht deposit required for an O or OA yearly extension is still your money.

I had an OA for 6 years. These days I would recommend pursuing an O visa without the health insurance requirement. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have health insurance but only that it doesn’t have to be tied to your visa and it may allow you more flexibility in the policy you choose.

@Keith ******

15 baht and this is what prompted me to request the change. However, last year I lost 2 debit cards in the ATM and and started to use cardless withdrawal. They don’t charge for cardless withdrawal no matter where you are.

@Carl *******

The thing is, is that it shouldn’t matter to the bank if they understand visas at all.

This is an inconvenient suggestion but I agree that you could try a bank branch in Bangkok. That is where I got my Kasikorn account. When I moved to Sisaket province I went to the Kasikorn branch here to switch to a nearby branch. They changed my mailing address but not my branch. It was too difficult to go through the process of opening a new account for an American. So I live in Sisaket province but my official branch remains in Bangkok.

@Carl *******

The O visa is a 90 day visa that you can extend for a year. The OA visa is a 1-2 year visa that can then be extended for a year. I was on an OA visa for 6 years. The OA also requires health insurance to extend.

@Keith ******

If the bank is saying you can’t use an OA but have to have an O then that tells you the bank doesn’t know anything about visas. That should either be a red flag or a teaching moment.

@Carl *******

An OA visa is a 1 year visa that you can only get in your home country. An O visa is a 90 day visa.