@David ******

This is exactly my experience

There's usually a passport office in the largest mall in town. Doesn't your gf know where it would be, or one of her friends?

yep, you can't do it without a lot of quality research and pukka legal advice

But .... but .... surely there's a rule written, so I can quote it and have an argument with Brian, because he has no right to have a bad hair day when it disturbs my perfect life and ....

EDIT: Sarcasm

@Don *****

I understand that is true of the DTA with the USA. But citizens of each country need to check what's in their DTA. The UK, for example, only certain government pensions are exempt from Thai income tax. And I mean civil service, health care & teaching (in public sector health/education), local government, etc are exempt. Occupational pensions in the private sector, and the state pension, are not exempt 🤨

@Joseph ***

ha ha you're just a youngster then 😉

@Joseph ***

It's worth understanding the impact. And you've probably done this for yourself already. I'm from the UK. I have state and private pensions, none are exempt from Thai tax under the DTA with Thailand. If I transferred 65k a month, the minimum required to extend my stay each year, and that happened to be my only income in the UK, I would have paid £1,060 tax in the UK. If I have no other income in Thailand, Thai income tax due would be £1,500. This is mainly due to the higher personal tax free allowance in the UK. If I brought in much more (or if the proposal to tax all global income became law in Thailand) the higher UK tax rate of 40% would mean I had already paid more than the Thai income tax due, so no more would be payable. For most people it's a storm in a teacup.

@Ruth ******

Hi Ruth. I opened my first account in Bangkok when I arrived in August 2023. No certificate needed (and I'd never heard of such a thing) having letter from my hotel confirming a long term booking. But it took 2 days of back and fro to the bank to persuade them to do it. Opened a second account in Pattaya a couple of months ago, used a Letter of Residency from the IO, the bank opened the account immediately with no quibble.

@Joseph ***

But do look up your country's DTA with Thailand, to be sure of your position. For example, many countries had all pension income excluded from Thai tax. But the UK only agreed to exclude government pensions, for some odd (infuriating!) reason

@Lynn ******

You don't need the 800k in a Thai bank to get a 90-day non-O from the Embassy in your home country. On arrival in Thailand you can then open a bank account and deposit the 800k, which must be there 2 months before you apply for 12-month extension of stay. Your nearest Immigration Office will issue a Letter of Residency, which the banks require as proof of your address. To get the letter of Residency, you need to take your passport with visa and e.g. condo rental agreement, to Immigration.