For me in the U.S. when I inquired about the swift transfer, which I thought was a good idea at NFCU only being $25, it went on to say that the receiving bank may have charges and that the exchange rate was based on some mid-rate whatever, excuse my lack of clarity please, and it kind of left it up in the air exactly how much one would receive. I used Wise because I knew exactly what the homeowner of the house I am buying would receive. Not discounting your experience at all.

@Anna ********

I found the swift transfer a bit more intense than just a simple Wise transfer. With Wise you know exactly where you stand as far as fees are concerned. The swift transfer from all I have ascertained might come in below what you thought you were sending after the fees from both sides and the exchange rate come clear.

I just went through today when I used Wise. It seemed that if you did a wire transfer it needed to go to Wise's JP Morgan account then to your account as a domestic transfer. I wasn't sure if that would show it as a domestic or international transfer, so I went with the transfer directly from my bank, fees sucked compared to wire transfer but I felt better about it showing as an international transfer. If you go straight from your bank, you need the swift code for whatever bank you are transferring to. My research showed that after the $25 fee from Navy Federal credit union, the possible charges from your Thai bank and a less than favorable exchange rate, Wise was the way to go. At least with Wise you know what you are getting upfront. Also, it's 800,000 baht for a visa.

@John *********

ok. Thanks for the heads up. I thought I saw a post in the past of someone doing it, good to find out I'm wrong before wasting money.

@John *********

I fly tomorrow. I guess I can apply for a 90 day non-o and when it gets approved run up to laos and activate it. We're only about 45 minutes away.

@Brandon ***********

got the bank account open in April , so I'll just come in on an exempt entry and go from there.

Why did you need an invitation to stay? Just come in on a 60 visa exempt from the US and if you want to stay the full 90 days get a 30 day extension from immigration. You made it harder than it needed to be.

The OA requires proof of insurance and money in his bank account. If he doesn't have the 400k to show to apply for the non-o in his bank account in France, wouldn't it be the same result for the OA visa?

@Andy *******

that's his problem then, not anyone else's. He has a child in Thailand but can't afford the proper visa to see said child and now Thailand is the bad guy because he wants to come and go as he pleases, and the IO said not anymore. Granted, without black and white on paper rules as far as entries go it doesn't make it any easier to know if the next trip is the one that he'll get hung up on.

If you get your first extension and can transfer 65k+ every month for 12 months without fail monthly, you can then extend based on monthly transfers and the 800k can be available to you. If you extend with the 65k transfer that money is also available to you every month as long as you don't miss a monthly transfer.