@Chris ****

IO - Immigration Officer

Travel by land - if they turn you away its easier to come back the next day.

Every immigration officer is different. If you talked to a different IO you would likely have a different experience. Choose your IO wisely.

@Jovan ******

"I just like to really understand what's going on" Good luck with that, this is Thailand and I am pretty sure nobody knows what is going on.

To answer your question. What I was told was, I MUST use the 800K method to get the visa (year 1), To renew the visa I could do the 65K method.

However, I use the Pattaya immigration office, which may implement policies differently than your father's immigration office.

I use an agent (because I didn't have the 800K, agents can provided that for you).

Pattaya's immigration office is known to be openly crooked so it could be the case that I had to use the 800K only because the agent would make more money. Or the immigration office would make more money (bribes).

So I wouldn't say your father's situation is exactly the same.

That will be the case with most advice you get from Facebook.

Different immigration offices - different rules

Different nationality - different rules

Different "friends" - different rules.

The Thai immigration site is probably a good place to get "guidance" but in the end, its up to the immigration office which/how rules get applied.

Sounds like they know what they are talking about, which is kinda rare.

I couldn't speak to your father's case and it sounds like there is some confusion.

The rule is, pretty much. You must have 800,000 in the bank year round OR show income of 65K+/month. The funds MUST come from overseas (that gets some people but I think not a concern in your case). You do not have to do both.

I recently got my first retirement visa (800 for one year required). Next year when I renew, I should be able to get the visa by showing that I have income of 65K+/month, from overseas.

You should be aware, every immigration office is a little different. If you're working with someone to get the visa, they likely "have a friend". Although, in your case, it sounds like they do not, and you're doing every thing by the book and the book is confusing (by design no doubt).

Best of luck to you

"good command [of the] English language".

Otherwise you sound like you've conquered the English, and some may take offense to that.

(I had to edit my post a couple of times because my English sucks also)

I can try to find the contact information for the lady that handled my marriage. She would at least know how to determine if you are married and what you can do about it.

I have been in Thailand for 10 years on various different visas. The whole time I have been a remote employee. The Thai government is not going to spy on you in your home to see which buttons you're pushing on your computer.

My claim has always been "I work for a company in the US", Nobody has ever question where I do that work.

"In case you don’t know, most banks around the world don’t provide bank statements for the current month. Statements are automated and are provided only for previous months."

What is meant here is go to the bank and get a current statement. The have some sort of special letter or notification.

What they don't mean is the bank statements that most banks around the world send every so often that are outdated by the time they are received.

You can sleep on the beach for free. You can pay someone $1000 to cook you a $100 steak while you sleep on the beach for free. A very common expression in Thailand it's all "Up to you".

<- that's a pretty good site to find local prices. You can get cheaper if you want.

500/month walking around money, its ok. You can have a good time that you will remember the rest of your life. If you're some working stiff and this is your big once in a lifetime get-away.... I would say, go for it.

However, I think you maybe over budgeting on your 'mandatory'. I don't think you have the money for "island hoping" but you probably have the money for 'Island staying'.

Koh Samui is a large lsland, you can visit a couple of the smaller islands for the weekend. You could get monthly rental off the beach for much cheaper than $700/month. A motorcycle rental is $150/month.

You can do similar for Krabi. If you rent on the beach $$$$ if you rent 2 or 3km from the beach $$. If you have a Thai companion $ (because they know their country better than we do).

Governments frequently hold passports.