"Can I simply make flight reservations to leave USA, without doing anything else, receive a 60 day visa upon arrival ... " Obviously you'll need to actually come to Thailand. They're not giving visa exempt for people who don't come here.

The visa is less of a question but rather Airline requirements.

I have used WU in the past (10 years ago).. The were cheaper than an ATM.. But I had problems with them and their security practices. I think they had problems with verifying something or another. Their customer service was horrible. If you're going to use WU you should have a plan B, or emergency cash... But that's true for any transfer service.

I bought the insurance policy (8000) to open Bangkok Bank, soi bokhao

If I were in his situation I would work hard to find an agent locally. There must be somebody who helps people at the immigration office. You/He could go there during business hours and wait to spot the agent. Asking the immigration supervisor seems like a pretty good idea.

Agents provide know-how and contacts but otherwise they're just people. If no agent can be found consider hiring a college student or similar. I think if the friend and the student show-up at immigration the immigration officers will take pity.

I have been quoted in the neighborhood of 25-35 to get the visa and 10 to renew. That's without the cash. If your friend has the cash I would recommend paying no more than 25 (probably less).

It may be possible to set-up a visa in one location then transfer/move to another location. I did that with my bogus volunteer visa so I know it was possible at one time.

One final note, although I don't know, it's been my experience the immigration offices that do not have too many people to deal with, are more pleasant than the main tourist places. Si Racha's immigration was super awesome compared to Pattaya/Jomtien, It may be immigration in Kanchanburi will be easy.

I have been here 10 years, I would absolutely do it again.

- People on FB can be jerks, myself included. It's up to you to ignore it.

- Visa process in Thailand has gotten a lot more easier in the past year or so. It's possible that you read older posts when the process was more of a pain (I have no idea what you've read, but it's possible).

- Absolutely, I recommend you come here and check-out the different places. My biggest issue is just bought a place and now I can't go live in different places. But I can still visit..

- I often sit on my back porch staring at the sunset over the Ocean and think to myself: "This is the best life". I hope you can too.

I have a buddy who is a vet. He has some medical conditions that complicate things but he still manages to spend half the year here. I think can spend more time here but prefers to be there. He is able to talk the VA to given him larger quantities of medications so that he doesn't have to refill. Additionally, he has a friend ship him stuff from his home.

This group is a pretty good group. When you're ready to make move I would encourage you to ask this group for advice about mistakes made (bank accounts, taxes, driver's license, etc etc).

I am sure Malaysia will love to have you... Good luck!

That may not get you very much real estate but you may be able to become a SCUBA instructor for that

@Jason *****

I am not really fat.

@Carl *******

Nutty squirrels can!

@Bob *******

That's one of the many things I love about Thailand.