If u plan to stay in Th less then 6months per year, just use tourist visa and do 1 visa run for 2+1+2+1=6months. If u plan to stay longer just do marriage/retirement visa by yourself, it will cost 2-4 days/year for preparing documents and waiting + k thb. Paperwork is easy.

They could make a problem if they suspect you to live here permanently and possibly work here illigelly. As long as you just travel in and out for few days there wouldnt be any problem.

@Paul *******

not sure that wise will qualify as similar companies don't transfer the money directly. So your transfer may appear as local in your statement.

@Graham *****

even if they stop you i can bet if your history is fine and you have an onward ticket for the next day all will be fine. And probability to get stopped and asked for a passport is like to win the lottary. Problems occur when you work illegally etc...

If you dont plan to buy elite visa later just overstay, 500thb/day. Otherways you can extend for 30 days or if you already did you have a final extension of 7 days, each is 1900 thb. I personally did overstay for shhort periods few times and didnt have any problem and even did obtain an marriage visa after that, but it could be a problem for a future elite visa application.

@THAI *****************************

I've been living on Ed visas 3-4 years as I had to cause of my gf(now wife) and I can just advice u to not do it. It's getting harder and the probability to face problems soon or later is huge. And when it happens your agent will disappear :d. Just choose another country with an easier long term visa for a base and you can still come and visit Thailand or other countries, you can easily live here half year on tourist visas but living all the time here will be a problem. Also keep in mind that bad history could decline your chances to get a privilege visa in the future if you change your mind.

If you re sure you gonna stay here and you can afford it - elite visa. Even with the higher current price when you count the money saved from trips and agents, the days saved in travelling and the problems you gonna face soon or later if you go for an Ed visa, it will be a good deal. Keep in mind that a bad history with overstays and Ed visas could affect your future application for elite. p.s. ofc you can go for ltr visa if you can meet the requirements or for a business visa, but without previous experience in Thailand this would be risky. GL.

I'll tell u how I did it, I did the 1 year extension just 2 weeks ago in Phuket. I did enter on a 60 days tourist visa. After that I did apply for a Non-o based on marriage. To get it you need some docs, you need a bank acc but you don't need any money. At least in Phuket. You need to have at least 3 full weeks left on your current visa/extension. Next, you have to transfer money to the bank acc, 400k+ thb, not important how you transfer them. They need to be in you acc 2 months before you apply for the extension. I did get the non o on 2.11.2023 and it was until 30.01.2024; So basically you have plenty of time to transfer the money and still have some days left before you apply for the extension. I did apply on 15.01.2024 and did get a consideration stamp until 12.02.2024. On 12.02.2024 I did just bring my passport and did get the 1 year extension until 30.01.2025. Only thing that you have to keep in mind is that they use to return you at least once to fix something on your docs, seems to be like a practice. So better plan 2 days for applying. And first go to the exact office where you gonna apply and ask about the docs, as it seems that not all of them follow the exact same procedure... At the end if you married, and bring the docs you get your visa, but keep in mind it did cost me ~5 days total.

Thanks.

@Jon *****

Sure they can, but most probably they have not a well developed software that automatically shows them a red flag and when you have a line with 10 people waiting it's normal to go in the easy way and just stamp the new pass. I did enter after Ed visas with old and with a new pass and always had questions with the old one and a very fast processing with the new one... Sure somewhen in the future they will update their software and this approach will become useless... So better try to get a long term solution.