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soisanuk

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  1. I have used DMED for hearing aids. They have changed their name to Dear Hearing. Their home office is in Chonburi with several branch offices around Thailand including one in Pattaya. The owner is an Audiologist and based in Chonburi. The Pattaya location has technicians running the shop - they also spend time doing the hearing tests for Bangkok Hospital Pattaya -- better to get the same test at their shop as, unlike the hospital, their test is free. Last March, I obtained my latest hearing aids from them which are much as you describe - behind the ear, charging device using USB connection. The hearing test showed more hearing loss since I obtained my last pair a little over 5 years ago. My USA based health insurance covers me up to a certain amount for the cost of new hearing aids every 5 years. They are located on Chaiyaphruek road between Jomtien Beach Road and Sukhumvit. Contact information and a map can be found here: https://www.dear.co.th/en/branchs/
  2. Nothing is being made up. You can enter Thailand with a Visa or for many countries, Visa Exempt (no visa required). Upon arrival, Immigration places a stamp in the passport showing the permission to stay period which is based on the type of entry (Visa or Exempt). These are two separate things. To extend your stay you apply to extend your permission to stay not your visa. I entered Thailand over 20 years ago on a Non-Immigrant O Visa receiving a 90 day permission to stay. I applied to extend that stay for one year for purpose of retirement. For the past 20+ years I annually go to Immigration and file a TM.7, Application for Extension of Temporary Stay in the Kingdom. The Pattaya City Expats Club has an extensive section re entering Thailand, extending one's stay, and other Thai Immigration requirements at https://pcec.club/Thai-Immigration. The difference is also noted on this Thai Embassy's website - https://helsinki.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/information-about-visa-and-validity-of-stay-permit?page=5f49f4a199a85e260f4278de&menu=5d80876d15e39c3354007bb1
  3. You apparently do not do your retirement extensions at Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration. As most of us should know, each Immigration Office can have requirements that differ from other Offices. My first renewal of my extension at Pattaya Immigration after the US Embassy quit providing "income affidavits/letters", I had bank certified statements for the preceding 12 months - even so, they wanted a letter from my bank listing all the foreign transfers and even gave me an example to show my bank. This has continued to be their requirement.
  4. As mentioned by others since my post that has been questioned, the Application says Extension. The initial extension of stay is for having a Non-Immigrant Visa generally without regard to the category - in most cases for retirement or married to a Thai national it is category "O", for business category "B", etc. When applying for the "extension" of your "Permission to Stay" in Thailand, you must state the purpose for the application. This can change with no need to change the original Visa category upon which prior extensions were based. So if going from married to a Thai to retirement or vice versa, you only need to change the purpose of the request on the Application for extension.
  5. It is an extension. Using a Non-Immigrant Visa to enter Thailand (or obtained in Thailand), you get a "permission to stay" in the Kingdom of 90 days. Before the 90 days are up, you apply to extend that time period for one year (retirement, married to a Thai, etc.). You then apply annually to renew that extension of your permission to stay date.
  6. I use Chase Bank, but refuse to use their international global transfer system. When they first introduced it, the fee was US$5 but it had to be in Thai baht converted by Chase at an extremely lousy exchange rate. I use Wise to do my transfers. I did a comparison at the time of transferring US$2,000 by Chase and by Wise - the amount of baht that would be deposited in my account was at the then exchange rate about US$50 less using Chase vs Wise. As to the original post, I use the 65k method and do my renewals at Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration Office on Jomtien Beach soi 5. After the US Embassy quit issuing monthly income letters, Immigration has always required I get a letter from my Thai bank showing all foreign transfers into my account AND bank statements certified by the bank for the previous 12 months. I renewed my extension on the 3rd of July 2025 and this was still the requirement. Taking funds from an ATM and depositing it into a Thai bank account does not verify that the baht being deposited came from outside of Thailand. Thus the Thai bank would be unable to provide such a letter.
  7. A few weeks ago a friend told me her son, who uses a Pattaya Agent for renewing his extensions at Jomtien Immigration as he does not have the 800k in the bank, was told by his agent that he needed to switch from Bangkok Bank to another bank as Jomtien Immigration was no longer accepting agent renewals using Bangkok Bank. I renewed my extension on the 3 July at Jomtien Immigration. I use the 65k monthly income method and do not use an agent. I use Bangkok Bank and no question was raised. So, it is apparently that Jomtien Immigration is not accepting Bangkok Bank accounts if the extension is being done by an agent.
  8. I contacted the person in the PCEC who handles their webpages on Immigration issues. He noted that although not specifically mentioned in their checklists for Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration, their main webpage for Extending a stay showed He said he has seen this thread and as a result has moved the above into a more prominate posirion on that page and has now included similar notation on other pages including their checklists. Jingthing also wrote: I have only seen one report by someone that said he was told to expect such a visit and have not seen any follow-up confirming such a visit actually took place. I will be renewing my own retirement extension next week and if a new requirement, will, I am sure, also be told to expect it.
  9. This has also been my experience for several years now. I usually go early morning when they open - even so, it has always been to come back after 2pm the next day to pick up the passport. As to visit to residence, I will find out this coming week as I will be going to Jomtien Immigration to renew my retirement extension.
  10. From some articles and reports I saw a few years ago, Bangkok Bank staff were pushing for the purchase of an accident insurance policy when opening an account. The annual fee was around 3,000 baht as I recall. Someone I know that pays for an annual accident policy pays his insurance broker a fee of around 2,400 baht for the policy.
  11. The Pattaya City Expats Club has a webpage on obtaining a Residency Certificate from Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration office - Jomtien Beach Road Soi 5 - https://pcec.club/ResidencyCertificate
  12. Agree - Immigration has now for several years required only sufficient time on the passport to cover the period of stay for entry. Thus there should be should be no problem in the airline allowing boarding. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, if applying at a Thai Embassy/Consulate for a Visa still requires the passport to have 6 months validity.
  13. The Pattaya City Expats Club has a checklist which is usually up to date. https://pcec.club/CHECKLISTS-Extensions-of-Stay
  14. The Pattaya City Expats Club has the following on their website which has a link and instructions for doing the report - https://pcec.club/online-90-day/ It also notes that it may not always work even when it should:
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