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8 oz filet mignon, baked potato, Side of vegetables, bread and butter, small garden salad. Courtesy of Brighton Bay casino. Soon, after Dec 2 I will be in Thailand and likely eating simple Fried rice with shrimps, and Tom yu, Kung soup at KISS restaurant on second road in Pattaya and recollecting my first visit back kn 2004 and last visit in 2019 and wondering what to do with the rest of my life, now at 68.

Pretty clever and resourceful people. Ladies in general are friendly and demure. They believe in the importance and benefit of all types of massage. Food spices are fantastic. Folk music is wonderful. Thai ladies speaking in calming and descending tones is music to my ears

yeah, and if you go the retirement visa route, say the Non Imm O visa, you would have to start off putting 800k baht in the thai bank for the first yearly extension and leave it there, or later change to 12 monthly transfers in of 65k and keep doing that even if you are not in the country otherwise if you break the 12 month continuous transfer, you have to start all over again. Neither is especially appealing if not really in country all that time. Oh for the older days when an embassy income affidavit letter was available. One could get the retirement extension easily and come and go

so she really objected to back to back VE entries? I was pretty sure one could do a back to back even with the recently published apparently codified rules, even though they do have some words that leave a lot of discretion up to the immigration official. Max stay of just under 180 days in country . Gosh a 4 month stay from November thru March is great for avoiding many country's cold winters

Yes. I understand. But I would probably just get and use the REP though and save the Exempt entry for next trip or later in the year. My travel or stay plans for 2026 are not firm yet

OK I got it. Thanks

That should be fine. but 1000 baht? that seems expensive. Not 200 baht?

I am arriving with a Non IMM O 90 day visa. I did not add , did not see that I could when I applied online, any sort of reentry so i assume it is single entry only, If I want to exit thailand and re enter can I get a single or multiple re entry permit at BKK for this Visa?

I get it. As I read online wise has local banks in many countries. So funds are not actually moved across borders. Thanks

I am predicting it will be Kasikorn since I am planning on opening an account there next month when I arrive and it seems that most international monies get transferred there first then routed to other banks in thailand if applicable

Etrade is just my regular bank, Same as any other, I have since read up on wise a bit and I think I understand it. One basically transfers or wires money into Wise and then Wise sends it

I totally agree 100 per cent. Been going there since 2004. Oh man how fun and easy Thailand and Pattaya were. Visa exempt on arrival. Been to Pattaya mostly, Been to Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui, Nakhon Rathasima, Sukhothai, bangkok of course, was on Koh samet during the 2004 December Tsunami,

yes indeed. And it is a shame if the value so many expats bring and how they help or support so many Thais is so easily overlooked if Thai officials try to get what the call high end tourists

Back in 2004 as I prepared for my first trip to Asia, I looked at several countries. Indonesia (I spoke some Bahasa), China (too much paperwork with my job security reporting), Japan, Vietnam( Love the people, hate the government), etc. I stumbled upon Thailand, The thing that sold me was first of all no advance Visa Requirements. My contract job makes it very hard to predict start or end times when I could travel so having to get visas and flights in advance were very challenging. Then reading some more on line I saw the large amount of available tourism things, so Thailand I went. I loved the place and returned 14 times. now going for possible retirement and an initial 90 day stay. Over the years still loved the visa exempt on arrival good for my numerous holiday trips between contracts, So Thailand still is my favorite for travel arrangements, Food choices (western and of course eastern), Buddhism related things, friendly people, some great beaches, many fine affordable hotels with nice pools, night life, foot and oil massages, literally no scrutiny by my USA clients when I return or they review my travels because Thailand is not on any bad list relative to spies or things lie that, and so much more. To each his own why they choose one country over another.

1. My funds in the USA are in my Etrade Checking account. Must I use WISE to transfer the initial 800k baht into my Thai bank for my first extension, as well as for the monthly transfer income method I will use later? Or can I just use Etrade and wire the money from my Etrade account website? 2. If Wise is best to use, how does it work? Does Wise grab the money from my Etrade account from information I enter on the Wise website and then Wise sends it overseas? 3. Do most people use Wise or do some of you use your own Bank for wire transfers Thanks in Advance

I have lived in California for over 20 years stretching across 1982 to 2019. , Santa Maria/Lompoc, San Diego (rancho Bernardo), and all over Los Angeles and Orange County, Burbank, Redondo Beach, Canoga Park, Orange, and others. Yes huge numbers of immigrants there. Most exist quite well and many do tasks or jobs that many other people will not do. However, many are here illegally and many flout the existing immigration laws. Years ago, several major hospitals in the Los Angeles area closed and went out of business due to the emergency rooms being inundated by un insured people, most of which were immigrants. The hospitals tried to help but they simply went broke. I think that the pendulum may have swung too far in one direction the last decade or so.

It would be a shame if they do away with the 60 day visa exempt + 30 day extension options. To me that type of visa is a boost to tourism. It is a long flight to get to Thailand for many people and those with the flexibility and ability to tour for 90 days sounds great. I know I was going to do exactly that, but instead opted to get the 90 day Non Imm O visa up front as I am considering longer stays and possible retirement and its associated extensions so I going to scope things out, open a bank account, etc. Laying groundwork for my possible future there

as for the 60 in + 30, leave for short time then return and do 60 + 30 again, hasn't there already been strict scrutiny , even not allowed to do more than 180 days in country from means such as this? I hear that was sometimes hit or miss and refusal to enter varied from entry points. Many posts about those experiences on this website.

can not find much on their history and background. He was a life coach? They apparently were briefed and informed it is a dangerous area to travel to, they said they were aware of the risks, but went anyway.

So this seems to be the crux of their incarceration. She was discussing this while in Iran? Perhaps has some history of this online, in public or whatever? Generally not a good idea to do anything along those lines in any country

in 2004 I was 47 and made my first visit to Thailand. was enamored with the place. I quickly checked on the retirement visa options. At the time USA citizens could do the income verification affidavit with their embassy. Great, fantastic. I knew a few americans here at home that had their retirement visas/extension stamps. I was 100% sure and planning on getting a retirement stay as soon as I was eligible at age 50. I would not be retired as I still do contract engineering work but I thought it would be great to have the visa and extension stamp in my back pocket so anytime I wanted to head to Thailand I was good to go. Planned on buying a condo, etc. well staying long time got more challenging. USA embassy no longer doing affidavit letter. Had to deposit money. Then a few years ago very strict enforcement and requirement for monthly transfers in option. I then thought of the Elite Visa which was palatable but a bit expensive. Then recently they raised that price from 500k to 600k. I returned 14 more times up until 2019. I was working more than not working so visiting Thailand on visa exempts with occasional extension was ok. Now I got my non imm O 90 day visa in hand and am going to Thailand Dec 2. Scoping out if I really want to stay long term there as things have changed a lot since 2004. I can easily afford it in many ways. but even starting the first extension, one Must and I mean must depositn 800k baht for that first year extension. That is around $25,000 USD. That is a significant amount of monies one would have to put there that would not now be invested in your home country earning interest, dividends, or gains from trades or whatever. To get the O visa, I had to show proof of income for the last three months. That really should be all that's needed to get the first year's extension. And also when applying for the first extension, show at least two months of transfers in. That is reasonable proof of financial 65k income available. Each 90 day report could then check that you still are making income transfers. If not, then visa is revoked and out you go. Having to initially deposit 25K USD is a pain

They do that now don't they? I hear and read of most immigration points telling people that 180 is too much? Or is that not quite codified officially?

hmm. good point. criminals simply overstay. They do not want to go through any official immigration thing, ID checks, paper work, etc.

I agree in general, certainly for escaping winters and such. And now that the visa exempt starts with a 60 day stay + 30 day extension, that is great. What is a problem is some people that are on sabbatical or taking a year or two break from things. They are not really retired but want to visit and experience for more than just a few months. Visas pose a challenge.

a few years back I made a rare visa run to cambodia to extend my stay. I was doing visa exempts. Around 2012 I think it was. On the mini van was a nice young lady also from the USA that was teaching english up in Loei. I probably spelled that wrong. She probably did not have the proper work permit, visa etc. as this was very common in years past. She was not a professional teacher nor had any credentials. She certainly was a native english speaker as am I , born and raised in the USA. She certainly could teach reasonable conversational and basic english alphabet and reading and writing and speaking. I have no idea of the number of people that did that and worked fairly cheaply and worked with younger Thai students. No idea how common it is now. But I imagine such loose teaching arrangements are going to be less common.