BritTim

You should have no problems. It seems all your planned entries into Thailand will be by air and (as you say) you are clearly a short stay tourist. With travel plans like yours, the only concern would be if you wanted more than two entries through land crossings.

That thread was highly confusing. On the face of it, he received a one-year extension of his permission to stay from a visa exempt entry without the previous necessary Non Immigrant visa. That would be out and out illegal, not just dubious.

Such a scheme would be possible but, as I posted earlier, dubious. They make you a director of a Thai company and provide the documentation for a multiple entry Non B visa as a director of the company. If the scheme gains traction, a crackdown is likely.

There are also ongoing costs. In the past, a Thailand Elite visa worked out cheaper. With recent changes, Thailand Elite is a less attractive option than before.

That is definitely more legit, but also a lot more expensive if actually paying the required four Thai staff. It is never a good solution unless you want to actually run a business here.

It seems dubious. A multiple entry Non B visa is theoretically available for directors of Thai companies to allow them to enter for business meetings etc. I suspect they are utilising that. However, the visa is not intended for long term residence in Thailand. I would personally stay away from it. I could imagine a crackdown similar to that which occurred with dubious volunteer visas/extensions. A crackdown on Chinese using a similar dodge with Non B visas has recently occurred.

Those definitely help. They do not make or break an application. I have this year opened an account without either. It is hard.

That is one point of view. The other is that apps that are promptly updated to address security issues are lower risk than those where security updates only occur months after an exploit is reported. The fact is that all online systems are potentially vulnerable. Apple has tighter controls which (from a security viewpoint) lowers risk. Android is more transparent and addresses critical issues faster once reported.

Where are you located? Travelling to Laos and applying at the embassy in Vientiane or consulate in Savannakhet is not particularly difficult. From some locations, there are visa run companies that do trips to Savannakhet, though I do not really recommend this as it is uncomfortable and typically puts you in long queues at the consulate. Easy for those who are concerned about independent travel, though. If possible, apply at the embassy in Vientiane. You need an appointment (https://www.thaivisavientiane.com/ThaiConsular/). You can fly to Vientiane (a bit expensive, especially if not using Thai Airasia). Alternatives are (i) fly to Udon Thani, travel to the Friendship Bridge at Nong Khai and cross to Vientiane; and (ii) just take a bus or train direct to Nong Khai and cross at the Friendship Bridge. If you must arrange to apply in Savannakhet, you take a bus to Mukdahan and cross to Savannakhet from there. Arrange to apply on a Tuesday or Wednesday to avoid the worst of the crowds.

Opening a bank account these days is tricky. Most banks will (at least initially) tell you you can only open a bank account if you have a work permit. The requirements, in fact, are not cast in stone. Using an agent is simplest. If you want to do it yourself, be well groomed, explain that you need the account to deposit a large sum of money for immigration purposes, and will be maintaining a large balance. Then, sweeten the deal by stating that you will buy bank accident insurance (about a 3,000 to 5,000 baht premium) if they will open the account. The insurance is not completely worthless. (The bank employees get a small commission for selling insurance.) This will not always be sufficient, but will sometimes work.

Do not think of trying that (unless you have a Japanese residence permit). The Thai embassy in Tokyo does not accept applications from foreigners.

You specifically identified those applying for multiple entry visas in Savannakhet as an example of abusers of the system, and (by implication) accused consular officials at the Savannakhet consulate as guilty of corruption without any evidence.

The problem is that an application for a Non O (dependant) visa will be rejected unless the spouse already has a long term extension of stay or a Non O-A (long stay) visa. It is a bit of a catch 22 situation.

A nonsense post in all caps has been removed

I had the same problem trying to use a card to pay for my UK passport renewal. Bangkok Bank swore blind that there was no record of any attempted transaction. The charge was denied four times, once when I was actually on the phone with the HMPO (His Majesty's Passport Office). In the end, as transferring the money directly to the British Home Office account from my Thai bank account proved almost impossible (they would only transfer money to personal accounts) I had my brother pay HMPO and transferred money to him to cover it. Very irritating.

A possible alternative: You, one way or another, get a Non O visa based on retirement, while your wife is initially here as a tourist. You get a one-year extension of stay based on retirement. You both travel to Savannakhet and, based on your one-year permission to stay, get a Non O (dependant) visa for your wife. You and your wife are all set to apply for extensions in Thailand. If the money for separate Non O (retirement) visas is inconsequential for you, that is obviously less complicated. To simplify the situation when one of you passes away, you could discuss matters with your local immigration office to see if they will allow you to both apply using the same (joint) bank account with 1,600,000 baht in it. Some offices do allow that.

That varies between immigration offices. Some offices can hassle you for all kinds of documentation showing how you support yourself in Thailand.

While US citizens cannot get an income letter, extensions of stay based on retirement are possible with regular monthly transfers to your Thai bank account of 65k+ baht. If you want the initial Non O visa as a US national without depositing 800k baht in a Thai bank account, it is best to get the initial Non O visa in home country.

If that is what the rental agreement specifies, it is all perfectly legal. Fwiiw, it is the most common kind of long term rental agreement in Thailand.

London has been known to offer multiple Non O visas to visit your Thai spouse and also multiple entry Non O as pensioner visas this year. Dealing with the London embassy is a bit of a lottery. I think it depends on the official who gets to process your application whether it goes smoothly. I am pretty sure they will require financial proof, though that is up to the individual embassy.

Creative thinking can greatly reduce your tax liabilities. Many years ago, when I had a regular job with IBM, a friendly tax official in the UK advised me on various deductions I could legally claim. One example was for conservative business attire which was a requirement at the time when working for IBM.

I am not an expert but, especially if the transfer was done when not in Thailand, it might be legal tax avoidance. Presumably, they would not demand income tax on all funds used to purchase Thai products and services while outside Thailand.

You have stated that those applying for multiple entry Non O visas in Savannakhet are "gaming the system" and availing themselves of the "continuing corruption" at the Savannakhet consulate. You appear to do this based on the illogical view that people should only apply for visas at locations that impose the most onerous requirements, and that consulates that are friendlier to applicants are somehow corrupt because they do not exhibit the requisite level of xenophobia. If you have any proof of your "corruption" claims, let's hear them.

If they become really serious about collecting tax from foreigners, it will be done by requiring a tax clearance before leaving Thailand if you have spent more than a specified number of days in Thailand. This was the system about 30 years ago. If staying long term in Thailand, you needed to visit the local tax office where you were interrogated and, once they were satisfied, given a stamp in the last page of your passport allowing you to leave. It was way worse than any of the other bureaucracy I have ever needed to deal with in Thailand (and I was not even living in Thailand then). The system was abolished during the short lived, foreigner friendly, technocrat government led by Anand Panyarachun.

The bureaucracy here is annoying, but Thailand is nowhere near at xenophobic as many other countries.