BritTim

When applying for a visa at immigration (as opposed to a retirement extension) the official guidelines say that you need proof that the funds came from abroad. In practice, at almost all immigration offices, they will waive providing this proof if the money has already been in the account continuously for several months.

My own experience is that it is very difficult to find good Thai managers but, with a little training, Thais (especially women) tend to be excellent customer facing employees (better, on average, than Westerners). As with anywhere in the world, the key is staff retention. Be willing to pay a little more than the market average, and find opportunities to publicly reward good work with cash bonuses. Be careful how you do it when it is necessary to correct generally good employees. Thais can be very sensitive to criticism.

The fact that your wife has developed an excellent rapport with the officials no doubt also contributes to your good experience. Personal relationships are gold when it comes to dealing with Thai officialdom.

Unless you are referring to a multiple re-entry permit, this is incorrect. The expiry date of a visa controls only the last day on which you can use it for entry. In the case of a multiple entry tourist visa, each entry gives you a 60-day permission to stay irrespective of the expiry date of the visa.

One very interesting option is Savannakhet. Several people have successfully received multiple entry Non O (retirement) recently. Financial proof is required, of course. 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account is the easiest, but proof of the money in a bank elsewhere should also be acceptable. There do not seem to be any funds seasoning requirements.

Actually, role play, where you enter the business as a customer, and subsequently provide feedback to your wife on the customer experience, seems like something you could legally do without a work permit.

Can you train your employees yourself without a work permit? In general, I do not think so.

Whether to use the money in the bank or income method in the long term depends on individual circumstances and preference. You will not ultimately need to do both. If switching from money in the bank to income, verify with your local immigration office that you can redeploy your money in the bank once you have 12 consecutive months of 65k+ baht transfers from overseas. Some offices can decide to apply strange rules. Whether using money in the bank or income for your retirement extensions, you can use the money transferred each month in any way you choose. If using money in the bank, transfer money as often or as infrequently as your expanses dictate as long as minimum balances are maintained.

There is no problem getting a 60-day extension of your permission to stay at Immigration. They will usually do it up to four weeks before the expiry of your existing permission to stay.

No one can say for sure, but London is not known to be stingy about handing out METVs.

That is OK. The main advantage of Savannakhet is that you get the visa the next day. At Roi Et, if there are no complications, it will be taken under consideration, and you will get the visa and 90-day permission to stay (actually, probably a few days fewer than 90) three or four weeks later. I can appreciate why getting it done without the trip to Savannakhet has attractions.

Indeed, you can book a couple of months in advance to get a passport renewal done the same day on the basis of having to travel immediately in an emergency. (And people say Thai bureaucracy is illogical.)

My suggestion would be to do it during the 90-day permission to stay from the Non O visa. It you apply just after a return from Savannakhet, there would be plenty of time. (or, do you need to travel during that time?)

Yes and, while it will not be an issue for most here, it can become tricky to decide on a country by country basis whether you qualify. The basic guideline is "long term right of abode". However, in some countries, although you are allowed to stay indefinitely without a visa, you may still not qualify. If not a national of the country where you currently live, you need to verify with the embassy whether you qualify. Sometimes, it can be at the discretion of the embassy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Usually, getting a Non O visa in Savannakhet is pretty easy, and actually involves less hassle than getting the Non O at Immigration. I assume you are planning to replace your current passport as soon as possible, but were unable to do it in your home country prior to your return. How long does it take for you to get a passport renewal in Thailand? In your case, I would stay away from agents.

The only changes are that the health insurance requirement for those on Non O-A visas increased a while back. There were no changes to the basic financial requirements.

Quite so, which may actually increase the chances that it is accurate!

He states that he is applying for a Non-OA visa. That is only possible in home country. Also, note that, if instead applying for a Non O visa at Immigration in Thailand, the requirements might be a little different than when applying for a one-year extension of stay on the basis of retirement. Whenever applying for a visa at Immigration, it is prudent to check your local office for any possible local requirements.

The official website for Thailand Elite is http://thailandelite.com. Try to get a guarantee in writing that you will always be able to upgrade to 20 years for 400,000 baht if you go ahead with the five-year option.

What you do every 90 days is not a TM30 notification. It is a notification of your address when staying longer than 90 days consecutively in Thailand. It uses form TM47 when done in person.

If you can show you have a long term rental agreement, and have photocopies of the landlady's id card, you should be able to do the TM30 notification yourself as the possessor of the apartment. It is possible that the online app does not support this, but I am very surprised that Chaengwattana would fine you unless you were unable to redo the TM30 in person when asked. Maybe, there was a personality conflict between you and the official.

There is no pattern discernible on when changes are made to Thailand Elite memberships. At the current time, individuals who are only interested in the Easy Access visa that comes with an Elite membership have two rational options: five years for 600,000 baht and 20 years for 1,000,000 baht. If you buy the five year membership, current rules allow to to upgrade later to the 20-year membership by paying the difference of 400,000 baht (a sweet deal, in my opinion, that might well be withdrawn in the future).

People have had problems trying for serial Non Ed visas to study the same language. Consider trying for a Non Ed visa to study, say, Chinese this time.

Immigration officials sometimes make mistakes. It is prudent to ensure they saw your visa, and to ask them to make a correction if they do not stamp you in using it.

A 12-month bank statement ordered two weeks in advance, together with the latest transactions from your bank passbook will be acceptable.