Almudena

1 hour ago, OccamsRazor said:

I've had 800k+ in my account for many years so not an issue.  But I've read you have to have proof of it coming from abroad.  Mine is from salary earned in Thailand and I believe that is acceptable?

I don't think that's an issue, it's the 65K per month method that they want to see that's coming in from abroad.  If you use an agent, tell them that you already have 800K in the bank as their fees will be cheaper than having them loaning you the money.

8 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

A win win for everyone. You make money and agents are well paid.

Correct, but If using a Pattaya agent, it's cheaper to have a local Chon Buri Bank account as for the agent to transfer 800K in and out to an account in another province and back into their accounts means hefty transfer fees.  Even with the hefty transfer fees, it's still cheaper to leave the 800K in the UK and use the interest to cover the agent fees.

You can open another Bangkok Bank account in another province and keep the old one, meaning you'll have two accounts, I did this myself last week.  The Bangkok Bank in Pattaya refused to do this saying that you can only have one account linked to one passport.  I then called them on 1333 and they said it could be done.  Went to another branch in the province of Chonburi well away from Pattaya and walked out within 20 minutes with a new passbook, both accounts linked together on the banking app and was offered but not forced to buy insurance.

Being retired means not working and free to move around wherever you want in Thailand. The visa extension can be renewed at any immigration office (at their own discretion). 

It can be done, I went from a non-ed to a non-o myself.  First talk to your local immigration and ask if it's OK to put 800K in to the bank for 3 months prior the change of reason on your non-ed or use an agent.  Note, some immigration offices can do it and some won't, as it's at their own discretion.

Depends on the day, officer etc.  Every time in the past coming back via an airport,  some officers had commented by the number of stamps in my passport and I've told them straight that I'm not working here when I can earn 4 to 5 times more back in the UK and spend my earnings here in Thailand.  Then they just stamp my passport, give a smile and let me thorough. 

It's always best to carry a hard copy of the report with you as mobile devices can breakdown.  It only costs less than a couple of baht for a shop to print it off and my bike mechanic's wife prints my reports off for free.

Yes it can be changed, but many Pattaya agents won't do it and many of those agents won't even do the renewal even if you've already changed the reason to  retirement giving the excuse that the local immigration won't allow it with a previous non-ED.  However many of the BKK agents can to it and renewals are around the same price as what the agents in Pattaya charge.  My local immigration office up country insisted that the reason can be legally changed once I turned 50 a few years ago.  I went from a non-B to non-ED then finally to non-O.  

Please note that when you change the non-imm reason, the extension date will start from the date of the application and not on the date of the pervious permission to stay expiry.

Most of us up in Issan tend to use reputable agents in Pattaya as most things can be done by post and the things that can't will just mean a mini-break in or near Pattaya, whist the agent sorts things out.

Yes.  You can do your extension on the day of expiry (though it's not recommended and providing it's not a government holiday on that day).  Try to renew ASAP as soon at you arrive as you have a 2 week window to get it sorted.

It's not the case that some of us may not have the 800,000THB, It's more than the case that some of us don't want to park that amount of cash in a Thai Bank for 5 months.

Wise (Transferwise) now paying 4.17% interest on USD cash balances with them, so parking 800,000THB in USD for 5 months would cover the agent's fees and all the hassle.

On 2/6/2023 at 12:29 PM, Salerno said:

Yes, it resets. The date on the slip in your passport is irrelevant whether it fell during the time you where out of the country or not. If you reported online previously you will still get a reminder email at the wrong time which you can ignore.

 

Would one be able to report his/herself  again online straight away when arriving back or have to go back to immigration and do the report in person like the first 90day reporting? 

12 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Indeed...  especially if you come off and smash your head without a helmet...  some hospitals charge 18,000 baht for a few stitches !!! 

And my local government hospital only charged me 400 baht and the insurance paid up!

19 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

that was a while ago as the fee is now $40 since May

The point is that they gave back the change.

It's not just using Wise transferring funds into Thailand.  I've had the same experience on other international transfers such as from the UK to Spain and vice versa. They say seconds but sometimes it takes a day to arrive.

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

How much was the transfer?

Which Thai bank 

They charged 3.87EUR to send 500EUR to the Kasikorn Bank.

It's usually done in seconds if it's a working day.  On the weekends, it usually shows up by the following Monday lunchtime.  That said, did a transfer last Saturday and it took 7 seconds. 

On 10/29/2022 at 7:18 AM, ubonjoe said:

You will not be changing  from a non-b visa to a non-o visa.  You will be changing the reason for your extension of stay based upon working to one based upon retirement.

You will need a termination letter from your employer to have your current extension of stay so you can change to a extension based upon retirement on or before the date on the termination letter.

You will need 800k baht in a Thai bank for 2 months on the day you do the change.

No reason to use a agent if you have the 800k baht in the bank.

It appears the agent is quoting the cost for applying for a non-o visa at immigration and then the one year extension that can only be done if you are on a tourist visa or visa exempt entry.

 

I've had similar experiences myself with the agents wanting to charge the same as converting from a tourist visa despite the fact I already hold a  non immigrant visa.  In the end I asked an immigration officer myself and she told me that the change of permission can be easily done.  I asked her if she could recommend an agent and she did.  The agent (or rather her friend) she recommended quoted me a touch more than their annual non-o retirement renewal fee.

Another suggestion would be is to get in contact will a local travel agent in Chiang Mai and get them to purchase the tickets directly from the Station for you for a nominal fee.

It's best not to use it, it doesn't show all the available seats/cabins available on the trains.  Tickets can be bought up to 60 days in at any staffed passenger rail station where they have more seating options than the website and there's no booking fee.

On 10/5/2022 at 5:07 PM, ed79 said:

Thanks @Almudena, do you think taking 2 mid-sized suitcases and a backpack would take up too much space on the train (Patts to Bangkok) ?

Not at all, because you can put them under the seats and keep an eye on them at the same time.  

2 hours ago, ed79 said:

Should I book for Hua Lamphong or Bang Sue?

The train from Pattaya doesn't go through Bang Sue.