JDMCanuck

Thank you both for your input. Perhaps I best go back to the drawing board.

Copied and pasted from US Embassy and Consulate in Thailand https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/thai-visas-americans/ "American citizens who wish to remain in Thailand for longer than 90 days during any six-month period will be required to obtain a valid Thai visa from a Thai Embassy or Consulate that is authorized to issue visas" According to the above my vacation plans will not work as I planned on visiting Thailand for 60 days from October 20 to Dec 20 , return to N America for 2 weeks from Dec 22 to Jan 7, then back to Thailand Jan 8 to March 7 , which puts me over the limit as stated above, as I will have entered on 2 Visa Exempt (VE) 60 day entries and stayed 120 days within less than 6 months, I had even thought, depending on how the winter in Canada was I might get a 30 day extension to the 2nd 60 day VE in January and not go back until April. Any input is appreciated. Can anyone confirm the above as correct please?

Thank you again Dr J!! very much appreciated!!

Again confused after talking with a Pattaya visa agent. Hopefully Dr Jack or another helpful soul can set me straight and correct me on anything I have wrong. Thank you all , in advance!! When I land at BKK , with my Non-Immigrant Visa (O) , that I obtained from the Thai evisa site, (Canadian Consulate verified I have the required funds) , Thai Immigration should give me a 90 day permission to stay. I have 4 questions please: 1. Can I then go to Jomtien Immigration, without an agent and apply for my one year extension based on retirement, without having a Thai bank account, or do I need a Thai bank account first,, and secondly, will a Thai bank , open an account for me based on my Non-Immigrant Visa (O) and Thai Immigration 90 day permission to stay stamp, without an agents help. 2. With that 90 day permission to stay can I, by myself , without an agents help, open a bank account and transfer the required 800k from Canada? or at what point in this process do I need to open a Thai bank account? 3. Can I apply for my 1 year extension at any time during the 90 day permission to stay or as some here have said , you have to wait until the last 30 days of your permission to stay before applying for your 1 year extension? 4. Does Thai Immigration hold your passport for 2 -3 weeks while deciding on your 1 year extension of stay? Thank you all , in advance for any advice and answers!!

Thanks Ross and UWEB for reply , please do tell which company is only 62K. Like I originally posted, the discrepancies / loopholes/ small print makes them all look like gangsters/mobsters running rackets.

Again thank you DrJack!! that now makes sense.

So many varied answers to just a simple question, so I will ask it again and hope that no one slogs me for it. As an applying retirement expat , the government required health insurance seems like a shakedown. The sanctioned company websites just seem like Indian or Chinese call centre scammers that you would instantly delete in any other situation. They seem to have loopholes a plenty and so they are very hard to trust as honest businesses. However because it is required when applying for a Non O visa I have to ask what do most 70 - 80 year old expats in good health pay annually for their health insurance? Thank you so much for your answers.

Thank you Dr J. !!! I actually just went and started the process at Evisa and am not sure how that will work out. I think perhaps the other times I tried and failed was because the Evisa site takes a long time for the website to respond, and I gave up thinking it didn't work. This time even though there was no response at all for at least 2 minutes , I just waited and after close to 3 minutes it actually saved my data. So I guess my only question at this point is ......can I apply for this visa without a Thai Bank account as that was always one of the most confusing parts that evoked so many different answers.

I am confused, again as I try and understand how to obtain retirement status in Thailand. As I understand it, there is no retirement visa, it is an extension of your permission to stay based on retirement. Anyone , yes , no please? and then please correct me if my understanding is wrong. I plan to use a reputable agent/lawyer in Pattaya, but so far have not received confirmation of the process I am to follow. I am over 50 have the required funds in a Canadian bank , no criminal record, I have no Thai bank account. 1. I apply for a 3 month single entry visa on the Evisa website. The evisa website lists it as a TOURIST VISA (TR). 2. While in Thailand my agent will arrange a bank account for me , into which I transfer 800000B . 3. I fill out the forms for the extension of my visa for retirement purposes, give the agent photographs and my passport. 4. Approximately 1-2 weeks later I receive my passport back with a permission to stay stamp extended by a year. 5. I could actually do this at any time while I am on my 3 month single entry Tourist Visa. 6. Anytime I am leaving Thailand , I go to immigration a few days before departure fill out a TM8 form and get a Permit to leave. then when I come back (as I plan to travel in and out of Thailand during my retirement years) immigration will let me in on my Extension based on retirement. 7. One agent I contacted said I could actually also do this just on a 60 day visa exempt entry, forgoing the application for a Tourist visa on the Evisa website, however I was sceptical of that as when you enter on a 60 day Visa exempt, you have no Visa to actually extend?? Does the above sound correct? I just want to do it totally legal and right, with no questionable shortcuts. Any advice is appreciated, thanks so much!

Thanks a lot Cygnus, thats very helpful. Much appreciated! JDM

Elevator questions and personal observations. Ive stayed longer term in VT 2B 10th and 12 floor Pattaya side and VT7 25 floor Pattaya side , the Elevators in both never seemed too long of a wait. Granted VT7 is only half full with both wings still completely vacant. I want to stay in VT5 but did hear elevators were slow, with longer waits. Im aware of the location differences, longer walks to the beach, smaller VT2 balconies, sunset views vs Jomtien side views. Just wondering if anyone knows about the VT5 elevators (any speed /maintenance issues) and whether the smaller VT5 pool size gets overly crowded? or some other issues I may have missed. Thanks all.

Wow , thanks!

I hope I dont sound too dumb here...again, as its probably been answered somewhere here , but after reading several pages I could not see it. How much does the online 90 day report cost? vs a reputable agent in Pattaya? Any Pattaya agent recommendations are appreciated. Thank you.

Please all excuse my ignorance but I was hoping for a response from BB1and am not sure how to post it correctly. Perhaps BB1 can enlighten me as to how,,, to his so very intelligent response, which I post below ? to which I had responded and waited breathlessly for his legendary advice. Only to be told to tell the IO I am retired when I am not. Again I prefer to tell the truth , the whole truth and nothing but the truth in front of any Immigration officer in any country I have entered. I posted that I am still working , intend to keep working, have no intention of retiring, but he appears to suggest I should apply for a retirement visa and tell the IO I am retired??? Perhaps, if he reads this he should backtrack on his advice? and just maybe, think for a second to respect your elders. Then again,.. I am not hopeful... If you're 73, you're way too old for a DTV and should be on a retirement visa. Leave the DTV to the under 50's who can't get a retirement visa. Last thing we need is for a mass crackdown on a DTV due to a number of people who should be on a retirement visa abusing the DTV. I can see the day coming up when Immigration starts denying old folks coming into Thailand if they see them on a DTV as they will see this as them abusing the system. Edited Sunday at 06:44 AM by bbi1

I prefer to be honest , Im not retired, as I stated, I still work primarily on my computer and phone, its a good position that pays well, but you would have me apply for a retirement visa and tell the IO im retired? That doesn't sound like very good advice. It's not like Im stating "wink wink" im coming for a cooking , yoga/ other loophole class, or blimey, a dental appointment. I would think those will be the ones to screw up the DTV, but that's just my opinion.