JDMCanuck

What time and day does immigration use to stamp your passport, your planes actual arrival? (easily visible to IO) your planes planned arrival(on your ticket)? your gate arrival (easily visible to IO) or the time you pass immigration? Has anyone recently actually landed early between 2330 and 2359 at BKK , but had a planned arrival after midnight would be especially interesting to hear from.

When they change it back to 30 days visa exempt, has anyone heard if there will be a grace period at all to allow those that bought airfare and booked accommodation based on 60 days VE, to not lose deposits and need to book one ways home. The prospect of losing an accommodation deposit and a new one way ticket home is not very comforting.

So a couple more questions now and please chime in with your opinions and answers as I do seriously value them all. As a legitimate retiree, that won't be working or vlogging or starting a business, just travelling about and relaxing. Does the following sound like a solid plan, as one point I am still confused on is the banking procedure/certainty. 1. Show my Canadian bank deposits to obtain 90 day retirement visa in Canada. 2. Arrive in Thailand, get permission stamp to stay 90 days. Will banks open an account on the 90 day retirement visa, before the 1 year extension based on retirement is approved? (on a 90 day visa, 3 months seasoning of 800k is impossible,, does Thai immigration relax the seasoning rule for your first extension?) How is this overcome? 3. Would parking 800k in a Thai bank be a concern to any of you? 4. Is Moving around within Thailand allowed as a retiree as I don't intend to stay in one place too long? (2 or 3 months max in any 1 place until I find a place that feels right). Again thank you so much in advance.

Thank you Dr Jack, Tod, Olmate and Hummin, that clears up a lot for me. Almost sounds too easy now. lol. Much appreciated guys!

Thank Thank you very much!

Thank you very much!

Tod Im hoping you or someone else has the correct answer as that explanation almost answered my question, but not quite, lol. Once you have your 1 year extension based on retirement: 1. Can you come and go as many times as you like during that year, as long as you get a reentry permit each time before you leave? 2. Can you stay out of Thailand as long as you wish, during the year of your extension and again, re-enter , as long as you got a reentry permit before you left and you re-enter before your year extension expires? For example: 3. I get my year Extension based on retirement, I then travel to Malaysia for 2 weeks, come back to Thailand for a month, then travel to Japan for 2 months, come back to Thailand for 2 months, then travel to Europe and N America for 5 or 6 months and come back to Thailand a month before my Extension expires (each time I leave, I get a reentry permit), leaving $800000B in a Thai bank the whole year, untouched. Then again apply to extend my visa for a year based on retirement, and continue to travel essentially the same way? 5 or 6 months inside Thailand , 5 or 6 months outside Thailand? Thank you in advance if you know if this legal and will be allowed by Thai immigration without raising any red flags. Or will they say "Im not staying in Thailand long enough, Get a different visa" ?

An update to this thread would be greatly appreciated by myself as having access to an ophthalmologist when you need one is quite important. Good optometrists too.

Thank you DR, and all those with input!

Of course I wouldn't produce anything they did not ask for, however one can never be over prepared. Simplifying the question , does money that you transfer yourself from a foreign bank qualify under the following rule? Evidence of income such as pensions, interest or dividends, etc., and/or

I am so confused about this. Thank you to Hotsticky for pointing me to https://www.immigration.go.th/?p=14695 and "Evidence of income such as pensions, interest or dividends, etc., and/or" I was always under the impression that for a Retirement extension it had to be Pensions only or from a Government source, which I know now was possibly wrong. My question is , would the "etc" above apply to rental income? If I had my Canadian tenants, as they have been doing for several years, direct deposit monthly into my Canadian bank and I then transfer 65000 baht myself each month into my Thai bank account. When asked by IO where the money came from I would honestly answer rental payments and have available with me , if questioned further, Canadian Bank account statements along with Titles (Deeds), for the Canadian properties?

Ive heard VT7 and VT5 have had recent incidents of groups of rude Indian renters disturbing other renters at the pools. Has anyone encountered this or have first hand knowledge of it happening?

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.