As the Op I aimed to see if there was any real clarity about this transition. Secondly I thought it may be helpful to others.
Thank you for all the replies, notably Dr Jack and his UbonJoe reference, and BritTim. Others too for showing what the “rules” mean (or don’t) if you have a few active brain cells, some decent education and apply some logic.
I submit the following which covers all the bases – allowing for WORST CASE Immigration offices/officers.
Procedure for arriving Visa Exempt and migrating to Non Immigrant O Retirement Visa then to Extensions eventually based on monthly “income” transfers to Thailand.
(Note: Indicative dates used for example. Actual dates of Immigration stamps need to be substituted and subsequent dates adjusted.)
1/1/22 Arrive Via Exempt
Within the first week (Say 7/1/22) …
Deposit 800k in a Thai Bank
Apply for a Non O Retirement Visa
Get the list of requirements for Non O Retirement Extensions at your Immigration office.
Keep the 800k in a Thai Bank
31/1/22 Receive Non O Retirement Visa (for 90 days to say 30/4/22)
1/2/22 to 30/4/22 Keep 800k in Thai Bank
1/4/22 Apply for 1st Non O Retirement Extension (800k method)
1/4/22 Begin monthly “income”/transfers to the Thai Bank and continue every month.
30/4/22 Receive 1st Non O Retirement Extension (1 year to say 30/4/23)
1/5/22 to 31/7/22 Keep 800k in Thai Bank then reduce to 400k
1/2/23 Increase 400k to 800k in the Thai Bank
1/4/23 Apply for 2nd Non O Retirement Extension (Monthly “income”/transfers method)
30/4/23 Receive 2nd Non O Retirement Extension (1 year to say 30/4/24)
1/5/23 Reclaim your 800k from the Thai bank if you wish.
1/5/23 Continue monthly “income”/transfers to the Thai Bank every month thereafter
---------------
In summary
800k deposit 7/1/22 to 31/7/22 (6 months)
400k deposit 31/7/22 to 1/2/23 (6 months)
800k deposit 1/2/23 to 1/5/23 (3 months)
AND 65k minimum monthly transfers 1/4/22 to 1/4/23 (12 months)
Procedure complete. Now continue 65k transfers every month.
---------------
After more than 20 years here (interrupted by a 2 year Covid exile) discovering all this has still been a pain!
To the many who claim Immigration rules are easy, I say pffffft!
To anyone who follows exchange rates during the captive 800k / 400k for 15 months it is like Lotto. At one point in my process I was down over 100k baht v’s my preferred currency deposits elsewhere. So it is impossible to say what these Thai visas really cost - especially if the THB weakens.
