Khyron

It wouldn't need to be next day, just wishful thinking. Actually, I won't have medical insurance once I leave my employer. My wife has medicare already, I'm not old enough yet, so It will be a gamble to not have insurance. Realistically, a week after I leave my job will be fine. I'll just stay indoors that week to avoid accidents, 🙂 I am going to apply for the non-O with a one way ticket, even though it specifies return trip needed. I figure if they reject it, I can apply again. The cat MAY come with us, we are trying to pawn her off on someone, but no luck yet. I like the cat, so it isn't a problem, but more paperwork hassle. So that may take more time. Will keep updating as things happen Thanks to everyone for the time taken to answer my questions, hopefully it will help another person in the future.

So, when I apply for the non-O, how long is the enter by date? Or is the 90 days started when they approve the visa? Trying to get the timing down, as I haven't purchased airline tickets yet, or given final notice at work. They are aware, I just haven't said when. My ideal plan would be leaving work and getting on a plane the next day, preferably sometime near the end of October. The bank transfer limits, is there going to be a problem transferring 800k? Or do I need to break it up in small quantities. I plan on trying K bank first, not even going to go to BBL. In Khon Kaen or Chumpae, is there a Farang friendly K-bank that I should try first? Hopefully they won't have an issue with just an O visa. Thanks for all the advice.

The non-o shows the requirement to have a returning flight within 90 days. Do they actually want this? Or will they take a one way flight. I figure if they are sticklers, I can rent an outgoing flight, what is the website for that service?

Ok, I will be doing the Non-o visa, seems so easy, why would anyone do the OA? I have Schwab and navy federal credit union, so i'm set there. Niece is sending the copy of blue book to us here, then I will make a copy of SIL's id, have her sign both and take it with me. That should be enough to satisfy immigration to get a cert of residence for a bank account. Thanks again for the great suggestions. I will post again on my experiences as time goes on.

Sounds good. Another issue, we will be staying in SIL's house here until everything is sorted. When we get there, we will be staying in her house in the village. Unfortunately, she is not coming with us, the blue book is there, and my wife doesn't own a house yet, just land with no number yet. So my question is;, does immigration need to see her and her blue book? or just a copy of the book and her ID? I can have a niece make a copy of the blue book there, mail it to us here and have SIL sign it along with her ID. Will that fly with them? or is there something else I need to do? I figure immigration needs proof of residency and whatnot. I can have the mayor come with us to vouch for where we are staying, he is a nephew. Thanks again.

Thanks for the great replies. Wife is Thai national, Married in her hometown, registered in Amphur. We have an original marriage certificate in our safe. I don't know if they will acknowledge one 32 years old, hopefully. No bank account in my name. The reason I mentioned non-OA is I can take that to a bank to get an account. I thought the non-O i get in country you needed a bank account first, which is a catch 22 being I can't get an account with a tourist visa and such. So I can get a non-O in the US? or only non-OA here? I do want the retirement option, as it is easier, but mentioned marriage because less onerous initially.

Hey Guys, House in the US been sold; we have to be out in 30 days. Wife and I have been planning this for 32 years since we were newlyweds. I am in Northern California; I am going to work until the week before I leave for Thailand. We will be staying in my SIL house after. We have a place already, "nearish" to Khon Kaen. Anyway, to the point, What now? I have a few options, OA or marriage. Money isn't a problem, so 800k has been budgeted for. I looked at the OA requirements at the Los Angeles consulate, alot going on there. The few things I picked up are; getting a criminal record that is notarized, has anyone done that recently? How long does it take, and is a Notary all you need, or is there more to be done. Medical certificate, notarized etc. Bank statement showing monies in the bank. Can I print out a statement and call it good? Airline ticket copy, everything is electronic, so printing the email is ok? Health insurance for one year, cheapest one possible. Marriage visa might be easier, but can I do it from the states? Hopefully someone who has done it recently can give advice. Thanks for your time.

When i read this I thought of Mr. Roy, he was an elderly British expat who married a bar girl and thought he could be the white saviour. This was in '97, he built a nice house for her and her 2 kids, he doted on them, and I believe they actually liked him. Problem was that he was too nice and naive, while he was upstairs sleeping, she would be downstairs with her "real" husband, father of the kids, doing what comes natural. Maybe a year or less, he goes missing and the real husband moves in permanently. There was an investigation by Thai and British officials, as his siblings hadn't heard from him for some time. Someday his body will turn up. Nothing came from it, he is still missing as far as I know, I ask about it sometimes. Someday his body will turn up. The woman and her husband died from Aids a few years later, kids went with the grandparents. House was abandoned for more than a decade, I will ask if anybody moved in there, or if it was torn down. Sad story, real nice guy, the wife and I immediately saw that she was trash.

This is going to be very non specific, but my wife's cousin had been out of Thailand for over 30 years, although he was a Thai citizen by birth. Passport was long expired, it was last given when he was a child. never got an id card. Mother and Father long deceased. Came back for a new life, not a US citizen. Long story slightly shorter. The next thing to do was to get his family history from the Amphur and have witnesses say that he was born there and that they remember him etc. That took a month or two to get that situated out. Unfortunately the Amphur decided that the ID card, that he needed to get a drivers license and a new passport and healthcare was "delayed" I think this was 6-7 months until he paid the tea money for it to magically appear. This was 4 years ago, everything is fine now. Your son had a Thai passport already, so that may smooth things over a bit. You may have to get a family history from the Amphur you were born in, unless you already have one. Wifes birth certificate, marriage certificate and any divorce papers from either one of you will need to be certified and translated. They will possibly need bank statements? It would possibly behoove you to get an english speaking Thai lawyer to help out, this is a bit of an unusual case, my wifes cousin was the closest thing I could think of. Good luck.

I transferred the funds to the Government Savings Bank under my wifes name, "she calls it "Umsin bank". They said it would take a week, took 2 days. No, that was the first time. I've used the Schwab atm a few years ago, it worked fine and I was refunded the fees at the end of the month. I haven't needed to use it since then.

I have a schwab account, also have a US address. I believe the old adage, don't ask, don't tell. I did a wire transaction with Schwab through my computer last week using a VPN, my cell phone has a SIM from Mint. I don't use that phone for phone calls in Thailand, but I can get texts via WI-FI to authenticate transactions. It is a real US phone number, so no fear of it being "found out" like GV. Mint is $180 a year, I turn off the cell data and roaming so the only thing it is used for is wi-fi in a home environment. There is an older phone used as a walking around phone with a Thai sim, no US banking apps on there.

I usually go there for the month of February, never had a problem booking anything in CM or other places. our travel is off the cuff, not planned until a day or two before.

The Vancouver to BKK flights are doing well for Air Canada, too bad their service is crap (heard first hand from a few people) They would use an A350, it is alot cheaper to operate than anything they have now. If the interest piques, then more flights would be in order, from LAX or SFO. The 777 is at the edge of its range, so no go on that, maybe a flight through Japan, I've done that run on Thai before. I don't believe Thai has anymore A380's, probably not enough interest anyway. Hopefully through LAX, not SFO. I live 80 miles from SFO, but LAX is easier to get to from Sac, weird I know.

It seems that when new leaders get into office they say things will drastically change, stopping trade deficits, getting troops out of other countries immediately, making a 180 in fiscal policy, etc. What really happens is they see that any quick drastic change will turn the world upside down, for the worse. Most quick drastic change promises go by the wayside because realism sets in and they quickly realize that they won't doing this in a year or two. Change takes time, and sometimes the policies that are in place are working, just not in a timely fashion. I am glad there will be checks and balances at the border, a bum rush vs orderly integration into society, which would you rather have?

I'm not sure why everyone is saying he is a dictator or fascist, he did have a prior term that he tried very hard to have a dialog with the real dictators. I'm not sure why that is a bad thing, even though they are bad rulers, why be antagonistic towards them? try diplomacy first. Nothing really bad happened during his first term, the world didn't end, and he didn't create internment camps for liberals and other nonsense. My house more than doubled in value, as did my investments. For the record I didn't vote for him or Harris, I voted Independent as my preferred candidate didn't get the nod (Nicki Haley). I notice the dollar has gained versus the Baht, so that is good news for us. Give it a chance.