ibjoe

Thank you for the Wikipedia link. It does not mention the Filano, which I understand is a similar but different model. I'm looking for Filano specific information.

I rented medium-long term a Yamaha Filano 125cc motorbike. Old and ratty, but runs okay. The (private) dealer couldn't tell me what year it was, which I want to know because I want to find and download the appropriate Users Guide manual for it. Because I am a RTFM type of guy, sometimes there are valuable knowledge tidbits there. I tried to decode the VIN, but the year digit is "1", which decodes to model year 2001. But I think they only started making Filanos in 2014? I haven't found any Filano web pages. Any interesting facts, comments, links, etc. about Yamaha Filano motorbike?

I have both MINT and T-Mobile. I bought some international credits and data for my MINT plan. But cellphone doesn't always connect or work as hotspot with MINT. T-Mobile has been better; generally reliable, always connecting with local carrier, high speed data allowance. With T-Mobile I always get my MFA codes, no problems with Google logins prompts. Because it is a US #, no problems with MFA. Most of my financial institutions don't accept Thai - or any international - #s. Probably same for Thai institutions, they won't text MFA to US #s. I had to get a Thai phone number account to get a Thai bank account. Credit phone plan doesn't work, needs to be monthly plan.

@oldcpu Thank you very much for your perspective! That marriage visa is more difficult to acquire and maintain than retirement visa. While I prefer not to lock up funds in a non-interest account I can do that as necessary to renew / extend my retirement visa, the apparently easier path. My experience so far is agents can significantly simplify the process, and help ensure I do it right the first time. I'm working with my agent on many things: my visa and its extension, my marriage to my Thai girlfriend, including prenuptial agreement, CR1 visa for her to come with me to USA, also visa for her child to come to the USA. Without someone who knows the system, I would be lost. Agent is somewhat expensive, but hopefully worth it.

Thanks everyone for your responses. Sorry about multiple subjects in single paragraph. Breaking it down: Primary question I have is how difficult is a spouse visa to get compared to a retirement visa? I'm working with Bangkok IO. My agent (also in Bangkok) tells me spouse visa is much more difficult, requires many forms of proof that we live together at her family home address, neighbors have to sign forms, etc. And actually we are not staying there now, we travel, adding to the difficulty. Is it really that hard? I understand that IO might not renew my retirement visa as a spouse visa, it might be easier to leave, return on exempt, and then apply for the spouse visa. Secondary question is how much in advance of visa renewal does the 800k (retirement visa) or 400k (spouse visa) need to be in my bank account? I've heard 60 days, but I'm not sure. For now I'm just leaving that 800k there, in anticipation of the 90 day renewal (to one year). Comment on leaving 800k (or 400k) in Thai bank account that pays no interest. With current inflation ~5% the real value of this money drops ~5% per year. Even a bit of interest would take the edge off that. Also, if not locked up in Thai bank account it could be invested in something paying more interest than inflation. So that's why I'm interested in not leaving any more than necessary any longer than necessary in Thai non-interest account.

Hi all. I applied for and received my Thai Type O (retirement) visa. I had to deposit 800k bhat in a Thai bank to do this. Problem is bank doesn't pay interest, actually they charge an annual maintenance fee. So I'm loosing money as inflation continues. I think I can transfer the money out now that I have my visa? But I need to renew it in 90 days, so I'll have to transfer the money back in? How much in advance of visa renewal does the account need to show that 800k+ balance? Maybe best just to leave it there for the 90 days. Next issue is I'm marrying my Thai girlfriend next week. So I should be able to renew my Type O visa as a spouse visa instead of retirement visa, and for 1 year. I understand that with Type O (spouse) the requirement drops to 400k, an easier amount for me to maintain. How difficult is it to renew Type O visa as spouse instead of retirement? What extra documents, etc. are required?

The solution is legalization and social support: rights and respect for sex workers. But that won't happen, there is too much resistance from the people exploiting the workers i.e. operators who want to keep their profits high, paid / bribed politicians / law enforcement, customers who want to keep prices low, and social conservatives. As long as the "world's oldest profession" trade remains illegal, workers will be exploited and trafficked. Sex work should be legal, regulated, and licensed, with oversight by social workers to ensure all workers are doing it by choice and not coercion.

I went to an AIS service outlet. Representative insisted I can not lock the SIM card, AIS does not support that. I persist, and eventually she does some research and says the default PIN is 1,2,3,4. Enter that, then set my new PIN, enable lock. No problems..

That is very interesting about O (90 day) retirement visa. I only found vague references searching. But as you say, at Thai evisa site https://thaievisa.go.th/ Select "Which type of visa should I apply for" Choose "Retirement (pensioner aged 50 or above with a state pension who wish to stay in Thailand no longer than 90 days)" Result is "Your visa type is “Non-Immigrant Visa (O)”" Though when click "View Detail" the screen only describes family, charity, medical, etc. nothing about retirement. So I probably could apply though the site for O retirement, and follow up with extension. I also found a Thai "visa assist" site that says enter on Exempt or 60 day tourist, we will change to O (90 day), then after 60 days extend to 1 year retirement. I have learned a lot due to your valuable comments, thank you @DrJack54 and @ubonjoe . Joe

Thank you @DrJack54 for the comments. Good point about getting tourist visa in nearby countries, such as Saigon. Both you and @CAMSIAM mention non O visa. I don't think I am eligible for this until after (if ever) I marry my Thai girlfriend. I don't see the (90 day) O visa is available for retirement. Per https://thaievisa.go.th/non-immigrant-o it is only for family, charity work, medical, etc. not retirement. I appreciate the comments, suggestions, advice! Thanks, Joe

Thank you @DrJack54 for the comments. Now I realize Visa-On-Arrival is for one group of countries and Visa-exempt is for another, including USA where I'm citizen. I see starting October 1, 2022 VOA now gets 30 days instead of 15, and exempt now gets 45 days instead of 30, but only until end of March 2023. Also (including @BritTim and @khunPer) for "non O" visa considerations. I have a question, can I still get a 30 day extension to this new 45 day exempt visa? I understand that if entering by land or sea I can only border run twice per year, but if entering by air there is not limit. Can I get 30 day extension for every exempt visa entry? I understand that there are three "non-" (meaning "non-immigrant") O types: "O" for family stay, e.g. if I marry my Thai girlfriend, which is good for 90 days but can be extended? "O-A" for "retirement" (I'm over 50 years old) type, good for one year, and then can be continuously extended every year. "O-X" also for "retirement", but good for five years, and then can be extended another five years, (and then what?). For O-A I need to open an Thai bank account, transfer and maintain ฿800k (more for O-X), I can do that. Hopefully an interest bearing account. I understand I also need health insurance. While my USA plan covers me internationally, it's only does so for emergencies, I need to pay and submit for refund. I plan to get international health insurance anyway. I found this link that details ways around the health insurance requirement: https://www.thaiembassy.com/travel-to-thailand/health-insurance-thailand-for-retirees Any suggestions for international health insurance, covering at least all ASEAN countries (maybe topic for another post)? So now my plan is to arrive on exempt visa, get extensions and do border runs, and depending on how things go eventually work with Thai agent to get O or O-A visa. There is also the elite visa, but I don't see reason to spend that much. Comments? Thank you, Joe

Hi All. This is my first post! I'm happy to have found ASEAN NOW forums. As introduction, I am retired guy from California. January 2022 I visited Thailand under Test and Go VOA (Visa On Arrival aka "exempt" visa), and got two extensions (one 30 day and one 60 day) for 120 days total. Now I will return, December 2022, for extended / indefinite duration. I consider with OA retirement visa. The Thai eVisa website seems to work well, I started an application. I understood I'd need four documents: Financial proof, Criminal check, Health check, Health insurance. A bit onerous, but didn't seem too difficult. But after completing the initial pages I got to the document submission page, and they wanted 15 documents! I don't even know what they all are supposed to be. I think I would need to work with a knowledgeable agent to do this, and I don't know of any in USA. So I changed my plan: Enter with VOA. Then immediately get the 30 day extension. After that do the border run protocol, and I'm planning on visiting other countries anyway. And get new 30 day extension with each new VOA. So 60 days max per border run. Another option is work with agent in Thailand for a longer term visa, like OA visa. My Thai girlfriend suggested I should marry her and that would make things easier, and I'm not ready for that yet. Any comments, questions, suggestions? Thank you, Joe