Red Phoenix

Actually you have been very lucky in the past that your Korat Imm Office accepted a Kor Ror 22 more than 1 year old as proof of STILL being married with your Thai wife. Almost all Imm Offices require a RECENTLY issued Kor Ror 22, with "recent" varying from 1 month old to 1 week old, and some loony Offices even want to have it issued on same day as application. For a 1-year Permission to stay extension or 60-day extension of stay application, you need BOTH a copy of your original Marriage Certificate (legislated when it was issued abroad), as well as this Kor Ror 22 which can be gotten hold of at ANY Thai Amphur, as it is just a print-out from the national Thai marriage register providing evidence that you are still married to your Thai wife, and it typically costs somewhere between 10,- and 100,- THB.

Scrooged, with Bill MURRAY

Many options: Starting with SingleEntry 60-days Tourist Visa which provides you with a 60-day Permission to stay 1 - Apply for 30-day extension at any Thai Imm Office 2 - If married to a Thai national apply for a 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting your wife So that's 90 days or when married to Thai national > 150 days Then do a border-hop. 3 - On re-entering Thailand VisaExempt (without a Visa) you will get a 30-day Permission to stay 4 - Repeat steps 1 and 2 So that's 150 days or when married to Thai national > 210 days After that it will become more tricky but not impossible to extend further. The reason being that border-immigration might not accept that you are a 'genuine tourist' > A 90-day Non Imm O Visa - which can be applied for in Thailand, a neighboring country or your home-country, would then be accepted but takes a whole lot more bureaucracy to get hold of it.

I reckoned that OP already did ask such a short-term 400K loan it to close friends/relatives but without success, so 'acquaintances' or more distant relatives might be reluctant to help him out, hence my suggestion for a financial incentive for them to do so.

There shouldn't be any reason that the Thai Consulate in Savannakhet would deny you a 90-day SingleEntry Non Imm O Marriage Visa when you meet the requirements (which you obviously do after 2 succesful applications). Question > Don't you have any friends who would be willing to lend you funds such that you reach the required 400.000 THB on a personal Thai bank-account, allowing you to apply for the 1-year MultipleEntry Non Imm O Marriage Visa? The funds only have to be on your personal Thai bank-account at moment of application, so you actually only need them for a couple of days, after which you can transfer the funds back. Considering that it would save you 4 more trips to Savannakhet, offering a 10.000,- THB lenders fee for 1 week-use of the funds, might overcome any reluctance from friends/relatives to help you out with that temporary financial issue.

~ OP is NOT on a 1-year extension of his 90-day Non Imm O Marriage Visa. He applied for a 1-year MultipleEntry Non Imm O Marriage Visa (probably at the Thai Embassy in Savannakhet, Laos). That - very popular - Visa is valid for 1 year and will provide you with a 90-day Permission to stay when entering Thailand. At the end of those 90 days you either need to exit Thailand or apply for a 60-day or 1-year extension at your local Thai Imm Office. So by doing border-hops at the end of each 90-days Permission to stay - which will provide you with a NEW 90-day Permission to stay - you can squeeze 15 months of stay out of that Visa without ever having to visit your local Imm Office. And at the end of those 15 months you can simply apply again for a NEW 1-year ME Non Imm O Marriage Visa.

~ That's correct when you are on a 90-day Non Imm O Visa or 1-year extension of such. But OP has a MultipleEntry Non Imm O Visa, which provides him with a 90-day Permission to Stay on each entry in Thailand. As a result the TM-30 which he might have done for his previous Permission to stay is invalidated. But as I wrote in a previous response, since he never visits his local Imm Office he shouldn't bother about it. And if he is anxious about it, he or his landlord could register on the IO TM-30 system which would allow to do the TM-30 notification on-line without having to visit his local Imm Office.

You are on a 1-year MultipleEntry Non Imm O Visa (Marriage) which means you receive a NEW Permission to stay for 90 days every time you re-enter Thailand during the validity of that 1-year Visa. And that also means that in principle you NEVER have to visit your local Immigration Office. So why do you bother about issuing an updated TM-30 each time you re-enter Thailand? You would only have to do that, when you needed a specific service from your local Imm Office (e.g. if you would be applying for a 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting your wife, or when you need a Residence Certificate). In your case I simply wouldn't bother about doing that TM-30 notification, because it is the owner/landlord of the residence where a foreigner is residing that is required by Thai law to notify the local Immigration office that a foreigner is staying at the premises. In a twisted Thai logic way, the Imm Offices by not providing a service when the foreigner cannot provide evidence that a TM-30 was done, put the onus on the foreigner that requires a service from them. So in your case - not needing any such services - it is your landlord that needs to do the TM-30 notification otherwise she could be fined for not having done it. Note: When you pay your landlord the 500,- THB for doing the TM-30 notification does your passport contain the stapled notification slip? If not, it could well be that your landlord simply pockets the money and doesn't bother doing it (as he knows you will not visit Immigration anyway).

You would have had more options when applying for an eVisa in your home-country, but it's not such a big problem after all as I understand that you are actually now in the discovery phase and do not necessarily need to stay 1 full year In Thailand. The easiest way for you would be to enter Thailand VisaExempt (without a Visa) which will provide you with a 30-day Permission to stay. And in the last 2 weeks of that Permission to stay you could then apply for a 30-day extension of stay at ANY Thai Immigation office (costs 1.900,- THB, is provided on the spot and the extra 30 days added to the expiry date of your entry Permission to stay). Then at the end of those 60 days (do NOT overstay) simply exit Thailand to one of the neigboring countries you also like to explore (Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam are worthwhile options). Then return to Thailand which will once again provide you with a 30-day extension of stay which can equally be extended again for 30 days. No problem doing that process 3 times (max 2 times by landborder), so that would give you already 180 days in Thailand + the time you did spent in the neigboring countries. If by then you have made up your mind of wanting to stay long-term in Thailand, you could then apply for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement at the Imm Office of the province where you would be residing, and based on that 90-day Retirement Visa you can then apply for the 1-year extension of that 90-days Visa's Permission to stay. Success and happy discovery!

That's probably because you first applied for the 60-day extension for reason of visiting your wife. With an already extended Permission to stay Immigration might be reluctant to provide an additional 30-days extension. Note that the 'other way around' (first applying for the 30-day extension and then for the 60-day extension), should be no problem. But this is Thailand, and different Imm Offices might impose their own rules. And you could of course apply at a different office Imm Office in another province when the Imm Office refuses to provide the 2nd extension.

He only needs a Thai Bank-Account when he would apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa (or 1-year extensions of such Visa). In OP's case - only staying 4 months - there is no need to do that as he can easily stay 120 days without leaving the country, and even double that when doing a border-hop.

When married to a Thai national it is easy to stay 4 months or longer in Thailand. Her is how to go about: #1 - Simply fly to Thailand VisaExempt (WITHOUT a Visa). On arrival you will be stamped in by Thai border-immigration with a 30-day Permission to stay. NOTE: You would also need an onward flight reservation for a flight to an international destination on a date prior to the expiry-date of the 30-day Permission to stay, otherwise the airline staff at departure can refuse you to board. Such onward flight-reservation can be bought on-line for 16 US $ at e.g. onwardticket.com #2 - During the 2 weeks preceding the expiry date of your Permission to stay, you can visit ANY Thai Immigration Office (one or more in every province) and apply for a 30-day extension of stay. That extension costs 1.900,- THB, is provided on the spot, and the 30 days ADDED to the expiry-date of your Permission to stay. #3 - During the 2 weeks preceding the expiry date of that extended Permission to stay, you can once again visit the Thai Immigration Office of the province where you are residing, and can apply for a 60-day extension of stay for reason of 'visiting your Thai wife'. Your wife has to be with you when doing the application. It costs 1.900,- THB and is once again delivered on the spot with the extra 60 days added to the expiry date of your extended Permission to stay. You will need evidence of living at an address in the province you apply (TM-30 and house-book copy will do. You also need to provde a copy of your original Marriage Certificate, as well as a recently issued Kor-Ror-2 document (extract from the Thai national marriage register providing evidence that you are STILL married to your Thai wife). That Kor-Ror-2 document can be obtained at ANY Thai Amphur, costs 20 to 100,- THB and is provided on the spot. Note that when you married abroad, you would first have to legalize and register that foreign Marriage Certificate so that it can be included in the Thai nation-wide marriage register. #4 - With the above 3 steps you already have 120 days in Thailand, but having already applied for the 30- day and 6-day extension of stay you cannot extend the Permission to stay anymore. And so now you will need to exit Thailand latest on the expiry-date of that latest Permission to stay you got. A simple border-hop will do the trick (can be done same day or you can make of the opportunity to visit the neighboring country where you cross the border). #5 - After having crossed the border (e.g. a land-border crossing to Laos, Malaysia or Cambodia, or a cheap flight to Vietnam or Singapore), you can simply return VisaExempt to Thailand and will be one again stamped in with a 30-day Permission to stay. And that NEW Permission to stay can once again be extended with a 30-day and a 60-day Permission to stay. as addressed in steps 2 and 3. >> So doing the above allows you to stay up to 240 days (8 months) in Thailand without any issues whatsoever. And so you are not bothered with: - Applying for an eVisa to enter Thailand (the process can be an administrative nightmare); - The petty rules/regulations to apply for the Non Imm O Visa or its extension in Thailand (which is absolutely dreadful for a Non Imm O Marriage Visa), as well as the inconvenience of a possible house-visit during the under consideration period of the Marriage Visa and its 1-year extensions.

~ A minor correction, as it is more correct to state that you can only apply ONCE for a 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting your wife, when on the same initial or extended Permission to stay. So re-entering Thailand with a Re-Entry Permit does not allow you to apply again for such 60-day extension, when you already used it earlier. Also note that irrespective of the Visa on which you entered Thailand (be it VisaExempt, Tourist Visa or Non Imm O Visa for reason of Retirement or Marriage) that you are always eligible for such one-time 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting your wife. And when applying for that 60-day extension your Thai wife needs to be with you, and besides the original Marriage certificate, you also need a recently issued Kor-Ror-2 (extract from the national Thai marriage register, providing evidence that you are STILL married with your Thai wife) which can be gotten for 20 to 100 THB at any Thai Amphur. Depending on the Imm Office where you are applying for that 60-day extension of stay, that Kor-Ror-2 "recent' can range from issued same day as the application till 1 month before application.

~ Inserted my response in the questions (marked in blue) you raised: "I kept my official residence in Belgium (by officially moving to my parents address)". How do you manage that? Do you spend at least 6 months per year in Belgium, the only way I see you can be officially resident in Belgium? Same for the UK. > No, I am already for 6 years living approx 85% of the time in Thailand on my annually renewed 1-year Extension of stay for reason of retirement. Afaik there is no obligation to stay at least 6 months per year in my Belgian home-country, where I have my official residence (in the house of my parents). In case any authorities would try to contact me there, I would simply be 'on holiday' (which is actually true as I am a NON-Immigrant in Thailand). As you are officially resident in Belgium, you have no problems with Belgian accounts, you can open or keep existing ones. If you are not resident in Belgium, my understanding is that it is impossible to open a new one in any banks and keeping an existing one depends on your bank's policy. Is that your understanding? It is the case in the UK. > Yes, if you do not have your domicily anymore in Belgium it is not possible to open a new bank-account. In UK the situation is even worse: most banks will suspend or block your account if they find out that you are not actually residing in the country. Afaik there is no such policy in Belgium, and anyway with my official residence in Belgium there would never be any problem from the Bank's side. I have never heard of N26 before. I will have a look, thank you for the tip. > As I wrote I opened that N26 Internet bank-account while in Thailand, as only an EU Passport is needed to open a free account. But to get hold of the debit-card I obviously had to give an address in Belgium where to send it (in my case obviously I used my official address in Belgium) Wise told me 2 days ago that (I quote)"We sadly do not offer the Wise card to customers in Thailand". You seem to be using one in Thailand. This apparent contradiction could be explained by a difference between getting a card and using it. In other words, you might get a card at your parents in Belgium and the card is working in Thailand. Is that the case? > Yes, same as for opening the N26 account, I had the WISE debit-card (linked to my multiple currency account with them) send to my Belgian residence. For all they know I am a Belgian living in Belgium (and that's actually correct, as it is irrelevant that I am most of the year on holiday elsewhere). My decision not to give up my official residence in Belgium and exchange it for an address in Thailand, has been very advantageous for all administrative and banking matters.

~ No, as you can only apply for a 30-day extension when having entered Thailand Visa Exempt or on a Tourist Visa. When he cannot get hold of the required evidence of 12 monthly income transfers by Tuesday, he will have to exit Thailand latest on Tuesday, and start the whole process from scratch again. Note: If he is officially married to a Thai national there is an escape road. Because if that would be the case he could apply for a 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting his wife, as that an always be done once per entry irrespective of how you entered Thailand (VisaExempt or Tourist Visa) as well as when you are staying on a 1-year extension of a Non Imm O Visa (be it for Retirement or Marriage).

If feasible considering your health I would NOT recommend waiting till Dec 18th, as you would be on overstay by then, and without a statement from a doctor that you are unable to go, this might result in problems. Hope you are somewhat better tomorrow Friday and are able to do it then on that last day. Since your wife has to be with you when applying for the 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting her, she could already go today or latest tomorrow to the local Amphur to get the required Kor-Ror-2 (extract from the Thai national marriage register proving that you are STILL married), as I don't think you have to be with her to get hold of that document. And with your original marriage certificate and that Kor-Ror-2 the application for the 60-day extension of stay the Friday-visit at the local Imm Office should be a quickie.

@EcureuilTenace - Like yourself I am Belgian pensioner living in Thailand, but with the difference that I kept my official residence in Belgium (by officially moving to my parents address). I am well aware of the huge potential problems that might arise when keeping my money and having my pension paid to a bank outside Thailand. And my current (imperfect) solution is to have - a main Belgian Bank-account (where I have two accounts, and 2 debit-cards and 3 credit-cards, one of them being a Golden credit-card - the other ones being free) - a 'reserve' Belgian Bank-account (with a debit- and credit-card) This in case there would be an accessibility problem with either of them. And I also keep less than 100.000,- Euro on each bank, as that is the protection limit when they go belly-up, which is unlikely as both these banks are rock-solid and conservative with how they invest their funds. I also opened an Internet bank-account with German-based N26, voted last year Best bank in the World (and have a debit-card from that account). When you have a Belgian passport you would be able to also open such an Internet bank-account at N26. Howeverm when you opt for their unbelievable generous YOU-account (do check it out) you would need a Belgian address to send the debit-card to. Finally I also have a savings account (with debit-card) and Fixed deposit account with Thai Kasikorn bank. = = = You also wrote that you are using WISE but are not comfortable with having them looking after your money as a bank. I also have a WISE account, and use it to spice my Kasikorn account. But I also have a Multiple-Currency account with WISE (and debit-card to that account which allows me to withdraw money from an ATM at the Wise favorable exchange-rate). That would probably be a good alternative for you too, and the fact that WISE is not a regular bank but rather a foreign-exchange clearing-house is imo actually a Pre rather than being uncomfortable that your money is kept by them. = = = It is prudent not to put all your eggs in one basket, as it looks that the world's financial system is on the brink of collapse and so me having my funds at several banks in different countries at least provides some security that I will not suddenly face the situation of not being able to get access to at least some of my funds. Note that in your situation, with a UK Bank being your main bank where you also receive your pension, it is even more important to ensure that you have different alternatives, as UK banks are notorious for suddenly blocking access to your account and thereby creating a huge problem for the owner of the account if he relies on the funds there. But from what you wrote you seem to be well aware of the risks in that situation and are considering actions to protect yourself against such a scenario.

OP wrote that he would be out of Thailand when the 1-year extension based on his Non Imm O Retirement Visa would be due. That's unfortunate as not applying for the 1-year extension when it is due would invalidate the Permission to stay, and force him to start from scratch again. There are however two options that might solve that situation: #1 - Contacting your local Imm Office and explaining the situation, and requesting whether it would be possible to make an exception for him and do the application earlier than the 30-day (or at some offices 45-day) prior to his current 1-year extension expiry date. As mentioned by other posters providing some evidence of the impossibility to return before the due date would be helpful (e.g. the flight ticket reservation to leave Thailand would already be helpful to make your local Imm Office consider making an exception). I also suggest to ask immediately when in the Imm Office to talk to the officer in charge, as such request would have to be approved by him/her and that would avoid the desk officer denying your request while the officer in charge might be more inclined to provide it. #2 - In case you are married to a Thai national, and you did not already use it earlier on your current Retirement Visa/extension, you could apply for a 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting your wife. And those 60 days would be added to your current 1-year Permission to stay expiry date. Note that such 60-day extension of stay for reason of visting your wife, can always be applied for irrespective on how you entered Thailand (Visa Exempt or Tourist Visa) or on which Non Imm O Visa you are staying. Note that in case your Imm Office denies your request for early application, that you could raise this possible option with them but of course that would only be possible when you are actually married to a Thai national.

~ Oh boy, he got himself needlessly in problems. # Obviously there was no need for him to apply for a new 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of Retirement in Germany, as he had a valid re-entry permit to safeguard the 1-year Permission to stay (valid till 25 April 2024) based on his earlier Non Imm O Visa for reason of Marriage. # He was of course wrong when thinking that he could not use the 400K on his personal Thai bank-account during the whole 1-year Permission to stay period. When you are on a 1-year Permission to stay based on a Non Imm O Marriage Visa, you are free to use the 400K funds when you get the 1-year Permission to stay stamp in your Passport after the 'under consideration' period (typically takes 1 month from date of application). And you ONLY need to provide evidence of having +400K during the 2 months preceding the date of your next 1 year extension of stay application based on that original Non Imm O Marriage Visa. # But having entered on a 90-day Non Imm O Retirement Visa now, he cannot apply for the 1-year extension for reason of Marriage for his first 1-year extension of stay application, as such first application needs to be done for same reason as the orginal Non Imm O Visa (in his case that's now for reason of Retirement). And so he will now have to meet the requirements for a 1-year extension of stay for reason of Retirement, which means that when using the funds in bank method (which he used earlier for his Marriage Visa/extension) that he would now need to provide evidence of having +800K on his personal Thai bank account with foreign origins proven. And once he gets his 1-year extension of stay based on that 1-year Retirement extension application, he would need to keept those +800K semi-permanently on his personal Thai bank-account (only allowed to lower till +400K after 3 months from date of application and need to top up again to +800K two months before his next application for the 1-year extension for reason of Retirement. # Considering that he only stays 5 months a year in Thailand, there is actually no need for him to apply for a Non Imm O Visa (be it for marriage or for retirement). He could simply enter Thailand VisaExempt (without a Visa) which will provide him with a 30-day Permission to stay. That 30-day Permssion to stay can then be easily extended for 30-days at any Thai Immigration office (costs 1900,- THB like any extension, is delivered on the spot, and the extra 30 days added to the expiry date of his 30-day Permission to stay). After having done that, he can at the end of his 60 days in Thailand then apply at his local Imm Office for a 60-day extension of stay for reason of 'visiting his wife', which is once again provided on the spot (it needs evidence of being still married to your Thai wife, and a Kor-Ror-2 (extract from the Thai national marriage register) stating this can be gotten at any Thai Amphur on the spot for 20 - 100 THB. So that's already 4 months, and at the end of those 4 months he can do a simple border-hop which can be done same day, and will provide him once again with a new 30-day Permission to stay, which - if needed if it is just short of the 5 months he intends to stay in Thailand - can be once again extended for 30-days at any Thai Immigration office. # If he does not want to apply for the 1-year extension of stay for reason of retirement (which requires +800K on his personal Thai bank account with foreign origins of the funds proven) he could do the following: At the end of his 90-day Permission to stay, simply apply for a 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting his wife. And at the end of the 90+60 days simply do a border-hop and re-enter Visa Exempt (without a Visa) which would provide him with a 30-day Permission to stay, which can once again be extended for 30 days at his local Imm Office. And if that is still not enough to stay till June when he returns to Germany then apply again for a 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting his wife. # So due to his misunderstanding of the requirements he got himself into some unneeded trouble. Feel free to PM me if you or your German friend have questions or need additonal information on his best options.

~ That's correct, but two remarks: - He applied for the new Passport in his home-country so will not have an 'accompagning letter' with that new Passport as that only applies when aplying for the new passport at the Embassy of his home-country in Thailand. - He can wait to do the stamp transfers till a moment that it is convenient for him to do so (e.g. when doing his 90-day report or when applying for his next 1-year extension of stay).

When your friend entered Thailand on that new 90-day Non Imm O Marriage Visa, he cannot extend the Permission for another 90 days and so it looks like the Munich website is wrong, And you are correct that his only extension options from that 90-day Non Imm O Marriage Visa are: - a one-time 60 day extension of stay for reason of visiting his wife; - a 1-year extension for reason of Marriage (he cannot apply for reason of Retirement for his first 1-year extension, as that has to be for the same reason that the original 90-days Visa was provided).

~ Reminds me of the quote by Friedrich Nietzsche > Belief means not wanting to know what is true. Glaube heißt Nicht wissen wollen, was wahr ist. ~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 - 1900) But imo you correctly added that true 'knowing' is not based on mere hear-say or even study, but has its roots in direct experience. In dutch language the five stages of 'understanding' can be differentiated as weten - kennen - kunnen - doen - zijn The nuances of these words are difficult to render in english, but it roughly translates as Having heard - knowing - be able to - doing - being A short explanation to illustrate the above. When you have heard something you often cannot reproduce it in a coherent way and it is also easily lost/forgotten and needs a reminder to bring it back. When you know a subject matter you are a step further and can transmit it to others (who will then be at 'having heard' stage), but it does not necessarily mean that you are able to apply that knowledge in practice. George Bernard Show's quote is applicable here: "Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach" But being able to apply it does not necessarily mean that you are also actually doing so. And only when you are actually applying that understanding in practice [ doing ] it might get ingrained and become a part of you. And when you have fully incorporated it and you 'live that understanding' [ being ] it cannot be taken from you anymore. So 'believing' is associated with the first 3 stages of understanding, but 'knowing' based on actual practice and direct experience is of a different order.

When re-entering Thailand with your new Passport, you will also need to show your corner-clipped (to invalidate it) old Passport that contains the Re-Entry Permit to protect your 1-year extension of stay. Thai border-immigration will based on the data in the old Passport then stamp your new Passport with a Permission to stay till the date of your Re-Entry Permit protected Permission to stay (June/July 2024). You would then need to go to the local Imm Office that provided you with your 1-year Permission to stay to do the 'change of passport' which consist of transferring the info from the relevant stamps in that old passport to your new passport. No need to do this immediately on your return, as you can do this at any time convenient for you, but latest when applying for a new 1-year Permission to stay when your current one expires June/July. Note: 90 days after re-entering Thailand your 90-day report will be due, and since you will have a new Passport you won't be able to do the 90-day report on-line (as the Passport number will not match anymore), and you will have to do it in person at your local Imm Office. And while doing that you can of course at same time do the 'change of passport' and have the relevant stamps transferred. You should also keep your old - invalidated - passport, as it will be needed when applying in June/July for your next 1-year extension of stay.

~ Yep, quoting a fact-check that was updated 2.5 years ago Also may I remind you that this topic is not about the spike proteins that the mRNA were intended to trigger (although I am far from convinced that these are harmless), but we are discussing the finding that the jabs also create unintended and unexpected random proteins, of which NOBODY knows what their effect will be.

~ These 3-letter Pharma-controlled agencies have reached the point that in order to remain healthy you would need to do the EXACT OPPOSITE of what they are advising...