Red Phoenix

If your wife is Thai she will have no problem opening a bank-account in Thailand. However, if you plan to use that joint account for meeting the financial requirements of a Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement application, be aware that you would then need DOUBLE the amount (i.e. 1.600.000 THB instead of 800.000 THB) to meet the requirement, even if it is only for YOUR application. It would be better if your wife opened a Kasikorn or Bangkok Bank account, and that once that you are in Thailand you open a personal account only on your name at the same branche. It would be useful if your wife when opening the account already talked with the Bank manager about you arriving later, and whether they would also open an account for you without the need of having a Work Permit (which is not allowed when applying for a retirement Visa) or other constraints. Basically you would only be able to show your Passport, your Permission to stay and the Housebook of the place where you are staying, but your wife having an account at that Bank branche would be the 'convincer' to open one also for you. Note that she - and later you - should insist on talking to the Bank branche manager first, as the officers will be far less inclined to open an account for you hiding behind bank regulations or fear of face-loss when not fully familiar with the process of opening an account for foreigners.

If your rogue Koh Samui Imm Office is adamant in that you cannot apply there for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa from your Visa Exempt entry, there are only 3 options for you: #1 - Apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa at a Thai Embassy/Consulate abroad (e.g. at a neighboring country - e.g. at the Savannakhet Consulate), and after your return to Thailand you would then be able to apply for the 1-year extension of that Non Imm O Visa. #2 - Apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa at a Thai Immigration Office in another province, but which would require that you do a change of address to that other province , and once that you got the Non Imm O Visa from the other province, then return to Samui, and do a change of address again to your original Samui address. #3 - Engage a Samui Visa agent to do get hold of the Non Imm O Visa for you. You can either make use of a 'fixer' agent in order to circumvent the +800K financial requirement, or engage an agent to simply help and represent you to get hold of the Non Imm O Visa. Since you planned on applying yourself, you will most probably meet the financial requirements already, so it is just the hand-holding service that is needed from the Visa Agent. > In your case I would strongly suggest to go for option #3, as that will be the cheapest option, since it will avoid you having to travel abroad or to another province to apply for the Non Imm O Visa.

Yes it does - upon re-entry the 90-day clock starts ticking again. But his local Imm Office might notice at his next visit the gap in his 90-day reporting history, and fine him 2.000 THB. There are no other consequences, so if the doesn't care about the potental fine and has no time to do the 90-day report before his departure, he might simply skip it,

You can still do it till due date on-line. If you are not able to do it on-line, you can also still do it during the grace period of 6 days after due date in person at your local Imm Office. When you leave without having it done, you may be fined 2.000,- THB on your next visit to your Imm Office when they notice the gap in your 90-day reporting. There are no other consequences than only that fine (if they notice it).

Just for clarification > I presume from what you wrote that you entered Thailand Visa Exempt or on a Tourist Visa, and that you want to apply for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage. If that is indeed the case, the document that OJAS provided spells out the requirements for such application. And to meet the financial requirements it is indeed EITHER 7.1 (Embassy issued Income statement) or 7.2 (Thai Bank statement showing 400K on a personal Thai bank-account). Probably some confusion/lost in translation issue by the Sakhon Nakhon Imm Officer, so do go there and have the issue clarified. Note: Do bring a printed copy of the Requirements document, but be aware that Imm Offices can add additional requirements on top of the official requirements. But in your case it is a clear-cut 7.1 OR 7.2 clause that needs to be met, and not both.

I would recommend either Bangkok Bank or Kasikorn Bank. Both of them have a large network of branches in Thailand AND are used to dealing with foreigners (which cannot be said of some of the other Thai banks). On top of that both of them are WISE partner-banks. That is important if you plan to use WISE to transfer the 800K to your personal account. Using WISE with other Thai banks only allows to transfer max 50K per transaction, while there is no such restriction when using WISE to transfer funds tor Bangkok Bank or Kasikorn Bank. Note also that if you use WISE to transfer to another Thai bank, that it is always routed via one of those two partner-banks, which means that the transfer will turn up as a 'domestic' transfer on your bank-account of that other bank. And as Immigration requires evidence of the foreign origins of the funds when applying for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, it means that you would have to visit either Bangkok Bank or Kasikorn Bank for a statement that the funds arrived there and that they then transmitted it to your other Thai Bank. Opening a Bank account in Thailand is not as easy as you might think, as every branch of a Thai bank acts as a little fiefdom and while branch office A might reject you as customer, branch office B of the same Bank at the other side of the street, might accept you. So you often have to shop around to find a branch of a Bank that will accept you, but your best bet - in view of the above - is to first try opening an account with Bangkok Bank or Kasikorn Bank. If not possible, then KrungSri Bank or Siam Commercial Bank are options, but you should avoid the 'pure' Thai clientele banks as they are always very busy and are not used to dealing with foreigners.

I agree that in +95% of cases that a Visa Exempt entry and subsequent extension will be the best option. But the OP asked specifically about O-A vs O, and - if you already have or opted for Health-Insurance that also meets the Non Imm O-A requirements, AND - you return to your home-country at least once every 2 years and then re-apply for a new Non Imm O-A that that would be an attractive option if you do not mind the above minor hassle. The benefits being that in such case you do NOT need to park any money semi-permanently on a Thai bank-account, and you only need to visit your Thai Imm Office for your 90-day reports (or do them on-line). NOTE: I added that the OP should PM me re the health-insurance policy as there are some additional aspects to take into account when he considers the Non Imm O-A option.

Because I made some minor changes/amendments in the new post.

Recenly a similar thread was opened > It might be useful for you to check it out. I posted the below message there, and there were some responses of interest to it. Added also NOTE 3 = = = When you meet the requirements to apply for a 1-year Non Imm O-A Visa in your home-county AND you have a Health-Insurance Policy that meets the Non Imm O-A requirements, it could be worthwhile to apply for a Non Imm O-A Visa, provided you go at least once every 2 years to your home-country and during your stay there apply for a NEW Non Imm O-A Visa. The benefit of doing so is that: 1 - There is no need to keep any funds semi-permanently on a Thai personal bank-account (thus freeing up 800k/400K on your Thai bank-account); 2 - There is no need to visit an Imm Office during the 2-year period that the Non Imm O-A Visa can provide you (this is literally so when you do your 90-day reports on-line). 3 - The 1-year Non Imm O-A Visa is multiple-entry the first year (but you should only buy single-entry Re-Entry Permits in the 2nd year for your trips abroad, and REFRAIN from doing so for your return-trip to your home-country, thus 'killing' your current Permit to stay and being able to apply for a new Non Imm O-A Visa in your home-country). NOTE 1: The above was my plan to stay in Thailand and avoid parking +800K semi-permanently on a Thai bank-account, but because of COVID restrictions at the time when I should have left to my home-country I was forced to switch to a Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement. NOTE 2: The minimum coverage (and annual fee) for a Non Imm O-A compliant Health Insurance policy has been upped considerable in mean time. But if you opt for a Health Insurance policy to cover you while in Thailand, it will still be worthwhile to opt for one that meets the Non Imm O-A requirements, in order to 'enjoy' the benefits of the Non Imm O-A Visa. NOTE 3: PM me about the Health-Insurance options to ensure you get the most out of the Non Imm O-A when you opt for it. But be aware that if you do not intend to visit your home-country at least once every 2 years (and re-apply for a new Non Imm O-A Visa), that Dr Jack is correct and that entering Thailand Visa Exempt (or on a Tourist Visa) and then applying for the Non Imm O Visa at your local Imm Office is then the better option.

https://co2coalition.org/publications/challenging-net-zero-with-science-lindzen-happer-co2-coalition-paper-released/

UPDATE - Correction > The amount is 400.000 THB, and some Imm Offices require a couple of days 'seasoning' of that amount.

https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/18อุทธรณ์คำสั่งของพนักงานเจ้าหน้าที่ที่ให้เดินทางออกนอกราชอาณาจักร-ตม.11.pdf The link above allows to download the document by which you can raise an Appeal to the order of the Imm Officer to leave the Kingdom.

It is an obvious case of him being confused by the Thai Immigration rules. In his case - apart from his mistake to use an ATM instead of having the money transferred from abroad - opting for the 'Monthly income method' to meet the financial requirements for the extension of his Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, is the WORST choice he could have made. With a Thai wife and dependant child applying for an extension based on either of these two reasons, has much lower financial requirements to be met. With a Thai dependant child you only need to show 200.000 THB on your personal Thai bank-account at the moment of application . And NO need for any seasoning of that amount, nor for providing evidence of the source - so you basically only need it 1 day < the day of application > on your personal bank-account. I would advise him to contact a lawyer with knowledge of Immigration requirements and preferably with Immigration connections, to plead eased circumstances and address his case 'higher up' the Immigration ladder.

These gender-confused children and adults have a very heavy cross to bear, and for sure they need help. But surely not from 'qualified experts' that support their delusions and 'help' them with irreversible surgery. Some of them outgrow their mental issues and immensely regret what they did and the permissive society that allowed it.

And if you don't get any e-mail confirmation or it does not show any status on the on-line 90-day report site, you can do it in person at your local IO till 6 days after due date.

Thailand is a very big country, so would be useful to mention the province/city where you are located for people interested...

Hi Amy, You did not enter on a Tourist Visa, but you entered Thailand Visa Exempt (without a Visa) which provided you with a 45-day Permit to stay stamped in your passport on entry by Thai border Immigration. The information you received in previous responses is fully correct. But be aware that some Imm Offices do require more time than 15 days left on your Permit to stay when applying for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage. As you would be applying in Phuket, do check on the number of remaining days required there. In case you are too late already, you would have to apply first for either a 30-day extension or for a 60-day extension for reason of visiting your Thai husband. An extension of stay - irrespective of the period it will provide - costs 1900,- THB.

Unfortunately for applicants having to navigate the Thai Immigration jungle, what you wrote is largely true. However if you are 100% sure that you are in full compliance with the Immigration requirements (e.g. when on previous occasions you were not challenged by the Imm Officer), you could politely ask to speak to the Imm Officer in charge. Obviously if also the Head Honcho of that Office insists, you then politely apology for not having been aware of the rule that you are challenged on. Local Imm Offices can impose additional requirements on top of the 'official' ones, which results in the inconsistency in requirements depending in which Imm Office you apply.

Just for clarification > If a Thai Embassy/Consulate requires additional evidence like an onward flight to an international destination during the METV validity and/or a Hotel booking on arrival, just 'stating' that you did so won't cut it. But it would be easy to make an onward-flight reservation that is automatically cancelled days before flight departure (typical cost 10-15 US $ for such service). Similarly it would be simply a matter of booking a Hotel that allows free cancellation up till day of supposed arrival (preferably one that does not require credit-card booking). Indeed both 'false' but using those methods there is no way that the Thai Embassy/Consulate could dispute or reject such bookings as they are genuine reservations.

You are right. So here: Sunmaster in-action...

My Mind Blown by 1560 Geneva Bible Somewhat off topic, but of possible interest for some members... https://naomiwolf.substack.com/p/my-mind-blown-by-1560-geneva-bible?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

The most sensible thing you've written in a long time. But before you surprise me with yet another resurrection, I will just use the block function and be done with it. Bye Sunmaster in action...

That's a really sad story. in his case he should have used an Agent or a friend to enquire about his options when not being able to go to Immigration for his extension due to being hospitalized.

Yes, that would be possible. And it's the reason that some Imm Offices also require proof of the SOURCE of the income. Also be aware that even if your local Imm Office does not require such evidence of Source of Income, that the individual Imm Officer handling your application CAN ask for it. Note: Unless the Imm Office specifically requires a certain Source of Income (e.g. pension provider), you could be claiming monthly rental income from abroad. So it would be possible to have a friend/relative transfer you every month at approx same time a fixed sum in foreign currency (above the THB limit required) and specifying it as 'property rental fee for month X'.

Being spiritually inclined does not mean that you have to give up your sexuality. On the contrary, it means fully embracing and enjoying it. Seeing it as 'dirt' indicates that you have not yet come to terms with that part of being human.