Red Phoenix

~ Yes, there is a total misalignment between the requirements to apply at your local Imm Office for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa (which can only be done when you entered Thailand VisaExempt or on a Tourist Visa), and the now more strict requirements to open a personal Thai bank-account (which is needed to prove to Immigration that you met the financial requirements). It's a classic 'Catch-22' > You cannot apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa at your local Imm Office without a personal Thai Bank-account, but to open such account you actually need to already have such a Non Imm O Visa... > The consequence of those contradictory and mutually exclusive requirements from Immigration and some Thai banks (luckily not all of them) is that it becomes as good as IMPOSSIBLE to apply for the 'change of Visa' process, which was set-up to allow tourists to apply for a long-stay Non Imm O Visa at their local Imm Office. So if you do not already have a personal Thai bank-account (set-up earlier before the current and ever stricter Bank requirements to open an accoutn), the only options left are: a) Applying for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa in your home-country, as that Visa will then allow you to open a personal Thai bank-account which is needed when applying for the 1-year extensions based on that 90-day Non Imm O Visa OR b) Engaging a VisaAgent with connections at a local Bank, that can help you open such a required Thai bank-account that would allow you then to apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa (either by yourself or again with help of a VisaAgent). = = = This whole bureaucratic nonsense is a big joke, until you are confronted with it...

When having entered Thailand Visa Exempt or on a Tourist Visa, you can apply for a Non Imm O Visa at the local Imm Office of the province where you plan to reside long term in Thailand. However, such application requires evidence of meeting the financial requirements for such Visa, and the ONLY evidence accepted is from having a personal Thai bank-account. But the requirements to open such a personal Thai bank-account are very difficult, and these Bangkok Bank rules make it as good as impossible to do that yourself. So it seems that help of a Visa Agent will be required to open an account at a Bangkok Bank branche. I hope that this BKB requirements craziness will not be taken over by other Thai banks.

~ Thanks Tippa, And I took the liberty to change the caption you provided, to make it more appropriate. "Hi Seth, share your wisdom - I am all ears..." 😉

@FolkGuitar was not backtracking or being untrue in his response. But it is like @proton correctly wrote that there is a difference between joint accounts and joint signatories. Some Thai banks allow another 'signatory' on the personal account you have opened with them. And that signatory person (e.g. your wife) is not visible in your Passbook, but it does allow the signatory person to access that personal bank-account. And when your request the Bank to provide you with the annual Bank-Account statement (often referred to as the 'letter' to Immigration) it will state that you are the sole owner of that account. Unfortunately at my Kasikorn bank-branche when I opened my Fixed Deposit account there, the staff and the bank manager told me that it was not possible for the FD account that I opened. Most probably it's only possible to have such a hidden joint signatory for Saving Accounts.

Hi TBL, sorry to hear that your response to the Timothy Leary post vanished before you were able to post it. Note that I have also experienced that annoying phenomenon before (especially when writing longer responses). But I found out that it's often just a matter of clicking again on the QUOTE button to the post you were responding to, to see the text where you have left off, and you can then either delete the response started or continue writing it.

The message and the messenger... But the empty talks of the blonde pretties are immediately forgotten, as it is only package and no substance. And then you have the messengers where it almost doesn't matter what they say, but where their BEING shines through in everything they DO and say. I recently came across this picture of Timothy LEARY. What a beautiful and powerful human being he was (just look at his eyes, to feel and touch his soul). And the message he spread is still resonating almost 30 years after his demise. Here an excerpt of one of his books, which touches me deeply. = = = Admit it. You aren’t like them. You’re not even close. You may occasionally dress yourself up as one of them, watch the same mindless television shows as they do, maybe even eat the same fast food sometimes. But it seems that the more you try to fit in, the more you feel like an outsider, watching the “normal people” as they go about their automatic existences. For every time you say club passwords like “Have a nice day” and “Weather’s awful today, eh?”, you yearn inside to say forbidden things like “Tell me something that makes you cry” or “What do you think deja vu is for?” Face it, you even want to talk to that girl in the elevator. But what if that girl in the elevator (and the balding man who walks past your cubicle at work) are thinking the same thing? Who knows what you might learn from taking a chance on conversation with a stranger? Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others. ~Timothy Leary

Thanks for that overview. And yes what you wrote is fully correct. Two additional comments: 1 - If the procedure that will be followed in case there is no will at your demise, would be no different than how you want it, there is no need to make a will. 2 - It makes sense to make an overview of all your possessions/contracts (physical assets like houses/land, insurance policies, bank-accounts, etc.) and update that list annually, such that in case of your demise that it would not be a mad scramble to find out all of the above (with the risk of overlooking a life-insurance policy or a foreign bank-account).

Thanks, and I read about that possibility. But when I opened my Fixed Deposit Account at my local Kasikorn branch, and enquired about doing exactly that what you proposed, the Bank staff told me that that was not possible. I insisted on it, but also the Bank manager told that was not possible. So it seems to be Bank and branche dependant, wjhether a joint signatory would be possible.

I presume that you applied for a 1-year extension of stay for reason of marriage, since you mention an 'under consideration' period. Some Imm Offices also check when you return at the end of that under consideration period to have the actual extension stamped in your passport, that you still meet the 400K financial criterium and that you did not slip under that amount, and require you to bring your updated bank passbook. Obviously you are allowed to make withdrawals and transfers from your bank-account during the under consideration period as long as you did not slip under that 400K tresshold.

Did your local Immigration Office accept such Joint account when applying for the 1-year extension based on your Non Imm O Visa? Reason I ask, is that in all threads on this topic it says that the majority of Imm Offices ONLY accept a Thai bank-account opened on your personal name. And that there are some Imm Offices that do accept a Bank-account carrying the name of both you and your wife, but that in that case the required funds to meet the Immigration requirements need to be doubled > i.e. + 1.600.000,- THB.

Hi Tazmo, I am in a very similar situation as yourself. Living for 6 years in Thailand now with my Thai girlfriend. And as we are not officially married, the easiest way for me to stay long-term in Thailand is on annual renewable permissions to stay from a Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement (just like you are doing). In order to avoid the risk and hassle of slipping under the required financial requirement for the extensions of that Visa, I opened a Fixed Deposit account with Kasikorn Bank, where I continually keep +800K (just a bit more to avoid that the annual admin fee would result in going under that mandatory 800K figure. The upside of that FD account is that I cannot slip accidentally under that 800K figure, as I need to go with my passport to the Bank to do any transactions on it, which I do once a year at Permission to stay renewal application time. And Immigration requires that the bank-account is on your own personal name, so my partner nor anybody else has access to it. Now there is of course the issue of what would happen with that 800K when I die, as my partner does not have access. I looked into this and the process is that when a foreigner dies in Thailand, that his accounts are frozen by the Bank, until the heritage question has been settled. Min my case there is no need for me to make a will, as all my possessions would automatically go to my 3 children. And I made the agreement with all 3 of them, that they would transfer 25% of the value of the heritage they receive, to my partner. This avoids that my partner with which I am not married would be heavily taxed on what she would receive when I would put her in my will. So the 800K will go - after quite some time as that process takes time - to my children. And every year I provide my children with a complete overview of the 'status' and details of what I possess. I.e. the details of all my bank-accounts (and their balance), my insurance policies and physical assets, and that includes the details of the FD bank-account at Kasikorn bank. It will thus not be a mad scramble by them to figure out what are my possesions. RE the 800K > I consider that 'sleeping amount' of 800K, as a kind of 'insurance' which can be used in case of me having an accident/hospitalization. In summary > in my case 'doing nothing' (except the annual overview I make of my possessions, which I provide to my children) is same as making a will. And of course I completely trust my children in that they would each provide 25% of their heritage to my partner (they fully agreed to that and saw the logic of it). Obviously I also made arrangements that even in the 'transition' period before my partner would receive her share, that she would not be left in the cold. For that purpose I transferred a considerable amount of money to her bank-account. >> Your situation might be slightly different, but this is how I dealt with the inevitable reality that chances are that I will 'go first' as my Thai girlfriend is 12 years younger than me. Cheers - BlueSphinx

~ Hahaha, a clever crypto way of honoring Tippers, but with a somewhat hidden message... or is TippARS triggering my dirty mind again... > Alternative title and sub-title (to be read in one go) The Tale of Timmy Tippars Hole in the Ground and the Way to the Stars 😁

~ de gustibus et coloribus non disputandum, and so I definitely will keep referring to you as Tippa instead of Tippers... Also because Tippersporn invokes the image in my mind of a dirty old man providing tips at a shady Gogo bar to the girls... I know: a dirty mind is a joy forever... 😁

Proactive???

I do my 90-day reports on-line. At my Imm Office (SiSaKet), when applying for a 1-year extension they automatically also do the 90-day report at moment of application. So when doing the 90-day report on-line with your Permission to stay expiring in less than 90 days, my Imm Office approves the 90-day report but the due date for the next 90-day report would be the expiry date of my Permission to stay. Note: In the OP's case, he should 1 - apply for the new passport asap, 2 - submit his 90-day report on-line NOW, as it can be done on-line from 14 days before due date. If it doesn't get approved, he should simply leave it at that, and when he applies for his 1-year extension, explain to Immigration why he did not do it in person (Passport renewal). In worst case he would then have to pay the 1.600,- THB fine for doing it 'late', but chances are they will accept that legitimate reason.

Yes, that's correct and it's much quicker to use the non-crowded Thai line at Airport Immigration instead of the Foreigner Line, when accompanied by your Thai wife or girlfriend.

There is no option when using Onwardticket.com to extend the validity of the flight reservation. But there are other onward flight reservation providers that do provide such option. E.g. https://bestonwardticket.com/ The ticket reservations they provide cost only 12 US $, and an additional advantage is that they provide you with the list of all airlines that offer a ticket that meets your criteria, and so you can actually CHOOSE the airline for the date of the flight reservation you are making. And if you want to extend the ticket validity for 7 days you pay 7 US $ extra, and for 14 days you pay 10 US $ on top of the regular validity of the flight reservations they provide (i.e. 48 hours). See snip >

~ Thanks Sunmaster for that clear and very recognizable rendering of the standard condition of everybody. And when people are honest with themselves they will see the truth that indeed you are more or less on autopilot until you have your coffee. But it's that last part "until you have your coffee" that I want to challenge here. I would make the argument that this 'autopilot' condition is how +99.99 % of people live their life (including myself). Everybody thinks that during their normal waking life, that they are 'not asleep' and have 'free will' but nothing could be further from the truth. In reality we are just automatons and completely pre-conditioned in all our responses and actions during the day. Yes, you can have meetings and discussions with other people, write letters, give presentations, meditate and do physical research work, and all this while you are still 'asleep'. Asleep is probably the best term to describe that condition, because it is only when you have EXPERIENCED that there is a far more encompassing level of consciousness that you will be able to appreciate the difference. Of course many when reading these words will argue that they are not asleep but wide awake. They do realize that in their present condition there are moments that they seem more aware than at other times, but they are mistaking that peak level of daily awareness with being really 'awake'. And it is very hard for most people to even consider the possibility that you are a robot driven by the whims of his Ego, but a robot nevertheless, if you have never personally experienced a different state of consciousness. Now some more personal comments. I fully agree with Sunmaster that meditation can be a path to gradually explore that other reality. But a word of caution is necessary here as even when meditating you are not necessarily in that other state of consciousness. True, while meditating you should be less distracted by the constant dialogue of your Ego, but there is still a World of Difference between that heightened level of consciousness during meditation and actually experiencing being awake. The best way to describe it is that in moments of being really awake that you experience a sort of 'enlightenment'. And when you succeed in making that state permanent you will be enlightened. Having personally experienced a glimpse of such enlightenment, I can say that it is indeed a life-changing event even if it was just some 10 minutes, in which the world bathed in a golden light and I KNEW that everything in the world is perfect and exactly the way it is meant to be. And after that realization I did go to sleep (it was during the middle of the night). And when waking up in the morning, I had fallen back into my automaton-ways but the memory of that experience is still as vivid now as +40 years ago. And even though I agree that meditation can be a path to gradually explore that other reality, personally I NEVER meditate, or at least not in the 'sitting silent and letting all thoughts go' way. But after long lapses (often days or sometimes even weeks) of living my life asleep, I try 'self-remembering' to awaken and revive what I would call more real consciousness. That technique was advocated by Gurdjieff and it has the advantage that it can be done anytime and everywhere. And it is deceptively simply as it basically consists of inwardly 'looking' from an eagle's perspective at what you are doing/ thinking. When doing that I am instantly reminded of having been deep asleep in everything I did in between. Of course my Ego resents being exposed, and so I am not able to upkeep that 'self-remembering' for more than 5-10 minutes, and then I slip back into my normal automaton ways of living my life... So far this Sunday sermon...

Same response as what I posted on the Topic you created regarding the UK jab-reluctance, U.K. less prepared for pandemic than pre-Covid, former vaccine chief warns So here the slightly redacted US-version... = = = Whose bread one eats, whose word one speaks... Didn't expect anything else from the CDC. What the CDC sees as a threat to pandemic preparedness, is actually Good News. Besides Big Vax Pharma, the Public Health jab-pushers (makes them feel important) and the small contingent of deluded pandemic fearful fanatics, the public has - finally - come to its senses having experienced the devastation created by the 'jab everybody' madness and all the other pandemic mitigation-measures insanities. You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

Whose bread one eats, whose word one speaks... Didn't expect anything else from the UK's former 'Vaccine Chief'. What he sees as a threat to pandemic vaccine preparedness, is actually Good News. Besides Big Vax Pharma, the Public Health jab-pushers (makes them feel important) and the small contingent of deluded pro-vax fanatics, the public has - finally - come to its senses having experienced the devastation created by the 'jab everybody' insanity. You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

It would be a grave mistake to assume from that short fragment that Harari is a nature-lover and cherishes all life in the human, animal and plant world. On the contrary, he surely doesn't think that each living creature has 'a sacred right to life', least of all the 'useless eaters' as he calls them.

Meet the Ultimate Materialist... Yuval Noah HARARI probably qualifies as the Ultimate Materialist, when he declared that “human rights are fiction, just like God.” Harari is often credited as the mastermind behind the WEF’s anti-human agenda. He serves as a senior advisor to the globalist organization and its founder and chairman, Professor Klaus Schwab. The comments were made in a recently unearthed video of him. During a Ted Talk, WEF architect Harari explains to the crowd why he believes “useless humans” should have no rights. Before comparing human beings to “jellyfish” and chimpanzees, Harari ridicules members of the general public for their “belief in human rights.” “But human rights are just like Heaven, and like God – it’s just a fictional story that we’ve invented and spread around,” Harari declares. “It may be a very nice story,” he continues. “It may be a very attractive story. “You want to believe it but it’s just a story. “It is not a reality,” he asserts. “It is not a biological reality. “Just as jellyfish, and woodpeckers, and ostriches have no rights, homo sapiens have no rights also. “Take a human, cut him open, look inside,” he explained. “You find the blood, and you find the heart and the lungs and the kidneys, but you don’t find there any rights. “The only place you find rights is in the fiction stories that humans have invented and spread around.” Harari then pivoted his point to promote the WEF’s borderless globalist agenda. “The same thing is also true in the political field,” he said. “States and nations are also, like human rights, and like God, and like Heaven – they too are just stories.” Harari then expanded on his open-border narrative by attacking America and Israel, which he claims don’t exist in “reality.” = = = Needless to say that Harari's reality could not be further away from my world-view... WEF Mastermind Yuval Noah Harari Says Human Rights Are Fiction, Just Like God.mp4

Yes, a friend of mine did exactly as you are planning. He was on a 1-year extension of his Non Imm O-A Visa, and exited Thailand without a Re-Entry Permit before his Permission to stay from that 1-year extension expired. He did a same-day border-run and returned VisaExempt. And then he applied at his SiRacha Imm Office in Pattaya for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement. Like yourself he had +800.000 THB on a personal Thai bank-account which was seasoned already for long time (so no need to prove foreign origins). Note: If you are exiting Thailand while your Non Imm O-A Visa did not expire yet, you will have to convince border-immigration to stamp you in VisaExempt on your return, instead of providing you once again with a 1-year Permission to stay (capped to the expiry of your Non Imm O-A compliant health insurance).

~ Are you sure that it is 1 million THB in any bank-account? In Belgium - my homecountry - there is a similar bank-deposit guarantee and limited to 100.000,- Euro. But it is not per bank account, but refers to the total of all bank-accounts you have at a specific bank.