Rob Browder

The "Good Guys / Bad Guys" myth / PR-Spin needs to be dispelled, and is the core of the OP - the so-often "But why ... doesn't make sense" we often hear. When Westerners go to Immigration, they should know what they are really dealing with. This will lead to less confusion and disappointment for foreigners. It will, ironically, also make an easier time for the IOs, who won't have an applicant saying/asking things which are not applicable to how things work in Thailand govt offices. A clued-in applicant won't argue about some made-up/whatever which blocks their application, because they know the score. They will simply ask if there is a workaround, and if an envelope-solution is not offered directly, they know it's agent-time.

How many multiples of the average Thai ("low spending") salary, is beneficial to Thailand? Keep in mind, there are no handouts here, so no downside to the govt / finances. How many Thais would you like to see de-employed, by refusing entry to those with money to spend, to make Thailand more "exclusive" to suit you? I know many Thais who lost jobs from past visa "crackdowns" who would disagree - if their lives matter to you.

One would need to hit the site as soon as the next day becomes available - might be midnight, or maybe early in the morning. Better if they had different calendars / slots for Tourist and "all others."

Good/Bad has nothing to do with it, and never did. That phrase accompanied adding more hoops to jump through, for people submitting applications without an agent. All except the most basic requirements become "optional" with an agent-submitted application. Basics are being over 50 for a retirement-extension, and currently married-to-a-Thai for a marriage-based extension. Some offices in the sticks don't do the agent-thing, but are stuck with all the crazy requirements, regardless.

For awhile, they would print application forms on the other side of them. I don't know if this is still the case in some offices. I have not seen other's passport-copies, etc on the back of my forms in a few years.

Exactly - I take everything, 2x copies of each, and have it all organized. When they ask for more than the "official list of required" items, I can produce it quickly. Sorry, trees, but it has to be this way.

The IO is saying "granted permission" starts when you applied - not when your new "permitted stay period" was "granted." Once one realizes these complex rules are only in-place to send as many applicants to an agent as possible, the picture comes into focus. Because, obviously, your finances are not an issue. And, Immigration can choose to waive the financials. And, if they really cared about finances, they would not do agent-money extensions, which effectively waive the financials, at all.

He also said "safe." The safest option is to get a Tourist Visa at a Thai Consulate, and then return via land. The 2nd safest option is to get a Tourist Visa at a Thai Consulate, then return via Chiang Mai airport. The 3rd safest option would be to stay out of Thailand a month or two, and then try returning to Chaing Mai airport visa-exempt. In all cases, have 20K Baht worth of cash and printouts of a hotel-booking and a flight-out, booked within the permitted-stay time expected (60-days tourist-visa or 30-days visa-exempt).

YES. Always do this, if one can get a 90-Day Non-O Visa in your country on the basis of retirement before coming to Thailand. Not to be confused with the Non-OA Visa, which locks you into an insurance nightmare.

This is literally the WORST crossing in Thailand for being denied return - bad-stamp in passport and in the immigration-database (creates problems later), then asked for a massive bribe "workaround." Staying out awhile, would allow returning by-air without risk of being denied-entry, if you do not have a longer-ish stay history in Thailand in recent years. But, I have not seen a firm-date on when the 60-day exemption will happen. Fly-Ride to any border except Aranyaprathet will work. Alternatively, a 3-across seating 1st-Class (wide seats) bus overnight from Bangkok to Nong Khai, if you don't like vans.

Bottom line - if any of your group desire to stay in Thailand for 180-days / year - the easiest visa currently available, and not requiring travel in/out of Thailand during that time would be serial 1-Year retirement-based extensions - available if they are over 50. One only needs to be in-Thailand at the renewal-time each year, to keep this going.

Your previous permitted-stay is gone the minute you stamp out of Thailand, unless you were to apply for a re-entry permit before stamping out. With a METV, you will always get a new permitted-stay of 60 days if you enter before the "Enter Before" date on the Visa. After the "Enter Before" date has passed, the visa is dead. Therefore, your only consideration is whether your stay in Cambodia will take you beyond your visa's "Enter Before" date.

Given the US Embassy turned you down on a residency letter, you could check with agents in your area to see if they can get your CoR for a "fee." No guarantee - but can't hurt to ask around. At some immigration offices, a no-receipt "fee" changes the time it takes to get a CoR from weeks to a day. The policy at your immigration office may have been created as a similar "fee" generation roadblock.

I do not blame you for not wanting to put your wife through the hell of an extension at immigration. Their treatment of your wife can range from abusive/cruel (worst-case), to a PITA (best-case), possible involving multiple visits to get every "this year they want" requirement (changed picture requirements, etc). Given the timing of the 400K and your extension expiration date + already used the 60-day extension + under-50 - the far easiest / least-expensive solution is leave Thailand for a visa. But, you do NOT have to do the Multiple-Entry route, with repeated trips. You can get a single-entry Non-O based on marriage which gives you 90-days upon entry. You do not have to show money in the bank proof for this in Laos, and can FLY/Ride there, to avoid a long bus-trip to get it. Your wife can come with, so make it a little vacation. You will need to sign-up for an appointment at the chosen consulate online - either Savanakhet or Vientiane. I suggest those two, because we have recent trip-reports, so you can know what to expect - though there are other options. Deposit 400K just before you leave, so it will be in the bank more than enough time for an extension after you return. It is 2 months before you apply required - though some offices in the sticks are/were asking for 3 mo in-the-bank before applying. Upon your return, wait 60 days of the 90 days permitted-stay received on-entry, THEN, ask your agent, again - and ask the fee-cost, given you have the required money in the bank for the required time. At this point, they are just handling the paperwork for you. Maybe you have to show up for a picture at the immigration office - that's it.

Depending on your local-office, a border-run is sometimes less hassle than dealing with immigration for a 60-day extension. Your local IO/Office may vary in how you are treated for these extensions. For example, your wife has to miss a day of work to do the extension - or the owner of the condo you rent will not / unavailable to provide the Chanote and House-Book for it per immigration's demand - etc.

What I would do, if I had your concerns: 1) Get a Non-O 90-day visa in Canada based on Marriage to a Thai. 2) Get a 1-year extension in Thailand based on marriage - is a PITA, but only have to do it once. This only requires 400K in the bank, so less to worry about re taxes for that year. Your FIRST extension (only) MUST be based on the reason used for the visa you used to enter Thailand. 3) Get subsequent 1-year extensions based on Retirement, after transferring another 400K to Thailand 2+ months before your last extension expires. I would xfer 3 mo in-advance, and apply 1 month before the existing extension expires, so plenty of time to handle any issue. With this plan, you would only xfer 400K bank-money per year, minimizing tax-liability. And, if your income is from a pre-taxed source or non-taxable in Thailand, even better. A clear-cut case (state-pensions, etc) will not be "overruled" by whatever local authority.

To do it based on marriage (if under 50 years old), he would need to find an agent who has "connections" with the district-office that oversees his extensions - because the district-office must sign-off on the extension. I would contact agents in the city where the district-office is located. The other factor is whether or not his local-office will do "assisted" extensions. The HONEST ones, who do NOT do agent-processed extensions, are put through the ringer by the district-office as punishment. This could rule-out using that office at all. Only the agent can answer this question. The OP might need to rent an apartment in the city of the district-office, and use that as his address for the agent-assisted extension for the Immigration office where the agent works. As his extension is agent-assisted, the home-visits, and other harsh scrutiny, are skipped. These are ONLY done to honest applicants, to punish them for not paying agent-money.

Because not All IOs will do this, and you could get into trouble costing far more than an agent-fee. Yes, because it requires additional "fees" for the sign-off by the IO in the district-office, which marriage-based Non-O extensions require - but retirement-based do not. In the past, this is why an agent-assisted money "fixed" retirement-based Non-O extension cost 25K Baht in Bangkok, but the same thing for marriage-based Non-O cost 35K Baht, and the latter was only available from a smaller group of agents (with the needed connection). Do the math to see how much that guy makes per sign-off - a nice little earner.

They definitely want to see 40K+ Baht every month, so he would need to have his pension deposited into his Aussie bank, then transfer (Wise, etc) the +40K amount monthly, with proof these were international transfers. But, have Immigration stopped asking for proof of the "origin of the funds" in some/all offices for Marriage and/or Retirement incomes? In the case of the OP, I assume his documentation of Aussie pension would work, even if the distribution frequency/amounts do not exactly match his Thai bank foreign-transfer deposit-record, provided the total exceeds 12 X 40K Baht.