Rob Browder

How long ago did you do this at Rayong? I know it varied by office initially, but the main-office in Bangkok (area) said it was required when I applied (successfully) 2+ years ago. Yes - if you wish to apply to get into the Thai SS-Health plan, after quitting a job, it is required. (caveat Rayong, if above report is current-year - but I think is not possible any more without it) For others, many opinions on whether "worth the trouble" or not - but the OP has that specific case/need. IMO, the delay at some amphoes is to "time you out" on getting into the SS-system. Some in officialdom seem to resent our doing this.

Yours is not the first case where a local-office said we needed to keep doing them repeatedly - even if not leaving, and living in the same place continually.

Checking for the brown-envelope, which bypasses the financials?

So ... this is only required of Indians, right? Just sarcasm - but insane to do this to everyone over ONE office and ONE foreign ethnicity. If the applicant is from a country where "under the table" illegal-work in Thailand pays more than a legit-job where they come from, then it makes some sense to apply more scrutiny. Note also that this change added about 10K Baht to the cost of an agent-acquired marriage-based extension to cover the district sign-off.

That is not the case at all - that most Thai smiles to us are "fake." Thais are generally very kind, nice people. Everywhere has some jerks/racists, and those concentrate in certain govt-depts here, IME. As far as how customers are treated, of course business-owners/staff "smile" at customers for business reasons. Staff complaining about customers out of earshot? Same as anywhere else. Customers are often a PITA - especially those who never worked retail/restaurants/etc themselves / stood in the other's shoes. Of course, "beggars" should not be here at all - should not be Thai's responsibility to pay for them - and the same attitude should prevail in our passport-countries, if "our" govts respected us / our interests at all.

Nice straw man - implying every Thai job. In any case - the expats living in the sticks spend locally - which is helpful, but not the majority of the support-funds. Many of the family members of those Thai households work in tourist areas, and send part of their earnings (derived from tourist's and expat's funds) home. Other family-members are gf/wives of expats living in tourist-areas, and those expats fund the "send home" money.

For us, it was a long drive, and literally the entire day at Immigration - 3 officers reviewing the paperwork/pics/etc. Then for the home-visit, need 2 witnesses - so, must pay 2 local Thais (not family members) to show up and sit around eating/drinking until immigration arrives, gets their id/housebook info, etc.

Cambodia via agent works. To do by air, if worried about hassle from immigration on return, that is because they want you to use their agent-friend to "pre-clear" your return entry: https://aseannow.com/topic/1336926-setv-metv-still-around-now-that-visa-exempts-are-now-60-days/?do=findComment&comment=19217493 ... or this one: https://www.facebook.com/srthaivisaservices/

Unless you pay their agent-friend for each entry - then you can stay here indefinitely as a tourist on border-bounces. "Not Paying them off," is what they are trying to stop.

Definitely print it out. Make a color-copy, so the landlord's (ex-gf's) signature is in blue.

That is crazy - one can usually get that 60-days "visit wife" extension on any type of entry. A 12-mo extension is a different thing - the 1st one must be based on the same reason as a Non-O visa's reason. It could be an "encourage agent use" policy.

"Millions of families" or "half" of them - who said that? Straw-Man much? The fact is, a LOT of families in Issan are supported by funds we spend into the Thai economy, which make their jobs exist. That is 100% True.

A couple of guys from India who used it to work illegally? Those were the "fake marriage" cases cited in the news, which I recall. A Thai wife - even a "fake" one - would cost more than most agent-solutions currently on-the-table. Maybe immigration was mad the Thai wife was getting too large a cut of "their" action? When the agent-cost for marriage-based went up to 35K Baht, following the change, they "fixed" that problem.

Not if taken from funds earned before Jan 1, 2024. Also, for some with dual-tax treaties, not if the source of funds is from a state-pension.

Removing my original advise, as I now realize his entry is for marriage, so cannot do 1st 12-mo extension based on "retirement" - my bad.

The trend is to ensure those staying more/much on Tourist-type entries (and some extensions) pay immigration via an agent to do so. Each "tighten up" has included a path to an agent-option. They just want to line their pockets. There will likely be "agent service" reported at this formerly "no problem" border, soon. On the contrary, I beg to differ. A "walk back to Laos" experience is a helluva lot better than the airport-treatment - put in a detention-cell and "shipped" where ever. Just book a couple nights there, and return - no big problem. If in a rush, use immigration's agent-service partners for same-day return in-perpetuity - by air or land. Back in the day, I would have loved a known "7-days out" policy or similar (even 30 days out) for tourist-type returns, just to KNOW what the deal was. The horrible "2 time limit" on land-borders forced people to risk the airport jail-cells for the other 8 months of the year (old VEs = 30+30 X 2), or a new passport every year to apply for more Tourist-Visas. Even jumping the hoops, one never knew what would happen on return, other than look on "thaivisa" for "clues". Two-days out + 60-days + 30 extension each-round is a piece of cake,compared to all that.

It was based on "total income," before they stopped accepting our embassy letters (USA, UK, AUS) - now it is "the total must be xferred to Thailand" method. So, if your total income is close to the required amount, you need to "send back" money to handle expenses in your passport-country. Also, some offices will only allow this "transfers" method if you also show the "source" of the funds being from a "pension" with additional documentation. This happened to the esteemed Ubon Joe, at one point, as he reported here - had to show his letter from Social Security (USA). I can confirm this, as I was told I could not use my overseas income for a marriage-extension, unless I could show it was a "pension" - though my xfers exceeded the minimum required.

In that case, have a few 100-Baht notes handy for the Cambodian side of immigration. It used to be 300 Baht - not sure nowadays.

Be aware that it is "7-days to leave the country" - so will not be able to switch to another type of extension in-country, after taking that option.

If doing this pattern more than once, Immigration at the airport may give you problems unless you "arrange" for them not to deny-entry for a false reason - which is handled via an agent like this: https://aseannow.com/topic/1336926-setv-metv-still-around-now-that-visa-exempts-are-now-60-days/?do=findComment&comment=19217493 Certainty of entry ad-infinitum visa-exempt entry w/o hassles is indeed possible - but only after realizing the true nature of the "system" - then utilizing the above method. After age-50, the "retirement" based option is the simplest solution - similarly offered via agent, if needed.

Where "abuse" is some mystery-period of use they won't define, and where paying immigration's agent-partners to facilitate repeated use ad-infinitum fixes the "problem." I suppose IOs feel "abused" by not receiving the kickbacks to pad their paychecks.

This is a common tactic on this forum - for many years. It's a common pattern in disinformation - first deny it's happening, then later admit it is, and always was, but claim it is really a "good" thing. Preferring illusions to reality has been documented since Plato - a "feature" of the majority of people. Even when it happens to them, many have a Stockholm-Syndrome type response - their deference to "authority" suppressing even their own direct-experience. Best to just ignore such talk - and thank you for posting real-world situation, so people can avoid the same pitfalls.

Immigration have denied-entry to those with all the required by law items - documented many, many times on this and prior version of this forum. They then "say" they are denying for "in Thailand too long / much" - which is not a legal reason to deny-entry - then they "stamp" that you didn't have the money (covering tracks) - even when you do. If you weren't around at the time, the "show the money only in cash" bit was introduced - then, people started carrying the unneeded cash (I bought travelers checks for this purpose) - and then, Immigration stopped asking to see it, and denied entry regardless - would wave their hands if you tried to show them you had all the requirements. How did it affect Thais I know? Lost jobs and near-zero tips - tips being far more than the salary when they had Western customers in restaurants. Also consider that the "zero-baht" and other "tour group" types are literally "bussed" to specific venues. In their short "free / recess" breaks from the group, they tend to go to 7/11 for their "shopping." The result is a much lower ratio of Thai-employees per-tourist, vs Western tourists, who go to various shops, restaurants, etc on their own - and spent considerably more per-capita. Denying entry to people from higher-wage nations did start some years ago, is correct - and, just coincidentally, right after the "elite visa" was introduced under Thaksin. People often blame Prayut, but he didn't start it. There have been many variations on "crackdowns" over the years, with each iteration harming Thais working the tourist-sector. As a result of these practices, before coming here, I was warned against coming to Thailand by various expats I encountered from South America to Europe. Due to their insatiable greed, Thailand-Immigration has developed a nasty reputation with millions of former and potential visitors.

In that case, use the Trat / Koh-Kong border to Cambodia, which also accepts Cambodian e-Visas, but doesn't have the problems of Poipet. Since you want some time in Cambodia before returning, you will not have to pay the "same day return" bribe to Cambodian immigration.

Versus the corruption of the ~10K Baht extra needed for the "sign off" guy at the district-office? Though, that price seems to have gone up, per some reports of agent-assisted marriage-extensions. The whole system top-to-bottom is based on corruption. This is evidenced by every change made to "stop corruption" only resulting in an increase in the collection of corruption-money.