JamesPhuket10

I just realised, the chances are even less now as I have had all of my car windows tinted in silver, 40% windscreen, and 60% side windows and back, I can still see out as the windows are not black but the police can not see inside so my white farang face will not be seen, maybe I should put a British flag on the car roof so I have a better chance of being stopped. 😄

I go to the main immigration office in Phuket. When I went for the first extension in Feb 2023 they were not that friendly and were self-important, they were doing you a favour by processing you. During the Feb 2024 visit, I found the whole atmosphere had changed, they were polite and helpful and it was all a breeze, well it was for me as all of my paperwork was in order and it only took the officer ten minutes to process them. At a desk two away from mine a Swiss guying was denied his extension as he had not followed the 800k by 400k by 800k rule I assume, he was blaming his bank for the problems unless it was his monthly pension payments which were not correct, I did not have the details but it was something to do with money not being processed in the required time frame. Over the last thirty-seven years of visiting Thailand, I did not have to deal with immigration as I was only here for maybe three months at a time. I was here once from 2018 to 2019 for a year, I think I had a multiple visa valid for six months valid for sixty days at each visit, extendable by a month, then a trip to Malaysia, a sixty-day visa, extended etc..... I think they stopped doing those visas.

My bank account in Thailand is in my name only. Yes with WISE we can select how much we wish to send in £ or we can select how much we want to be left in the Thai bank account after the exchange rate and the bank charges so I will send 70k per month (to be on the safe side) starting in February 2025 when the new visa extension will start. So my Thai bank account will show exactly 70k received on the same date more or less each month.

Yes, that is where the state pension and the other income are paid already, into my UK bank account, but I thought you were indicating we have to prove where the source of the funds was from eg a pension company?

PS to myself. I have been waiting for months for the police to pull me over where they expect me to produce my UK licence and an easy 500 baht to be had, but I have not been stopped yet, hence my brand new Thai driving licence has not seen the light of day.

"Thai's do not flash to warn others of a Mobile Speed Camera etc..." They do flash their lights onto oncoming traffic in Phuket if there is a speed camera or a Police roadblock ahead. I say that as I have had cars flash me several times, as I am all legal etc I drive on and arrive at the police check. The drivers also phone their friends to tell them the info, which is why Police checks are not there for very long.

Cheers, thanks for your help. 👍

"Some want to view some sort of proof of "pension" " That is the confusing part as I have read in various places they want to see a pension or other income, and as you said it depends on who is processing your extension that day. I only get a state pension from the UK of £11k (ish) per year, my other income comes from me taking money from my cashed-out private pension which is in various deposit accounts. So I could not show my income comes from a pension directly as you probably know in the UK we are allowed to do what we like with our pension pots and invest them where we please. But in the next few months, I will also be getting a rental income which is part of my pension as far as I am concerned. I remember one guy a few years ago telling me he had a problem as when he showed his monthly income pension the officer was concerned that the payments were made on slightly different dates during each month, he told her that was due to variations in when WISE completed the transactions so she let it go. Plus I spend very little in Thailand, the house is paid for as is the car, I am not much of a drinker, and my partner and I eat at home as she insists on cooking quality home-cooked food (Australian beef etc), so I am not sure if I will spend the 65k Baht a month, that means the 800k will sit in my account forever in parallel. My Thai partner has her rental properties here in Phuket and so we combine our income to pay the relatively little we need to pay out. The amount of money I need to spend in Thailand would make Fagin look like he throws his money around. 🤣 Thanks for your help and info.

OK, thanks for the info, I will think about it and see what is the best way to do it depending on what and where I put the money. I suppose you can spend the 65k each month as you go along, they do not want to see any bank balance other than the 65k a month in the bank account, once we have the extension. I will ask the immigration officer when I go and get my next visa, there only a few quid difference in the two methods anyway, it is all down to just saving time and bother really.

Thanks for your reply. The reason I did not show a pension income is that there was not one at the time, I just sent over 1 million+ baht to my Thai bank account, and the extra money was to live on until the first three months were up and then I could start using part of the 800k, down to 400k. So does that mean if someone comes into Thailand on their first 90 non-0 visa they have to get the 1 year extension with an 800k deposit and also in parallel have to deposit an amount of pension money into the account for one year so they can then extend the following year based on twelve months pension payments?

I will have completed the 2nd year extension of my stay in Thailand in mid-February 2025. It is based on retirement. I entered with a 90-day non-0 visa in November 2022, I put 800k baht into a Thai bank account and kept it there for three months and then applied for an extension of stay which I got, and it was extended from mid-February 2023 to mid-February 2024. I then extended it for another year until Feb 2025. I was wondering how to convert to the same type of visa but using a monthly pension payment (it is rent from a house in the UK really but that is part of my pension) instead of a lump sum of 800k baht. I am going back to the UK for a month or two in November 2024, I could get another non-0 visa which is 90 days or I could come back to Thailand on my current valid (retirement) visa So if I come back to Thailand using a new 90 non-0 visa at that point do I start transferring the minimum monthly pension into my Thai bank account and then apply for the visa extension after 90 days after I arrive in Thailand and then continue to do that every month until I re-apply and extend the visa every year from then on? Or if I come back using my existing visa extension how do I convert to a monthly pension application rather than the 800k deposit? Thanks in advance for your reply(s).

I wish I had bought a house but not owned the land it sat on, I would deserve to call myself totally stupid at that point. 🤣

You could apply that silly logic to any profession, if a doctor is good at his job and has earned enough money to retire why are they still working? If software engineers like me made tons of money, invested it in properties, is living in a house in Thailand why am I still "working" by writing iPhone apps from my home office, it is because retirement is boring, I tried it when I was 50 years old, using my brain and still developing software is much more interesting than doing nothing day after day. I still have time to stroll down the beach, go for a few beers, etc whenever I like too. P.S. Since this topic is about using credit, I used hundreds of thousands of pounds of credit to obtain the properties but they were backed by my income from being a software engineer, they are all paid off now but as I said before without credit the world would not work.

Not true. In addition to the bank statements we must provide a signed letter from the bank on the day we apply for the visa stating we have 800k in the bank, it only takes ten minutes and 100 baht in my local bank, so I suppose we could ask them to include a statement detailing the fact the money has come from abroad.

True, farangs can buy houses, condos etc, as Thailand will let you pay for anything they like but it does not mean they own the land it sits regarding houses. But in any case, large property developers will not sell you the house separately from the land, farangs you can not buy those houses. But there are ways around it.

Yes, I have been using it for the old bloke visa as well where I have to show my bank account has 800k two months before I apply for the extension to stay, I have to prove it came from overseas and so Wise has included the long term option in its reasons for the transfer. It is shown as an international transfer in my bank statement which I have to produce as proof of funds.

It was in a Thai news article a few days ago, that the number of Chinese tourists who would normally have booked by now for the Chinese National Day have not booked, the numbers are down 30%. Also, there was an article stating the strength of the Baht against many major countries is putting off tourists due to increased costs, I have notice the £ has gone down from 45 to 42.5 baht, small but it makes a difference.

An earlier report: He has been remanded in custody for a month until a suitable translator can be found after customs could not understand what he was saying in his native t'Yorkshire accent. 😁 "Sir, we have found 100 kgs of illegal substances in four of your suitcases including those of your children". "Eyup, nay, thems wernt mine, must av been put theeir bah tuther lad, no me, nay not me, thas daft sayin that". ------------- Latest report: After the findings of a t'Yorkshire language to English translator, the police are now searching for a man called, "Werntme", and another one named "Eyup". After the further translation, the translator stated there could be a third suspect called, "Tuther".

Yes true, I love Chang beer, it is a pity those pesky bar girls keep bothering me and slowing down my beer consumption. 😁

He has been remanded in custody for a month until a suitable translator can be found after customs could not understand what he was saying in his native t'Yorkshire accent. 😁 "Sir, we have found 100 kgs of illegal substances in four of your suitcases including those of your children". "Eyup, nay, thems wernt mine, must av been put theeir bah tuther lad, no me, nay not me, thas daft sayin that".

Great, thanks for the info. After reading this article a few days ago I tested Wise and the long-term option had indeed disappeared as stated. I just tested it now after reading your comment and it is back. A few people I have read contacted Wise to complain, so now it is back, it would have been easy for them to put it back as it is just a matter of setting an option in a list. Cheers. 👍

But she is not a drain on anyone else as mentioned by @save the frogs, her money is for her to decide what to do with. And a huge pension must be waiting for her when she retires.

I appreciate that. 😄

Plus you are covered by a guarantee if anything goes wrong.