statman78

This morning I just did my 5th extension based on retirement even though I am married to a Thai. After my first extension my Thai wife does not accompany me. I provide the same documents every year. I am never questioned about having a Thai spouse and the is no indication that I am married in any of the documents I provide.

A little further down by Ekamai is Bourbon Street. Great buffet

You are still able to book tickets on their site. Thai Smile is being absorbed into Thai but Thai will keep the same domestic schedule for a while. I have flights booked for January, February and March and have been told that my tickets will be honored and that the flight schedule should not change.

If you are only booking air travel within Thailand check out the Thai Smile site. You will most likely be on the same flight but it is usually cheaper. You won’t earn miles. I’m not sure if they accept PayPal.

I’m originally from the US. It was possible to get a non-O there then extend my stay here in Thailand based on retirement. Instead I arrived on a tourist visa, applied and received a non-O in Thailand which was much easier than applying for it back in the US. The past 4 years I applied for extensions of stay based on retirement based on income. I bring in 65000 each month. Never had any trouble. I am married to a Thai and could do the marriage extension but as others have said, there is more paperwork and the 30 day under consideration period.

Home is here in Chiang Rai. My wife and dogs are here. I have no plans to go back to my birth country of USA.

I wonder if China is going to purchase an additional 17 billion baht of Thai products. Wasn’t it earlier this year that the PM proposed that as part of weapons procurement the country selling the weapon should agree to buy an equal amount (or more) of Thai goods. https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/politics/thai-pms-new-weapons-procurement-plan-to-boost-national-economy

I hope all goes well. I’ll be doing the same when I do my next extension this December here in Chiang Rai. As a previous poster suggested, I am still bringing in 65k every month this year even though I’ve had the 800k in my account since July.

We sold everything in the US and moved to Thailand for my retirement. We have no regrets. We still have accounts in the US so it would not be difficult to go somewhere else. Definitely not back to the US. In order for that to happen they would need to drag me out of here. I love it here and since my wife is Thai she can stay and manage the rental properties we have here.

The limit is $10,000 per person or couple traveling together for undeclared cash. If you fill out the correct form the amount is almost unlimited. I’ve done this several times and carried well in excess of $10,000 USD from the US to Thailand

The politicians can talk about all of the agreements and constitutional rights they want but it won’t solve the problem unless laws are enforced. For those of us who live up north (I live in Chiang Rai) we can look forward to another year of deadly smog. At least this is a very small step forward, somebody in government is talking about it several months before the pollution hits.

That’s the place I go for photos for my annual extension and re-entry permit. It usually only takes a few minutes for them to print out as many copies as I need.

Didn’t feel a think here in Chiang Rai. Even the dogs slept through it

I lived in Wisconsin, USA for the majority of my life. When I was younger I loved the 4 seasons. As I aged I began to dislike the winter cold and the typical cloudy spring days. Been living in Thailand for over 5 years and love the weather. There are times during the winter here in Chiang Rai where I get bored with sunny day after warm sunny day. At those times I do a video call with friends back in Wisconsin when it’s freezing cold and a lot of snow. Those calls make me realize how lucky I am to be here.

I have a Thai wife so everything goes to her. I decided on the retirement extension instead of the marriage extension. Less work every year. Also, there is very little money in my account. Since I transfer the required amount every month we can spend it. We’ve been buying rental properties and land so that when I pass away my wife will have a source of income. No need to keep the 800k in the bank.

4 years ago I received my first Thai license and I did not need to take a test since I showed them my US license. I also received a motorcycle license since my US license was also valid for both auto and motorcycle. I needed to watch a video which was in English then a test where I had to identify the color of the light they flashed, red, yellow or green. I don’t think the person giving me the test understood English so I probably could have said 3 different colors and still passed. this was done in Chiang Rai

As the article states, the new gates will allow for a 33% increase in capacity. They will need to add more people at check-in, security, baggage handling and immigration. Hopefully it will be a manageable rate of increase in the number of passengers.

What a difference a couple of years make. As Covid basically killed tourism here in Thailand along with devastating the Thai economy, the “experts” were saying that the Thai economy needed to diversify away from their heavy reliance on tourism. Now, the “experts” say that the way to improve the Thai economy is to expand tourism. And, of course, let’s not forget the push to get “quality” tourists. I’m sure Thailand will get plenty of quality tourists by reducing or eliminating visa requirements.

The owner of his new place should have filed a TM 30. (Again more sarcasm by me). My point is that the TM 30 is useless in locating foreigners.

Why didn’t the police simply go his place of residence to arrest him? They should have that information on his TM 30, I ask sarcastically ????

I transfer funds that are more than 1 year old. The money comes from my IRA

Being a US citizen here in Thailand with a retirement extension I love the fact that I don’t need an income letter from my embassy. I simply go to my bank, get a 12 month statement, highlight the monthly transfers and present it to immigration along with a bank letter and a copy of my bank book. No issues and no need to travel to Bangkok or the consulate in Chiang Mai.

The full article has more details. If Thailand buys weapons from another country then that country will be required to import Thai goods. The example given shows that the other country must commit to import goods in excess of the value of the arms purchase. That is how it can help the thai economy.

Based on experience. When the country started to open up after Covid the airport was understaffed. There were hugh lines at immigration, extremely long lines to check in and at times over a hour wait to claim luggage. After living in Thailand for a number of years I see that the officials in Thailand are reactionary not proactive. Just look at how they handle the annual flooding and extreme air pollution. The government does star addressing issues until the start to happen. I hope this is not the case this time since I fly on a monthly basis. I always hope for the best but plan for the worst.