oldcpu

Correct me if I am wrong, but even though you don't have an LTR visa, if you ALREADY could prove you had the $250k US$ equivalent before 1-Jan-2024, then you do NOT have to pay tax on it - even if brought into Thailand in later years ... ?? If I am not wrong, then keep a record of your bank accounts as of end-Dec-2023, and that money will be considered savings and a good record for the future. My understanding is with the planned new tax implementation for money brought into Thailand (by foreigners without the LTR visa) that is if this money (brought into Thailand) is income turned into savings from before 1-Jan-2024, then there will be no tax on bringing this money into Thailand after 1-Jan-2024. Its only new income earned after 1-Jan-2024 (and savings from that income) that will be taxed (on non-LTR visa holders) if brought into Thailand. So I assume then, if one is 'audited', one would, one simply have to prove they already had the money prior to 1-Jan-2024, (despite it being brought into Thailand in 2025, 2026 ... ) - for it was savings from before 1-Jan-2024. But maybe I have that wrong. Since I have the LTR visa, I have not been tracking all the tax ins-and-outs considerations of those expats to Thailand who don't have the LTR visa - and who have concerns about what could be some tax changes.

And what are you saying? Are saying that Thailand should have no choice in the matter as to the financial requirements they set for a custom visa (where BoI are trying to attract wealthier expats with the LTR visa) ? Have you looked at retirement visa cost requirements for other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand? Do you have the same opinion about the EVEN LARGER retirement visa requirements for those countries? Also - Thailand did NOT remove the Non-Immigrant Visas, such as Type-O and Type-OA, and I suspect the average European can obtain one of those visas, and then go for yearly extensions. So the door has not been closed for the average European to come to Thailand. Also, you quote $80K pension for a pension as THE requirement. Note one can also obtain the LTR pensioner Visa if one has only a $40K US$ equivalent pension if one also invests $250k US$ equivalent in Thailand, where one's condo purchase can count toward such. I know that to be correct, as that is the route I followed for my LTR-WP visa. And the relevance of those youtube videos on an AsianNow thread where the intent is to exchange helpful information on an LTR visa? The relevance? Again - a reminder to you, BoI's intention with the LTR visa is to attract wealthier expatriates. BoI are not making non-immigrant visas illegal at the same time. Lets not "lose the ball here". The idea here in AseanNow on threads such as this, is to exchange helpful information on the topic of the LTR visa. The idea is not to be snarky toward those who are either trying to get more information, or those who are willing to share information on the LTR visa. The Type-O and Type-OA non-immigrant visas are still available for those who choose, and in many cases (dependent on the expat's situation) those visas are in fact far more suitable than an LTR visa. .

You are totally on the wrong interpretation path after reading the post you reference. There is NO official screenshot stating an LTR visa holder must "requalify" annually. You clearly have a major misunderstanding here. How many times do you need to be told you have made a mistake?

What problem? Instead of doing a 90-day report, one is doing a 1 year report. There is NO annual re-qualification. Why keep posting something that you have been told is flat wrong. Let me repeat - in case you missed such. There is no annual re-qualification with an LTR visa. One has a 5-year permission to stay - and at the 5 year point ONLY, one has to reprove one's finances. 5 years does not equate to 1 year - even with the 'new math'. Do the arithmetic. 5 years. Not one year. 5 years ... remember that. 5 years !! However, in case you also did not know, for a Type-O and a Type-OA visa extensions, there IS a one year re-qualification.

Who wants? In regards to the numbers, if you check the BoI web site, well over 7,000 applicants by the end of April. Does that answer your question as to who wants? Greater than 7000 expats want this. As for the harassment, add up 5 years trying to get Type-O and Type-OA extensions. Where on Type-O/OA one has to go to immigration (and go to city hall yearly if going for an extension based on marriage), sometimes in both places for many hours, and sometimes going multiple times to either place due to an official at immigration coming up with a new undocumented requirement for Type-O and Type-OA. Add that up for over 5 years ??? The Type-O and OA are FAR FAR FAR more hassle than what was needed to apply for the LTR 10 year visa. The LTR overall is MUCH LESS hassle. Do the arithmetic. Further, the LTR application (in my case) meant I could upload my documents from my seaside condo balcony , with my laptop on a table, my feet up, and my sipping a glass of wine. I dare say if with a Type-O or Type-OA visa extension application in mind, if I showed up at immigration with a bottle of wine, my laptop, and put my feet up, I would be escorted out of there prompto. Again, an LTR visa is much less hassle. Of course with a type-O/OA visa, I could pay for an agent, and then instead of a Type-O/OA costing 7,000 THB more (57,000 vs 50,000 for LTR), it could cost 50,000 to 75,000 THB more for a Type-O/OA over 10 years via an agent (vs the cost for an LTR visa). Do the arithmetic. Nope, LTR is far superior for those of us who meet the very specific BoI financial requirements. No. No. No. You are wrong. Every year with an LTR visa (if you did not leave Thailand during the year) you need an immigration check. Not a financial check. You had this pointed out before. You need to stop spouting false statements. You are confused with the Type-O and Type-OA visa. An LTR visa has REDUCED the amount of paperwork compared to annual extensions for other visas (such as Type-O/OA) over a 5 year period. An LTR visa is cheaper than Type-O and Type-OA. An LTR visa gives me less concerns about taxation issues. Now I speak from experience. Given the clear mistake in your post about "requalify" every year, why do you keep posting that statement that is clearly wrong? What is your agenda here to post clearly WRONG information?

I wish you good luck on your approach - and I hope you succeed. I have an LTR visa (due to my pensions and investments in Thailand) and not due to my stock investments. Still , i am curious if you will succeed. I confess, based on my experience with BoI with obtaining self health insurance, I am not confident you will succeed. The 'issue' , as I see it, is BoI may look not only for wealth meeting certain criteria, but they also want high confidence (or perhaps 'strong verification' is a better word) that such wealth is sustainable and repeatable. Hence they asked for tax returns from many of us, not for just 1 year, but they wanted tax returns for 2 years (in my case I ended up giving them 3 years due to unlucky timing on my part). Further, they rejected stock/trading accounts (which had the necessary $100k US$ equivalent) for self health insurance, even thou the $100k US$ cash equivalent in the stock trading accounts was exceeded significantly (I dare say exceeded by multiple amounts). So when it comes to proving the $80K US$ annual income for an LTR Wealth Pensioner Visa (and also proving the financial amount as a Wealth Global citizen), I think BoI may struggle to accept a stock portfolio. I wonder thou, if one submits a tax return (to the country where their stock portfolio exists), does that tax return show, over multiple years, an income that meets the LTR requirement? If so, I ask myself if that would providing that tax return ONLY be adequate 'proof'/'verification' of income consistency and sustainability for BoI? I am curious as to what others may post on this - but I am skeptical based on my limited experience here. i.e I believe its not just having the wealth and income to obtain the LTR visa, but its able to prove to BoI that the wealth and income is verifiable and sustainable (all in my humble opinion) over time. I could be wrong of course. Best of luck in your efforts.

What annual hassles to maintain the LTR visa? Do you mean the need to do an annual report (in comparison to a 90-day report) is the hassle? Would you rather do a 90-day report? Note also, if you exit Thailand and return before the time for the 1-year annual report, the counter for the 1 year report restarts. This 1-year report is an immigration check, and NOT a BoI financial check. Now you mention 'to have to go through all the re checking qualification process each year". What re-checking qualification process each year? After obtaining the LTR visa, the financial qualification process is done with BoI only after five years !!! One is given a 5-year permission to stay. .. Thai immigration one year financial process is applicable to one-year extensions on Visas like the Type-O and Type-OA visa and NOT applicable to the LTR. But hey - if every year, you wish to fly to Bangkok, with all your financial paperwork in order, and pound on BoIs door step showing your LTR finances, ... proving to BoI you qualify still for the LTR, ... well ... ok ... go ahead. Fill your boots !! I think you will be the ONLY LTR holder in Thailand to go to Bangkok to BoI and do that every year. Apologies for my being facetious but that statement I quoted is so far out ... Now the rest of us with the LTR visa ? We will show our financial situation still meets the requirement only after five years per the requirement. And if we travel out of country every 10 to 11 months for a short interesting travel elsewhere (such as brief visits to family out of country - or visit countries we have not yet seen and may be curious about), we may never actually do the 'annual' report (as our having our passports stamped by Immigration upon re-entering Thailand starts the counter again for our annual report). .

There are many people for whom the Long Term Residence visa is not appropriate for. It is after called a Long Term Residence Visa. Note the word "RESIDENCE" in LTR? People who only want to come to Thailand for 4 months of the year clearly will NOT be residents. BoI designed this visa for those who wish to be Long Term Residents who meet certain financial situations. Again - note the word "residents". Why would someone who does NOT plan to be a resident, apply for a resident Visa? ?????? Thailand has many different Visas, and it makes sence that foreigners should apply for the Visa that is most suitable for their individual situation. I've pointed it out before, and I will once again. Go to the BoI website, and one will read that as of end-April-2024 there were 7,322 applicants for the LTR visa. Clearly those applicants do NOT believe the visa is useless, as they would not apply for such if they considered it useless. Rather THEY see it useful. Likely those 7,322 applicants looked at what the LTR visa had to offer, and they see advantages for THEIR situations. As noted , others will have different situations with regard to Thailand, and those others should apply for Thailand Visas that are appropriate for them. No one on this thread is claiming everyone should apply for an LTR - JUST THE OPPOSITE. This thread is for those who are interested in the LTR to share their knowledge (on qualification maintenance). I dare say the vast majority of expats to Thailand will find the LTR visa is not suitable for them, ... and that is perfectly fine. They should look for and find other Visas. But for the 7,322 LTR Visa applicants, if they meet the requirements, I hope their application is successful, as the LTR visa does have its advantages.

I also missed the poll - .... I am on an LTR visa and I do not plan to file a Thaliand tax return for my foreign sourced money brought into Thailand (which consists of various pensions and savings, that in the most part have already been taxed (and are hence also covered by DTA with other countries.) I also brought more than normal foreign sourced (savings and my income) into Thailand BEFORE 1-Jan-2024 (ie in the month of Nov-2023 and Dec-2023) so it will be a few years before I need to bring foreign sourced money into Thailand again. Still - I could end up filing a Thailand tax return, as just the low interest I obtain from money in Thailand banks, has me hovering very close to the requirement to file a Thailand tax return for interest money earned in Thailand. I have tried to keep my annual interest under 150,000 THB per year (I think that is the 'line' where if one reaches that one needs to file a Thailand tax return), but interest rates change, and I could find myself above that amount if I am not careful. Most people shuffle their money to get more interest, but in Thailand to avoid having to submit a tax return, I do the opposite. lol ! < just kidding > .

The context of the question in which I was providing my opinion, was if a person did not get an LTR visa until sometime in year 2026, would they be required to pay tax for year 2024 or year 2025 taxation years? My view is if they brought no foreign sourced income money (ie income earned in 2024 & 2025) into Thailand during the time in which they were NOT on an LTR visa (ie in 2024, 2025) , then they would not need to pay Thailand tax on that money that is still outside of Thailand. Once they change to an LTR visa in year 2026 their tax payment requirements for Thailand change, by Thai Royal decree. Hence if they, with their new LTR Visa, bring money into Thailand, given their new tax situation, they are not obligated to pay tax on income from previous years (if they followed Thai taxation law in those previous years, which I assume they did by not bringing the money into Thailand during those previous, pre-LTR visa, years). If on the other hand, when they did NOT have an LTR visa (in 2024 & 2025) they DID bring that money into Thailand in 2024/2025, then that money 'might' be subject to Thai tax, but there are also other considerations. What was one's residence in those 2024/2025 years? Was the income money already taxed and covered under a Double Taxation Agreement with another country. Did other tax exemptions apply? I believe those aspects complicate this - and given NONE of this applies to me, I have not looked into this further. I suspect thou, once one is on an LTR visa, if one followed Thai taxation law in the past (before getting the LTR visa), then when on the LTR visa there should be no Thaland tax on bankrolled income/savings from previous years (if that money is still outside of Thailand when one obtained the LTR visa) ... ie no Thaliand income tax for foreign sourced money brought into Thailand once one on the LTR Visa and only then one decides, after getting the LTR visa, to bring the foreign sourced money from previous years into Thailand. A key point here obviously is one needed to follow Thai taxation law prior to one obtaining the LTR visa (and obviously follow Thai taxation law even after obtaining the LTR visa). IMHO an LTR visa does not 'give one an out of jail free card' if one broke Thai taxation law in the past. .

Well if you wish to adopt a 'wait and see' until the sky falls - and call those who don't think the sky will fall as blissfully ignorant, feel free to so so. I will keep laughing and I suspect many others will also. lol !! I prefer to deal in facts. A Thai Royal decree has a lot more 'weight' in my books than your provocation and exaggeration. Regardless ... You stated what you stated - on this forum where an underlying view of MANY is that Thailand wants to get at foreigners money, and that makes that exaggeration and provocation very very laughable. Once again I prefer to deal in facts. A Thai Royal decree has a lot more 'weight' in my books than your provocation and exaggeration.

Money earned (outside of Thailand) between 1/1/2024 and getting the LTR Visa is not taxable if it is not brought into the country until AFTER one gets the LTR Visa. I believe if you keep the money earned in 2024 & 2025 OUTSIDE of Thailand, and only bring that 2024/2025 money into Thailand AFTER you get the LTR visa in 2026, then that 2024/2025 money is not be taxable. Others who are tracking this closer than myself can likely confirm but that is my understanding. If the 2024/2025 money (or any other money) was earned INSIDE Thailand - then it is taxable , and you will have to pay Thai tax, even if you have an LTR visa. An LTR does not give one exemption from tax on income earned inside Thailand. If, on the other hand, you bring foreign sourced 2024 & 2025 money into Thailand before 2026, and if you have not yet paid tax (in another country on this) then that might be taxable (dependent on your Thai tax residency status). Note that there is another massive thread elsewhere on this topic. Often a DTA (double tax agreement) with the source country where one earns the income (rental/dividends) may mean one does not have pay Thai tax, or one gets tax credits resulting in no double taxation. It depends on the Thai agreement with the source country. This starts getting complicated if one does not yet have the LTR. So if you do get the LTR visa in 2026, it might be financially beneficial(?) , if you can afford such financially and do not need that money now, to not bring the 2024/2025 money into Thailand until AFTER you obtain the LTR visa in 2026. Again - its best to confirm such as I am definitely no expert on this.

"Wait till ... " That is a silly argument. Its like saying 'Wait until the sky should fall' . or "wait until" a Tsunami should wipe out Bangkok, or "wait until" Thailand goes 100% xenophobic and all foreigners outlawed? It is all the same sort of "wait until" speculation .... People have been saying for years "wait until a Type-O visa" has health insurance requirements like a Type-OA. It has not happened. A speculative "wait until ... " is no more than speculation .. ... We should stick with facts. LTR visa was established by a Royal decree with conditions laid out. It was clearly laid out as a 10-year Visa, where ONLY at the 5-year point do finances have to be again proven. There is no reason to believe your speculation has any basis in ever happening for a 10 year visa. Rather just the opposite. Your speculation reads like someone who either applied and was refused the LTR, or reads like that someone who for some reason can not meet the LTR-visa requirements and is upset.

One does NOT have to show every year all updated documents for insurance. That statement of yours is wrong. You are confused with another visa perhaps? One does not run a risk of having the Visa cancelled if one is not in Thailand to do annual reporting. There is NO report required in that case. So that statement of yours is wrong. You are confused with another visa perhaps? As for the possibility of taxing your foreign pension (1) many foreign pensions are covered by a Double Tax Agreement and (2) the LTR Visa, by Thai Royal decree, has foreign money brought into Thailand tax exempt by Thailand. So your statement on taxes was wrong if applied to the LTR visa. Again, you are confused with another visa perhaps? As I noted elsewhere, I too was skeptical about the LTR visa, until a friend, who knows my financial situation, had me sit down with him and compare non-immigrant Type-O/OA 1-year extensions vs LTR 10-year wealthy pensioner visa , POINT by POINT, convincing me I was wrong and convincing me that for my financial and residence situation, the LTR visa was definitely worth applying. So I applied and obtained the LTR visa. Further, I note as of the end of April-2024, 2,174 foreigners have applied for an LTR-WP visa, and further 7,322 foreigners have applied for different types of LTR visas. I think one can conclude from that there are most probably at least 7,322 foreigners who disagree with your assessment. As for those who wish to stay in Thailand 'just for the winter' (ie less than 180 days) , they are not 'residents' to Thailand. Note the word "resident" in Long Term Resident Visa. ie this Visa is intended for, and structured for, relatively wealthy foreigners to come to (or stay in if already in Thailand) and reside in Thailand. It is not designed for those who show up in the winter (although some of those who only show up in the winter may still be able to meet LTR requirements). My view is for those who don't meet the LTR requirements, and for those who plan to stay for much less than 180 days per year (ie only in the winter), there are other visa options they should consider. I do note that those who plan to stay less than 180 days are not residents (ergo why go for a resident visa, if one is not planning to be a resident ?? ).

'As we all know' ? .. My alternative opinion: You are speaking for yourself and not for 'all'. Serious? I don't think so. Frankly, I don't believe for one second that the goal of anyone in the Thai government is to help foreigners financially. They would rather find a way to get money from the foreigners. Honestly - I think you could not be more wrong in that statement. The LTR visa was created to get money from foreigners - for foreigners to spend money in the Thai economy. I think the Thai government view is they won't get any tax money from those LTR foreigners regardless, so the idea is to convince those wealthy foreigner to reside in Thailand and spend their money in Thailand. I never thought I would see the day on Asean Now when someone claims a visa was created to compensate wealthy foreigners. lol ! lol !

What do you mean by maintained? The ONLY active annual requirement is to do an annual report to immigration, IF one has not exited and re-entered Thailand. The re-proof for finances is after 5 years. Until then one has a 5year !!! permission to stay. It is NOT a one year permission to stay. Do NOT be confused here. Now if you are talking about the 2nd five year permission to stay - no one yet knows for certain about that. Any financial proof (to be maintained for the past 5 years) at the 5 year point is simply not truly known at this point and there is only speculation on this forum. It stands to reason, if the LTR program is still in place in 5 years, and if say, BoI refused the second 5-year permission to stay because someones finances dipped below their initial 100% requirement to qualify, ie ... they failed to meet the requirement 100% during some period in those past 5 years ... Then if that denial of a second 5 year period of the permission to stay were to happen, then that said individual could simply apply for another 10 year LTR visa, and in that case proof going back 5 years is not required. So this bit about 'maintaining' annual needs to be taken with lots of grains of salt. As for other Visa types costing far less? NOT SO for the Type-O and Type-OA extension. Assuming one does NOT go for an agent, but one gets those visas year after year for 10 years, with multiple re-entry, they cost MORE than the LTR ! They cost 57,000 THB for 10 years as opposed to 50,000 THB for the LTR visa. So some of the other visas which are VERY common, DEFINITELY cost more than the LTR. This LTR visa is VERY much of value to a retiree who has the money. Look no further than (1) access to fast track @ immigration lines at airports, (2) no 90-day reports, (3) cheaper than equivalent duration Type-O/OA, and (4) tax exempt for money brought into Thailand (by Royal Decree) even thou one is in Thailand for >180days, and (5) no annual treks to immigration for extensions on one's permission to stay in Thailand. I can only assume you have not looked at this in any detail. I confess - I too was VERY skeptical at first, until a friend (who knows my finances) went through the details POINT by POINT , comparing to my previous Type-O and Type-OA visas, and I had to concede, the LTR was beneficial to me as a retiree. Also - in my humble opinion (IMHO) this Visa was not, and is not, by BoI, aimed at retirees who come and go and are not residents in Thailand. Note the word "resident" in Long Term Resident Visa. While some of those who come and go (and are in Thailand less than 180-days) may qualify for this LTR Visa, this LTR Visa was IMHO not intended by BoI for those foreigners.

The OP was asking about opening a Bank Account with only a Tourist Visa - and as noted, today, that is VERY very difficult. (It was not so difficult a decade ago). However, today, for someone on a non-immigrant Type-OA or Type-O visa, it is entirely doable to open a bank account in Thailand. One need not be married to a Thai. And now that banks are more familiar with the LTR visa, it also very doable for foreigners on that Visa to open accounts in Thailand. Thailand Banks do NOT treat foreigners from European states as criminals. If one has an appropriate Visa, the banks WILL open a bank account - as they want your money ... but only if you meet their conditions for the type of Visa a foreigner must have. The banks do not want to open accounts for tourists. Those tourists trying to buy a condo in Thailand do have a valid point - that its very difficult for them to buy such (without a Thai bank account) if the condo purchase is not direct from the developer. If the purchase is direct from the developer, then typically a Thai bank account is not needed.

From what I could read - that 'guide' does not provide advice - but rather it provides information - for the readers then to consider and come up with their own approach - or for the readers to seek actual advise from elsewhere. In Canada, when I prepare my income tax, I can get over 100 pages of a tax guide from the Canadian government - and not one word in that official Canadian Government 'guide' is considered advice by the Canadian government. You and I really interpret that 'guide' provided in this forum for expats on tax very very VERY differently.

From what I have read & videos (of Thai officials) watched, is the recent changes re: taxing money coming into Thailand, was not aimed at expats, but rather it was aimed at wealthy Thai who were avoiding paying tax on income, which the Thai government wanted to tax. This 'income tax' was NOT designed to tax the 'rich nor poor expats' like I believe you infer - for as pointed out , it was aimed at the wealthy Thai. It stands to reason that they would apply this tax law to all expat residents and not just Thai citizens (who also reside in Thailand). ... So expats are in essence 'collateral damage'. The LTR is a separate case, and it was put in place in the hope to attract wealthy foreigners to stimulate the economy. Presumably the thinking was that those who qualify for the LTR would invest & spend more money in Thailand than the average expats who can't qualify for the LTR. As to whether that is actually going to happen, and as to how this actually plays out in the next few years - well ... we will see, as this could all change. Further, as for well off expats not paying 1 baht in taxes for the rest of their life - I seriously doubt that. Seriously seriously doubt that. They will still be paying VAT, and they will still likely be paying tax in the home country(s) from which they derive their income. .

Best wishes in obtaining your LTR-WP. .

I never worried about running the A/C, even before we had solar panels ... I am a lucky guy as my Thai wife is careful with our money - but given we are not poor, most times she is far too careful, as before we had solar panels she did not want to switch on the A/C much (which I see as silly as we can't take our money with us, and we have no children to bequeath the money too ) ... but now have solar panels, she is now very happy to turn on the A/C a LOT more . So yes - I am very happy now we have solar panels - given the current heat in Thailand.

In Phuket a couple of years ago, I needed 'proof of residence' for my Thai driver's license renewal. However they were happy with my 'Yellow Book' (showing my condo ownership/residence) and with 'Pink-ID' (and my passport) and they did not ask for a TM-30.

Ok - so if under age-70, and if no Thai wife, then if you don't fly business class, you will likely have to suffer through the immigration lines. NOT having to suffer through those lines is a benefit, especially when they are long. When I departed Phuket in March of this year, there was a 30-minute to 45-minute foreigner line just to reach the immigration booths (so catch one's flight). It was sheer madness. People were panicking that they could miss their flights. ... Since there was no fast track line, I was able, with my LTR visa to show it at the Thai immigration line (which had NO ONE in line but they accepted 'fast track' people) and I could bypass that 30 to 45 minute foreigner wait. I consider that a useful benefit. I don't pay an agent ... I use that money for food and drinks instead. And while I don't begrudge those who want to use an agent, I still do note an LTR in this case (my not paying an agent) has saved me that money. I consider that saving a useful benefit. If the agent does not ask you for any documents, and if you stay in Thailand for 6 months (or shorter periods) then I assume you are regularly contacting your agent (or your agent contacting you) for either the 90-day report, or the TM-30 or for other aspects. With a 5 year permission to stay - I don't have to contact an agent multiple times per year. I don't need to phone an agent. An agent doesn't need to phone me. I don't have to leave Thailand every 90-days so not to have a 90-day report ... etc .. I consider that being able to stay peacefully. relaxing in my seaside condo, for 1 year full year with no such contact needed, a useful benefit. Many of us stay in Thailand MORE than 180 days a year. That implies tax residency. You don't have that, but many of us do. Hence it appears for those of us, having an LTR visa that the LTR-visa could turn out to be a significant benefit for reasons of taxes. Really significant. So maybe you don't see any benefits - but I dare say many of us do. I think its clear we would not have applied for (and obtained the LTR) if we did not believe there was a benefit. But I have said before and I will again. Thailand has many visa options, and LTR is not a visa for everyone. It is thou for some of us.

Indeed. I think thou most immigration offices don't require a TM30 for one's internal to Thailand travel if one always returns to one's normal Thai residence. I think it also possible (?) to postal mail a TM30 in addition to doing online. I believe it's only when one returns to Thailand from being outside of the country that a few (?) more immigration offices want a TM30 filed. Which brings up an interesting thought .. at present for most of the LTR visa holders, we deal with BoI and the immigration in the same building and floor in Bangkok. Does their TM30 requirements supercede any of our local immigration office requirements ( if different). I suspect this is a very mute question as this is all pretty minor.

Thanks - that's interesting to know (even if no longer applicable to me). When I did this a few years back (switching from Bangkok Bank to Krungsri bank) , I simply setup a new Krungsri account with the 800k THB in it for over a year, before switching from Bangkok Bank account (where I also maintained the 800k THB for the same year), and that also worked fine for Phuket immigration. My biggest 'worry' was it would be more difficult (for the new Krungsri Bank account, as opposed to the old Bangkok Bank account) to prove the new 800k in Krungsri came from outside of Thailand. The money did come from outside of Thailand, but the paper trail would have been complicated and a small annoyance to prove. Thankfully immigration never asked for that proof.