oldcpu

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.

I read that - but that was for the documents needed if one does not leave the country and has to do a 1-year report at BoI. The other half of that was to do with a Thai driver's licence application (either TM-30 or legal document with regard to property where one is staying - I can't recall exact words). Still, I do believe none of that exempts the LTR visa holder from having to do a TM-30 when re-entering Thailand. Agreed - the requirement to submit a TM-30 is fuzzy at best - perhaps even worse than fuzzy. Yes - take care also. And the heat !! After 6 weeks in New Zealand and Australia, the humidity and heat when we arrived back in Thailand 2 weeks ago hit us like a red hot brick wall. Thank God that we invested in solar panels last summer, so we can turn on our A/C a LOT more than normal, and still have a 0 THB electrical bill. .

Yes - that response of SHA 22 BKK is relevant for reporting if after 1 year, one has still not left the country. Then one must fill in those appropriate forms as the 1-year reporting "counter" was never reset. However if one exits and returns, as has been noted, the clock/clock for 1 year restarts counting from the beginning again. Still, my understanding, and I would be happy to be proven wrong with a pointer to an official document, NONE OF THAT exempts an LTR visa holder from having to complete a TM-30. TM-30s are still, as far as I can determine required when one re-enters the country. And that TM-30 lists where one is staying. The confusing aspect for many of us with regard to TM-30s, is each immigration office appears to interpret the TM-30 requirement differently. Since as LTR visa holders, we have much less interaction with immigration, it is likely (?) this "TM-30" aspect is not a big thing and will never arise as an issue if not completed. In my case, I am very conservative, so I did (have my Thai wife for me) fill in an online TM-30 when I returned to Thailand a couple of weeks ago.

Just a clarification, If you have the LTR visa, and you leave the country within the year, and you return, you do NOT get a one year stamp. Rather you get a "permission to stay" stamp, which has (1) your re-entry date, and (2) your permission to stay date (repeated), where the permission to stay date is the same as the previous 'permission to stay' date in your passport when you obtained the LTR visa. For example, I obtained my LTR-WP visa in June 2023, with a permission to stay stamped for me to stay until 5-June-2028 (also with a multiple re-entry stamp valid to 5-June-2028). I subsequently departed Thailand 28-Aug-2023, and when I re-entered on 30-Sep-2023 (with a permission to stay again hand written in the entry stamp, until 5-June-2028), and this re-entry stamp meant I did not have to report again to immigration until 30-Sep-2024 ! I subsequently departed Thailand 11-March-2024, and when I re-entered on 21-April-2024 (with a permission to stay again hand written until 5-June-2028), and this re-entry stamp meant I did not have to report again to immigration until 21-April-2025. Possibly a mute point/clarification - but I want to try to be exact.

As has been pointed out , when one exits and re-enters Thailand, that resets the 1 year clock. As for reporting where you live once per year, when you re-enter Thailand, you still must do an online TM-30 which indicates to immigration where you are staying. There is nothing new there.

As pointed out - this was not the case when I applied. For self health insurance, I tried two different accounts, both easily exceeded the $100K US cash equivalent. One was a 'pure' trading account, and despite exceeding the cash requirement, it was rejected as it was a trading account. I then tried (what in Canada is called) a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). ... sort of like a USA 401k, where that 'Savings plan' account also had the prerequisite cash by a large margin (multiples). That was also rejected by BoI. In the end I pointed to a Foreign Currency Account in Thailand bank, that had the prerequisite amount and that was accepted. I did not want to use that Thai bank account initially, as I wanted to be able to tap into that account (and lower it below the $100k US equivalent). However, since I now use that account (for the $100K US$ self health insurance accepted now by BoI) I have restructured my finances a bit, such that I don't have to touch money in that account. But I am curious to learn (maybe in 4 more years time) if that restructuring on my part was really necessary.

LTR has many more benefits - but possibly for YOUR situation - they are not applicable. I assume when you travel, you always travel business class, or you have a Thai wife who always travels with you, such that you can go through a Thai immigration line when you travel out of country? or you simply don't travel out of country any more. I am age 70 (with Thai wife) and I still travel - as much as I can generate the energy to travel. Theoretically (if I didn't have a Thai wife or if I was under age-70), I think it fair to say the LTR visa would have saved me from suffering in about 3 hours of immigration lines when both leaving and entering Thailand. I assume ALL your income is covered by a Double Tax Agreement and hence you receive no benefit from the tax exemption (by Thai Royal decree) for any money brought into Thailand. This LTR tax exemption on money brought into Thailand, has the potential over coming years, to be a big benefit to some, dependent how the Thai implementation of some tax enforcement changes play out. I assume the online 90-day reports always worked for you (they never worked for me) and so since you say you don't travel much anymore , you can still do your 90 day reports online? In my case, before I had the LTR visa, the 90-day online NEVER worked. If I had not traveled recently, I would every 90-days have to drive to immigration (and potentially go in line with the hordes at immigration) to do a 90-day report. Since getting the LTR I have not had to do an immigration 'report' (other than my entering/leaving Thailand at the immigration booth). Can you submit your documentation (for your extensions) online to your agent ? (ie sit on a chair on your seafront accommodations balcony with your feet up, sipping a glass of wine)? I could to that with my LTR application. I do note my friends on type-O visas can mostly do such with their agents (to whom they give power of attourney for their visas) except they are required yearly to physically visit their agent a couple of times AND despite having an agent they are still required to go to immigration yearly to pick up their passport with their extensions. Perhaps other agents handle this differently. I confess - when the LTR-WP (wealthy pensioner) visa was announced I too was a BIG skeptic. A couple of my friends strongly recommended the LTR-WP visa to me and I shrugged off their recommendations, stating it had no tangible benefits over my new (then) Type-O non-immigrant visa (as i had recently switched to the Type-O from a Type-OA). One of my friends, who knows my financial situation, challenged me, point by point, to prove my rejection of the LTR-WP. As a result, after a point by point review, he convinced me I was wrong (given my financial status) to reject the LTR Visa. That point by point check also convinced me that the LTR visa is not helpful for some, but for others it is very good. I suspect BoI had some specific guidelines they had to follow for the LTR visa qualifications ... and they in my view deliberately limited the LTR to those in strong financial situations with a substantial very liquid portfolio (but not in stocks/foreign-property/nor foreign company ownership) and a strong consistent financial source of money (from either major companies or passive income from government or major companies - and likely not from astute stock trading). Clearly there were exceptions on this, but in general, I believe they deliberately did not include the vast majority of expatriates, whose finances are more subtle/illusive as to how it is structured. The finances of many expatriates and foreigners being more illusive, BoI, likely for good reasons (to eliminate their own administrative verification efforts) decided to not expand the LTR qualification to include the wealthy whose source of money was more difficult for them to be assured of future stability. A case in point - they reject the $100k US$ equivalent for health insurance in a trading portfolio, even if a massive amount of money in that account is cash (5x or more of that $100k US$ equivalent) just because that cash is in an account with stock trading functionality. BoI drew a line to reject cash in any stock trading portfolio. I do note, that Thai immigration still kept all the other visa types after the LTR visa was introduced - and for those potential or existing expatraites whom the LTR visa makes no sense (due to how their wealth is structure, or how they receive their wealth) , I note that there are other options to stay in Thailand, with the other visa types.

The beauty of the LTR visa is it is valid for 10 years. No need to go for an agent EVERY YEAR. No need to pay an agent - EVERY YEAR. Further, one can apply for the LTR-visa - where in my case I uploaded all the documents with a laptop computer from my condo balcony (with a great sea view) with my feet up, sipping a glass of wine. Why pay an agent - as I meet the requirements and I don't have to wait at immigration ? I do thou, have a couple of good friends who share your view and always use an agent. They easily meet the Type-O visa financial requirements, and they do NOT want to wait with the hordes at immigration ever year. So EVERY YEAR they pay an agent (which includes handing over 'power of attorney' to the agent for the Type-O visa extensions) and this reduces my friends travel EVERY YEAR to 1 or 2 trips to see the agent, and 1 trip to immigration to pick up the passport when the extension stamp is in place. Each to their own - but I note the LTR visa is for 10 years ( with financial proof and likely a trip to Bangkok to have next 5 year stamp applied needed). I much prefer that over yearly going for a 1-year extension via an Agent. Again - each to their own.

No, it reads to me that the immigration individual made a mistake asking you to return in 90-days and they are likely unfamiliar with the LTR Visa. The first time I re-entered Thailand with an LTR visa at Phuket, it created a big 'buzz' of excitement, and a bit of a huddle of a few IO, as they rarely see an LTR visa in Phuket (according to what my Thai wife was told by one of the IO). That was early last autumn last year. Then about 2 weeks ago, when I re-entered Thailand with an LTR visa (again at Phuket), I passed to the IO my passport opened at the LTR visa page, and made a point of VERY politely indicating the LTR-Visa stamp when I handed it to the IO (because my passport has many stamps and I was afraid the IO might miss the LTR visa stamp). The IO stared at the LTR-WP visa stamp for a long time then the IO held it up to the glass to the adjacent IO booth. That IO in the adjacent boot stated "LTR ( + something in Thai ) and then walked around to the immigration booth where I (and my IO) were at, and from what I could understand explained to 'my IO' as to how to handle an LTR visa. So its clear to me the LTR visa is still 'relatively new' and hence I believe those 90-day report comments are simply from an IO who is NOT yet familiar with the LTR visa. If it were me, and if that 'return in 90-day request' were to happen, I would VERY POLITELY ask for confirmation from the IO's boss as to the 90-day report request being needed (politely pointing out a reference page on LTR visa requirements) , as it is clear that a 90-day report is not a nominal requirement for an LTR visa. This LTR visa is still new - and some learning (and some mistakes) are likely still being made.

Re: the one year report - there is nothing new there. Its NOT a financial report. It is very similar to the 90-day report in content, and it is a a BIG improvement over the 90-day. Further, the bit about 'caution about losing one's LTR visa' is in my view, only to remind one not to go for a 2nd visa while the LTR visa is still valid. I see that as pure common sense. ie. don't show up at immigration with a new passport (that does not have LTR visa stamp transferred yet) and enter Visa Exempt, or enter in a different Visa in the old or new passport (while one's LTR was still valid). .... Or if one has a passport with MANY pages filled after the LTR visa stamp, one should pay attention at immigration, to ensure the LTR visa stamp is seen by the IO at the 'border' immigration. My passport has a LOT of stamps from my travel. When I enter Thaliand @ immigration, and when I hand my passport to the IO, ... I have my passport opened at the LTR stamp page (which has my 'permission to stay' in Thailand date clearly marked) and I do my best to ensure the IO does not miss that LTR stamp. In my view any other interpretation as to an LTR visa becoming invalid is simply incorrect speculation. I believe the one thing there is not 100% clear yet, is for those on a LTR-WP with self insurance ( >$100K US$ equivalent in a bank somewhere in the world) , when the 5 year point comes up (in one's permission to stay) and finances have to be proven again, does that $100k US$ equivalent have to have been maintained for the entire 5 years? or can it dip below the $100K US$ equivalent, and then only be topped up a couple of years before the 5-year financial check? That $100K US$ equivalent maintenance is not an issue for some of us (after all this is a WEALTHY (emphasis) pensioner visa, but for those 'on the border line of meeting LTR' financial requirement that amount of money maintenance might be an issue. My suspicion is if one does not have the $100K US$ equivalent (for self health insurance) at the 5 year point, that one will likely be allowed to buy health insurance a a work around. There may be other possible ways as well to approach this. If one does not have the money after 5 years, Thailand has many other Visas one can choose from.