oldcpu

Some of which I note below was ALREADY pointed out by others ... but since you asked ... The LTR visa (for Wealthy Pensioners who travel every year) over a 10 year period, is about the same price as a type-O visa. A type-O visa with a multiple re-entry permit, costs about 5700 THB a year (1900 THB + 3800 THB multiple re-entry permit). Over 10 years that is 57,000 THB for a Type-O with multiple re-entry. The LTR Wealthy pensioner costs 50,000 THB for the 10 years. Am I correct that your question "that justifies the cost ? " also applies to those who go for a Type-O visa? What justifies the cost for a Type-O visa. Is that also your question? .... < puzzled > ... Now as to the advantages for the LTR Visa ? There are many ... if one travels a lot, it has a nice airport perk (and remember - the LTR Wealthy Pensioner has about the same cost as Type-O visa) one has access to a much faster "fast-track" line at immigration. Stand in line for an hour at Bangkok airport with hordes of tourists, and you will appreciate that benefit. Again - no extra cost over a Type-O visa. With an LTR visa, one 'officially' (stated very openly in official Thai documents) does NOT have to pay ANY Thai income tax on foreign income from outside of Thailand. Its VERY easy to point this to other people. I have had people (and foreign banks) question me about my foreign tax (when on Type-O and Type-OA) and it was MUCH more difficult (on a Type-O/OA visa) to find an official Thai government statement noting it was not necessary in Thailand to pay Thai tax on foreign income. Not having to do a 90-day report is handy. Very much so. My experience when on the Type-O and Type-OA visa making (over the years) of about 15 attempts (ie for each of the many 90-day reports I have done) with the on-line 90-day report system: it worked for me 3 out of 15 times, and failed 12 out of 15 times. 12 times I had to go to immigration in person. I could go on more about this (and what I tried and failed to have 'addressed" but I think my point was made). A one year report (which I may never have to do as I typically leave/re-entry Thailand a couple times per year), and the one-year is automatically extended for a year each time one enters Thailand. Not having to go to immigration every year to get an extension on my Type-O visa (previous going to immigration every year also with my Type-OA visa) is a major benefit of the LTR visa. On a Type-O/OA visa, by the time I add up the time to put together (at home) the paperwork, the time to go to the bank, get the paperwork from them, and to go to the immigration in Phuket (and wait with the hordes of tourists/expats of various nationalities in Phuket immigration), ... in constrast with an LTR visa having to only prove my finances once every 5 years, and go for a new Visa in 10 years, is a major advantage. Also, the LTR paper work can be submitted online, while sitting on my condo balcony with a laptop computer, over looking the sea, and sipping a drink. I can NOT sip a drink from my balcony and submit my paperwork with a Type-O or Type-OA visa (which requires I go to immigration and wait for hours with the crowded hordes). Further, previous when I had a type-OA visa, my superior European Health insurance was not accepted by immigration - which drove me to get Double health insurance one year, and then on the next year leave the country and re-entry to change to a Type-O visa. For the Type-OA visa, here were no other options for insurance (other than the Thai branch of a health insurance company). For the LTR wealthy pension visa, I can simply point to the specified amount of money in a Bank account ANYWHERE in the world. Too simple. I suspect others can think of other advantages - but those are the one's that come to my mind. So - for some of us, there are VERY BIG advantages for the LTR visa. Advantages for everyone ? Of course not. Not everyone has the money to make it easy. ... and you also asked " if somebody had that much money for a pension why would they choose Thailand over another country?) " Why ? Why not another country? Because we like Thailand. OK? We like Thailand. Because our spouse has family in Thailand. Because our money goes massively further in Thailand. The condo I have here (on the beach) in Thailand would cost me easily 5x to 15x as much money in some cities in North America and in Europe. If the LTR visa does not suit you, then go for other Visa options, as Thailand does offer others. Many of us did that in the past, but when the LTR Visa became available, it was quick for us to see it had big advantages for our situation. Why rain on us, when it is good for us?

Interesting .... so one has to be an official Thailand PR (as a foreigner) to get one's name in the Blue Book. I wonder how many on this forum are considered a PR ? And how difficult to get PR (compared to getting the Yellow Book). Likely a mute point, but I suspect (but could be wrong) its a lot easier to get a Yellow Book than it is official Thailand PR status. And its a subject for another thread, but I wonder what the advantages (and disadvantages) are for obtaining a PR. ...

As noted, Phuket DL accepted my Yellow-book / Pink Card for a renewal - there is no geographical restriction on my driver's license. As it is for some things in Thailand, possibly each provincial DL bureau have their own rule implementation. .... Possibly it even depends on which DL bureau person one is dealing with at the time. .

It possibly depends on what province the DL bureau is located? The Phuket DL accepted my yellow-book/Pink-ID card combination (and hence I did not need to get a COR from immigration) when I last renewed my Thai driver's licence.

Further to what you note, I used the number (that is in my yellow book & the same identical number in my pink-ID ) when I needed to provide a 'tax-number' to Bangkok Bank for the purchase of Thai Government bonds (I needed these bonds as part of my investment in Thailand for my subsequently successful LTR visa). As a retiree I don't nominally have a Tax ID number. The Bangkok bank teller was not going to let me apply for the bond without that (or a tax) number. Further, about 30 minutes prior to that, when asking the Bangkok Bank manager if I could buy a Thai government bond from the Bangkok bank branch that he managed, he stated yes, ONLY if I had a yellow book and a pink ID. Was that really necessary? I don't know, but since I had such, it was a mute point for me. Some time before that, I also used the Yellow book for Phuket immigration when proving my place of residence in Phuket ... they asked initially for the Blue Book (and Thai person's ID) for my condo (a foreign can't have a blue book with the foreigners name), so instead it was simply easier to pass them a copy of my yellow book. Clearly the Yellow book was NOT necessary here, but it did come in handy. I also used the yellow book (instead of a blue book and Thai person's ID) when going for a Thai driver's licence renewal. Clearly the Yellow book was NOT necessary here, but it did come in handy. Fortunately I did NOT have the difficulty that some report in obtaining the yellow book. I personally don't think a yellow book is necessary - but I can NOT deny it has come in handy on some rare occasions.

I second what Pib noted. Stay away from the type-OA if you plan to spend most of your retirement time in Thailand. For the proof of health insurance to satisfy Thai immigration (when it comes to the time for your 1st one-year extension) for the Type-OA visa, the coverage has to be described in a very specific form to satisfy Thai immigration, and further, the health insurance company has to enter the proof of your insurance into a Thai immigration database. Frankly? Only Thai branches of a insurance company are likely to do that, AND only do that if you buy insurance from their branch. Further, my experience (with Cigna) was if you have medical insurance coveage from a non-Thai branch of Cigna insurance company, the Thai Cigna branch will REFUSE to provide the proof that Thai immigration requires. The Thai Cigna insurance branch of the insurance company will insist you buy insurance from the Thai branch - even if it means DOUBLE insurance coverage from them (Cigna). And further the non-Thai branch of the Cigna insurance company REFUSE to provide the proof in the form that the Thai immigration requires. I recommend you stick with a Type-O visa approach, and there are various ways to go about obtaining that Visa and subsequent 1 year extensions.

I am most curious to read if you will be successful. I also have Cigna insurance plan, where the entity (where I used to work) that is paying my pension also deducts premiums for Cigna insurance each month from my pension. Cigna's coverage clauses, as you note, are not structured in the manner in which BoI have specified they wish to see medical insurance covered. I previous, for a Type-OA visa medical insurance coverage, attempted to get Cigna to write a letter stating they in essence met the Thailand Type-OA requirements. Cigna (Europe) flat refused (in fact, in my view, my global Cigna coveage exceeds BoI requiements - BUT one must read all the details of a very very large coverage document) . Cigna have a one page form on their web site one can download stating the coverage (with no expiry date) and to get the details of the coverage one has to read dozens of pages defining their coverage, which Thai immigration for the Type-OA visa obviously wouldn't do. I even contacted the Thai branch of Cigna, told them of my European plan and asked if they would provide document necessary to satisfy Thai immigration for the Type-OA visa medical insurance proof. I offered to pay a nominal fee for that. The Thai Cigna answer? Go for DOUBLE insurance by buying an additional Thai Cigna Medical insurance (or dump my superior European Cigna coverage if I wanted only single coverage). Thai Cigna would not even look at the Europen Cigna coverage details. That is one reason why I ultimately went for the LTR visa (after briefly switching from a type-OA to a type-O visa and then to the LTR visa), where I could self insure (to BoI satisifaction) by showing I had > $100K US$ (equivalent) in the bank for the past 2 years. Knowing the stubbornness of the European Cigna (and for that matter also the Thai Cigna branch) I decided trying to get something written in a form, from Cigna, to satisfy BoI was likely a hopeless task. BUT if you succeed I would be most curious to learn, for in a bit less than 5 years I will need to again prove I have medical coverage (to extend my LTR visa permission to stay for another 5 years) and being able to use my European Cigna (instead of proving the $100K US equivalent (for 2 years) money in the bank) would be useful. Please keep us advised - and very good luck and best wishes in your efforts.

Given I now have an LTR visa, this no longer applies to me, but I am curious. I went to the Expedia site : https://www.theflightexpert.com/how-to-cancel-expedia-flights-and-get-a-refund/ and I read this on that site: Expedia doesn’t charge a fee to cancel flight reservations. However, the airline might charge a fee, depending on the fare type purchased. If this is the case, Expedia will pass this cost on to you. You can see the airlines fees, rules, and restrictions for your flights in your Expedia itinerary. This suggests to me that one should have a flight (out of Thailand) planned in advance ready to book, just in case (so that one does not have to scramble to find a flight that does not charge a cancellation fee - even thou Expedia charges no cancellation fee). Further, I speculate it is probably is good to arrive at the airport 30 minutes or so earlier than normal ... so to give one lots of time to book the (soon to be cancelled) onward flight. I recall one of my flights from Germany to Thailand - because of strikes (impacting airport services) the line up was over 2 hours long just to get to the check-in counter. If one had to leave the line, to book a ticket, and then get back in line again (at the back of the line) one would miss the flight. Of course, one could simply buy the ticket while waiting in line 'on speculation'. Its an interesting approach, but given I have never tried such, I think one should have the details all planned in advance.

Further to this ... An update on a bit about the Thai Government bonds and one's Thai tax number (in case any are interested). Recall I purchased 2-million Thai Baht worth of Thai government bonds as part of my $250K US$ equivalent investment in Thailand, to successfully obtain the 10-year LTR Wealthy Pensioner visa. Tax ID number: When applying to purchase the bond, Bangkok Bank requested my Thailand tax ID number, where I had no such number. So I gave Bangkok Bank my "pink ID card" number which they entered in the tax field. The bond purchase then successfully continued. (I note also this same number from my "pink ID card" is on my "Yellow Book" for my Thailand foreign freehold condo that I own). Today I received in the postal mail a notification from the "Bank of Thailand" stating the interest I had received to date and also the amount of withholding tax they kept. In addition, on the notification was listed (translated to English by me with Google) my "Citizen ID number/Tax ID number", which was the same number as the number on my Pink-ID that I had provided. Further, there was an additional field in this "Bank of Thailand" notification, which (after translating by Google from Thai to English) called my "tax payer identification number". This is a new number and it does not correspond to any number on my "Yellow Book" nor on my "Pink ID" number. So it appears I now have a Thailand taxpayer identification number ???? which my wife thought was funny that I now have a Thai taxper ID #. I was less amused. ???? However given I don't nominally earn much money in Thailand (nor, relatively speaking, do I have much else in Thailand in regards to money gaining interest), having a Thai taxpayer ID# is not an issue for myself at present time (... noting that currently I do pay taxes in Canada (file income tax return to Canada every year) and Germany (money kept by Germany as withholding tax)). Interest rate As I have noted elsewhere, I don't see purchasing these Thai government bonds as much of an "investment" for myself (given my money is nominally invested elsewhere), where I suspect buying 2-million THB of bonds is VERY IMPORTANT to those who barely meet the Wealthy Pensioner requirements. Fortunately for me, the BoI do see this as an investment (in Thailand). Myself - for this amount, I really could not care less about the interest rate (as long the interest rate is not a large negative amount) for I plan to hold these bonds to maturity (and I have other investments outside of Thailand that are more important to me). Still - I note the bond interest rate for 2-million THB is VERY important to others. SO for those who do care about this small bond purchase amount, in case curious, some details: * The Thai government bond purchase was for 2-million baht, maturity 7 years, interest rate 3% * The Bank of Thailand notification noted that (for 92-days) the bond gave 15,123.28 THB interest, of which 2,268.49 was withholding tax, and hence I received 12,854.79 THB in interest. That's about only a very small 15% withholding taxation rate. I wish my Canadian and German withholding tax rates were that low. Perhaps a mute point, but if I had purchased an equivalent amount of bonds in Canada instead, I would be paying >35% tax (for my case) to Canada (ie I would pay more than the 25% Canadian withholding tax after I filed my tax return to Canada). So to make the same (after tax) interest from bonds in Canada (given my Canadian tax rate) I would have to buy equivalent amount of Canadian bonds with an interest rate of about 4% (instead of Thailand at 3%). OK - a mute point for me as I don't care about the interest, but I did the calculation as I thought others may be interested.

Which airline is that (allowing a cancellation for only 100 THB) ? For example for a Fully Flex ticket with Thai Airlines, it typically costs 2,000 THB to cancel (and obtain a refund of the remaining amount paid for the ticket).

My wife says we used VM Translation services in Bangkok: http://vm-translation.com/ Contact: Mr.Sutthirat Yimyong. Phone numbers: 087-017-3329 and 089-515-2505 Good luck to the OP in their efforts.

I researched last year, and I could not find such a 'fully refundable ticket' - so I am curious to learn more.

There is no question in my mind that https://onwardticket.com/ is an inexpensive approach. If for any reason you feel worried about using such an approach, you could also buy a real ticket for an inexpensive price. Just pick an international airport in Thailand that has short flights outside of the country. For example, if one searches different dates on Krabi to Kuala Lumpur, there are one way Air Asia flights at present that cost only about 1,000 THB (again - try different dates to get the best price). That's about $29 US$ ... No where near as good as the $12 noted from onwardticket ... but it is a different approach. And its a real ticket (you could even use it if you wanted to go to Krabi to catch the flight). That is what I did last year (buying such a ticket). I threw the ticket out afterwards.

I used a translation service in Bangkok to do this during COVID times (my wife and I live in Phuket so we couriered the needed documents to Bangkok translation company). I can't recall the name right now ... but my Thai wife has it on record and I hope to obtain such off of her later this evening to share. If you google " bangkok translation marriage certificate " you will find some companies that offer this service. For example: sawadeetranslations is one such company ... I can't recall if this is the company that we used ... I will have to reply with this information later.

I suspect every issue of Thai government bonds can be different. In my case, the Thai government bonds I purchased in December-2022 had a 7-year term, at a 3% interest rate per annum. Frankly , given my financial situation, I could not have cared less as to the interest rate (it could have been 0% for all I cared), as the amount of bonds I needed to purchase was very small from my perspective. My own view, is if one needs to pay close attention to the interest rate of such a small amount but can qualify for the LTR visa, then well done in qualifying for the LTR visa, ... but ... possibly the LTR visa is not the correct visa for one. The 1-year non-O immigrant visa also has its advantages. ... and if I was under 50-years of age, I likely would have gone for the Elite Visa. We are fortunate, I believe, that Thailand offers many different possibilities for expats to stay in Thailand.

Thanks for that image of the entry/exit stamps. My understanding is on an LTR visa, each time one re-enters Thailand their date for an annual report is restarted, starting from the date of their re-entry ... so based on that image, if you were still in Thailand, you wouldn't need to do an annual report until 15-April-2024. But I note you left Thailand on 15-June-2023 with no corresponding (yet) re-entry stamp. That has me puzzling a bit - are you then required to enter Thailand again by 15-April-2024 to do an annual report (or possibly enter Thailand again by 15-June-2024 to do an annual report ? ) I assume not (as I assume one does not have to live in Thailand to keep the LTR visa) , but I am curious to confirm my assumption is correct.

I also found the Canadian embassy visit strange - but I think it was more for the embassy to verify that my Canadian marriage certificate (of both my wife and myself) was 'legit'. < unsure > ... I also now recollect that the Translator had to translate both my passport and the Canadian marriage certificate, for the Thai foreign affairs. It was also bizarre (for me) that a translation of my passport was needed. A Canadian friend, recently went through the same in Bangkok last year, where they had to have both his Canadian marriage certificate (to his Thai wife) and have his passport translated Thai. He had to go to the Canadian embassy with his marriage certificate and obtain some sort of certified copy (?) from them. I can no longer recall the details. Again - my understanding is the embassy visit was for the marriage certificate certification - not for the passport.

This mostly matches what I remember we were told by the Translator who did this for myself and my Thai wife (where translator had limited Power of Attorney (PoA) to do this on my wife and my behalf), ... except that I don't recall having to send a copy of my Birth Certificate. Rather a copy of my passport (as proof of my identity/citizenship) was required. Edit: According to the translator, Translation of my Passport was needed for Thai foreign affairs office in Bangkok, so that was included as part of the translator's services. I also had a Canadian friend (with a Thai wife) do this themselves last year (ie go to translator, Canadian embassy, and Thai foreign affairs office) in Bangkok, and a translation of the Canadian passport (to Thai language) was needed.

A correction to the above (or perhaps a clarification). The number on the Pink-ID that Bangkok Bank used for my Tax number, is also listed in my Yellow Book as a number (and it is different number from the House-ID number which is on a separate page). The location on the Pink-ID of this 'Pink-ID' number (that I used at Bangkok Bank for a tax number and which originates from the yellow book) is in the exact same location/style as the number on a typical Thai person's ID, which is their tax number. So in truth, to get this 'tax number' (?) I did not need the Pink-ID as the number is also on the Yellow Book. There is a thread on Thai Visa where it is speculated that this Pink-ID number (which is the same number in the Yellow Book) are indeed the official Thai tax numbers for the foreigner - but I honestly can not confirm that is accurate.

I provided a Power of Attorney (POA) to an 'official/certified' translator office in Bangkok to do most of the paperwork/effort to have my Thai wife and my foreign marriage registered in Thailand. This had to be done in Bangkok, and my wife and I were in Phuket. I needed my marriage registered (some years back) for an upcoming Type-OA visa extension (where I wanted to avoid the requirement for health insurance from a Thai branch of an insurance company - as my superior European health insurance was not accepted by immigration). My wife and I live in Phuket, so we couriered our Canadian marriage certificate, copies of our passport, copies of my Thai wife's ID, and a carefully 'restricted' Power of Attourny (POA) to that Translator office in Bangkok. The office took the POA and Canadian marriage certificate to the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok and had the marriage certificate certified (?) as legit. The Translator translated the marriage certificate, and took that to the Thai Foreign Affairs office in Bangkok, to have the marriage certified (or registered? ) there - and the Translator office person was then given the appropriate paperwork. That was then couriered back to me (in Phuket) and my Thai wife and I were able to take the Thai Foreign affairs produced document, and translations of our marriage certificate, to obtain a Kor-22, which I needed for my Type-OA extension. This was a lot cheaper and easier to do, than my wife and I flying to Bangkok to have this done. So I think POA (restricted in scope) can be useful at times in Thailand. .... I have friends who (in Pattaya) use an agent all the time for their Visa extensions. They meet the Thai requirements, but they are not young and they can't be bothered to go to immigration office in Pattaya. So they simply go to see an Agent (or the Agent comes to see them) and they sign the appropriate documents for the Agent to obtain the Visa extension on their behalf. They have not told me exactly what documents they sign, but I would be very surprised if one of the documents is not a 'limited in scope' POA document.

Agreed mostly. ... I was thou able to use my Yellow Book last time I went for a one-year extension on a Type-O visa (Phuket immigration office). They asked for a copy of the Blue Book pages for the condo that I lived in, and instead I gave them copies of pages from my Yellow Book. Was the Yellow Book required? No. Also, when I applied for Thai government Bonds at Bangkok bank (where I have had an account for years) they still insisted to have copies of my passport, and the Bank Manager of that branch stated he would only allow me to proceed with that Thai government bond purchase IF I could show him both a Yellow Book and a Pink ID !! My view is that is not a Thailand requirement but rather it is a local branch manager policy for that branch, but regardless, having the Yellow Book on that occasion did come in handy. Perhaps there was a way around such an individual's 'policy' but given I had such why fight "city hall" just to make a point that something is not needed? Further, when the bank went to apply for the Thai government bonds (for me) they wanted my tax ID, as it had to be filled in. Well - I don't have a tax ID. From what I have been told, the ID number on Thai citizen's ID cards, is also their Tax #. So to satisfy Bangkok Bank (for the Thai government bond application) I simply passed them my pink ID, they used the ID # from my pink-ID, and they proceeded (successfully) to order the Thai government bonds (I needed those bond purchase for my later obtaining an LTR Visa). And of course, as you note, to get the Pink ID I first needed the Yellow Book. This is all (in my case) rather obscure and IMHO neither a Yellow Book nor a Pink-ID is nominally required for the average foreigner - BUT I can not deny that there may be times when such can be very useful in Thailand - at least that is my experience as I have documented above.

For certain a Pink ID is nominally no where as useful as one's passport. But my having a Pink ID, I have been able to use it on occasion (when I did not have my passport handy). I have on occasion used it for a hotel check-in (and on other occasions it was not accepted for a hotel check-in - they insisted on seeing my passport). I have on occasion used it to gain park entrance at the Thai rate (and not the falang rate). I was even able to use it for some activities in Canada ( !! ) where the Canadian organization wanted to see multiple documents/ID with my Thai address on it (and not just one document), and I was able to give them my Pink ID (together with a Google translation of the ID) which they accepted (as the pink ID has my address). The above is NOT to say its worthwhile to go through the effort to get a Pink ID - but to say the Pink ID is useless is simply wrong. .

There is no lie ... or least if done properly with an agent, there should be no lie. My understanding is in order to use an agent (to open a bank account, or help one with a visa), one needs to provide them temporary power of attorney to conduct the activity you wish them to do on your behalf. One can clearly ensure that the 'power of attorney' document that one signs has wording that limits the scope of the power of attorney, in both 'the activity to be done' and in the 'timeframe' in which the power of attorney is valid. While I have not needed to go the agent route, nominally if one meets all the requirements, using an agent is 100%/perfectly legal. My view is just IMHO be careful in what sort of 'power of attorney' one gives to the agent.

This is a good point, that being " the rule is you must get at least the FIRST extension on a visa for the rule it was issued". I arrived in Thailand in 2019 on a Type-OA visa based on retirement. When the time came a couple of years later to go for my first one year extension, the new Health Insurance requirements on Type-OA visas were already in place. My European Health insurance was not on the Thai list (and hence not accepted by immigration) so I attempted to obtain a one-year extension (which was my 1st extension) for reason of marriage. Phuket immigration refused. They advised I had to go for the one year extension based on retirement (per my Type-OA visa reason). They told me only when I went for my 2nd extension (in a years time) on my Type-OA would they allow me to switch to using 'marriage' as a justification for my 1 year extension. I ended up for the very first extension on my Type-OA, obtaining an extension based on retirement (and I ended paying for DOUBLE health insurance as I did not want to get rid of my superior European Health insurance). So that (not being able to switch from 'retirement' to 'marriage' on one's 1st Type-OA extension) is a consideration to take into account, when deciding if one should instead switch to a Type-O Visa (ie leave the country on a Type-OA without a re-entry permit to invalid the Type-OA Visa and then re-entering to get a Type-O). Thanks Tod Daniels for pointing that out.

The advice given to you in this thread already is very good. I started on a Type-OA visa, followed by a one year extension (on that Type-O) based on retirement, then when the Health Insurance requirements from a Thai branch of an Insurance company became not appropriate for myself I then switched on my next extension (on that same underlying Type-OA visa) to a one-year extension based on marriage to a Thai woman. When forum members note the paper work required (for an extension based on marriage) is extensive, they are not IMHO exaggerating. There is a lot more paperwork for an extension based on marriage than there is on retirement. Plus for some immigration offices (most offices?) its a lot quicker to get the extension based on retirement than it is based on marriage. I eventually left the country (without a re-entry permit) to invalidate my type-OA, and after returning (visa exempt) I applied for and obtained a 90-day Type-O visa. My first one year extension on the Type-O for retirement was very quick to obtain. My recommendation, is if you don't plan to leave Thailand before your current 'retirement' extension expires, is to switch to a one year extension (on your Type-OA) based on marriage to a Thai person. But WELL IN ADVANCE research the paperwork requirements - for if you married your Thai wife outside of Thailand you will have a lot more paperwork needed to register your marriage here in Thailand. If you are thou, planning to leave Thailand for some travels, consider do so with out a re-entry permit, (so to invalidate your Type-OA visa) and then come back Visa exempt (your nationality might play a factor as to whether this is even feasible) and immediately upon arrival in Thailand at your local immigration office apply for a 90-day Type-O visa (ensuring prior you have the appropriate money in a Thai bank). Then after about 45 to 60 days (dependent on your immigration office) apply for a 1 year extension on the Type-O based on retirement. That requires no proof of Health Insurance. That is what I did. You may thou, wish to check if the immigration office you plan to use, will allow you to adopt the above. My understanding is most Thai Immigration offices do allow such but I have read stores on this forum by some who claim the immigration office that they go to, do not allow such an approach. I think such offices are in the minority but I believe it is good to check.