OJAS

Indeed, there are - so any relaxation of booze restrictions on account of Visakha Bucha 2568/2025 also falling tomorrow will presumably be trumped in this instance. After all, we can't run the risk of having voters commit VUI, can we? On the other hand, campaigning pick-ups promoting particular candidates' manifestos with amplified announcements made at top volume interspersed with loud boom-boom music which make our window frames rattle (and which have been the bane of our existence these past few weeks on my moobaan) are cheerfully tolerated - nay gleefully encouraged, I strongly suspect - by the powers-that-be.🤬

As well as totally illegally - meaning that you could then find yourself running the risk of eventually ending up in deep, deep doo-dah with IMM. Much better to follow the procedure set out by @DrJack54 IMHO.

.. who, ironically, used to be one of Wise's partner banks in Thailand, if I recall correctly!

.. of which this is one:

I managed to get my SIM card identity-verified following a trip to my local AIS shop this morning (which proved a much smoother process than I had been fearing). However, one question to which you may have the answer given your comment above is "Will we need to go through this palaver again each time after we've renewed our passports?". After taking a snapshot of my passport page, the AIS staffer then appeared to extract info from it for their system, including, in all likelihood, the passport's expiry date.

Actually Bangkok Bank did message users of its I-Banking service about this requirement back on 3 April - which, I will confess, I only picked up yesterday! EDIT: Sorry about the small size of the attachment, but I don't know how to make it any bigger.

It would appear from the very brief video included with the OP that the government and banks are only planning to go after foreigners with gleeful zeal and gusto on this particular issue. On the other hand, Thai nationals will, presumably, still be cheerfully permitted by the powers-that-be to have their bank accounts linked in complete impunity to SIM cards registered in the name of any Tom, Dick or Harry they might choose.

For which the responsibility lies fairly and squarely with those clueless HMPO clowns in Corby IMHO. But, if perchance, they have, in fact, determined, for their inscrutable reasons, that fictitious police reports of lost and stolen passports (along with certified English translations + completed LSO1 forms) are now to accompany all passport renewal applications submitted from Thailand as a matter of course, then they also need to communicate this fact to those responsible for administering the gov.uk website so that those of us who are about to renew our passports are aware of this particular new requirement up front. Personally I rule nothing out as far as HMPO are concerned when it comes to crass stupidity!

Glad to hear that you finally managed to get your passport renewal woes sorted out. Given the extreme level of clueless idiocy on the part of HMPO's office in Corby with which you have been faced throughout this nightmare process, you may wish to consider lodging a complaint with HMPO about the unacceptably abysmal treatment you have been on the receiving end of, through following this link: https://www.passport.service.gov.uk/help/what-do-you-want-to-do

Here is another current nightmare thread about the complete and utter bloody shambles that is the UK passport renewal process from Thailand: https://aseannow.com/topic/1356355-uk-passport-renewal-email-received-send-us-your-passport-2-weeks-after-applying/ And here is another stating that the processing time for UK passport renewals from Thailand is now 9-11 weeks, despite 4 weeks still being quoted on the gov.uk website: https://aseannow.com/topic/1359941-british-passport-renewal-in-bangkok

Are there any other offices which insist on this IMHO rogue requirement for retirement extensions?

On that basis, cancelling non-OA visas (so as to avoid the mandatory health insurance requirement) can likewise only be done via airport, not land crossings, presumably. In that case how come all the reports on here of non-OA cancellations being achieved through surface border runs?

Yes, they are.

In that case, one thing you may need to bear in mind in connection with Clause 5 of my attachment is that Jomtien require the 800k to be seasoned for 2 months, as for retirement extensions (officially no seasoning is needed for non-O conversions, so this is a local rule which Jomtien have dreamt up). But, seeing as you have stated that you are already compliant for extension of stay purposes, this presumably won't be an issue for you in any event. Or maybe you could go down the monthly income route instead, assuming that your European country's embassy in Bangkok is one of those which still issues income confirmation letters or affidavits?

Strikes me that the best course of action in your case would be to do a border run, exiting on your Caribbean passport and then re-entering visa-exempt on your European one, which you could then convert to a non-O visa at your local immigration office before then resuming annual retirement extensions. How you go about seeking a non-O conversion for retirement is set out in the following link: https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf This is how a number of retirees went about dumping their original non-OA visas for replacement non-O visas in order to avoid the mandatory health insurance requirement, so it is a path reasonably well-trodden in fairly recent times. Incidentally, would I be correct in inferring from your username that your local immigration office is Rayong?