OJAS

So what alternative suggestion do you have, then?

These people might be worthwhile contacting: http://heathrowtravelcare.co.uk/

Whilst you may well be physically able to make such exotic trips at the moment, despite your age, it does not always follow that this will still be the case at some point in the future.

Certainly makes a complete mockery of the claim persistently made by His Majesty's Passport Office back in the UK in the case of British passports that passports are produced according to international standards, I think!

Agree with you both, but it does IMHO underline the excessive cumbersomeness and awkwardness of the procedures to which we Brits are subject at passport renewal time, when compared to other Western nations. From what I can gather from various reports on here over the years, nationals of no other Western country are subject to similarly cumbersome and awkward passport renewal procedures which require the services of an agent (at a not insignificant cost of around 5,000 THB, by the way) in order to make reasonably tolerable.

@GroveHillWanderer - correction with apologies: the actual amount above which a tax return might be required in your case is, in fact, 120,000 THB (which currently converts to around £2,850). See page 23 of 122 in the following link: https://www.pwc.com/th/en/tax/assets/thai-tax/thai-tax-booklet-2023-24.pdf

Assuming that you are not married and that the UK State Pension is your sole source of assessable income, you may need to file a tax return if your SP payments exceed the equivalent of 20,000 THB per annum (around £475 on the basis of current exchange rates).

And they are by no means alone in HMG in that regard. So are HMPO when it comes to renewing passports from Thailand.

IMHO DWP surpass even Thai Immigration these days when it comes to excessive pedantry!

As confirmed on the basis of personal experience by @billd766 in this thread:

Clearly you didn't get as far as 14:02 where ol' Ben uttered the following immortal words, did you? "It does not look like standard retirement visa holders need to concern themselves so much with this". And, of course, in order to propagate your scaremongering on here, you have conveniently chosen not to include any mention of DTV holders being ol' Ben's principal target audience in this video, haven't you?

IMHO it is essential that this letter clarifies specifically (even at the expense of making it a bit - but not too much - longer than might otherwise be desired) why the OP is not accompanying his wife on this occasion, contrary to the information she provided in support of her visa application. In other words, how and why has the plan changed in the meantime?

Ah, another example of the "joys" of mobile banking apps by the look of things! They're really not worth all the hassle, I think.

A Google search of the Asean Now website I've just conducted has revealed a third culprit in the form of NatWest - see @MangoKorat's posts in the thread linked below. But, that apart, just a tsunami of complaints about 1 bank (Barclays).

So what answer did the tax lady give you on this?

IMHO the safest option in your case would be NOT to obtain a new non-O visa in the UK but instead enter on a visa exemption for a few days and then exit Thailand for a month as you say; but then re-enter on another visa exemption which you then convert to a 90-day non-O visa at your local immigration office before resuming annual extensions of stay. The procedures for obtaining a non-O conversion for marriage are set out in the following link: https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/6.FOR-PROVIDING-SUPPORT-TO-OR-BEING-A-DEPENDANT-OF-A-THAI-CITIZEN-SPOUSE-VISA-NON-O.pdf That all said, this is, however, conditional on your having maintained a minimum 400k balance in your Thai bank account during the past 5 months in order to satisfy the financial requirement set out at 7.2, as the British Embassy no longer issue letters confirming that you would meet the alternative 40k minimum monthly income requirement set out at 7.1.

TSB have also been reported on here as indulging in this skullduggery:

Drill down the following link as necessary: https://www.rd.go.th/7452.html

They could certainly block the Mail online, just as they did back in 2014 for reasons relating to the monarchy which are probably inappropriate for further discussion on here.

So maybe "low-cost" Swift transfers are still available from American banks after all. Not from their British counterparts, though, unfortunately. I've always been hit with 3 sets of charges from (1) my UK bank, (2) its Thai agency bank (Kasikorn) and (3) my Thai bank (Bangkok Bank).

And Australia.

But there again you need to factor in the costs (in both financial and time terms) of a long-distance international phone call to your home country bank every time you wish to intiate a Swift transfer if, as in my case, that is the only way of doing this (my home country bank doesn't offer any option for Swift transfers to be intiated online). And, while it should be reasonably straightforward to work out your home country bank's and beneficiary Thai bank's charges for Swift transfers, the not insignificant uncertainties (in my experience) are the charges which the intermediary agency bank in Thailand your home country bank uses for Swift transfers could - and do - also throw in. IMHO there is no such thing as a "very low cost" Swift transfer - let alone a "free" one!

Equally true of HMPO in the case of the ridiculous rules which its top management has set on passport renewals from Thailand IMHO.

Unlikely that they do. If you open the following link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-to-do-after-a-british-person-dies-in-thailand it provides a comprehensive list of what needs to be done following the death of a Brit in LOS, but appears to place the responsibility for ensuring that everything necessary is done (including regarding pensions) squarely on the shoulders of the deceased Brit's next-of-kin.