OJAS

No, it is not. You are required to maintain an 800k bank balance for at least 3 months after the date of your retirement extension application. Thereafter you can reduce it to a minimum of 400k, but only until 2 months before the date of your next annual retirement extension application, by which time the balance should have been increased to 800k again for the next 5 months. Then repeat this cycle ad infinitum.

Went to that cesspit in 1994 for what turned out to be the holiday from hell. Was hassled by the locals every time I set foot outside the hotel perimeter. Not to mention that I also caught the lurgy which laid me low for weeks afterwards.

Sounds more to me like those clueless idiots at the Swiss Embassy are blissfully unaware of the existence of a double taxation treaty between Switzerland and Thailand! https://www.rd.go.th/fileadmin/download/nation/switzerland_e.pdf

Does this mean that you are a Canadian national and/or your pension income is sourced in Canada? If so you might be able to obtain an income letter each year from the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok (at a cost of 50 CAD currently) in lieu of making monthly 65k bank transfers: https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/thailand-thailande/bangkok-info.aspx?lang=eng#NS (see final line under Notarial services heading - might nevertheless be worthwhile checking with the Embassy that this letter is aimed at satisfying Immigration requirements for annual retirement extensions, though).

Yes.

No mention of any need for health insurance in the official list of requirements for non-O conversions for retirement, you'll doubtless be relieved to hear: https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf Just be aware, though, that, if your local office is Jomtien and you plan on using the 800k minimum bank balance method as per item 7, they will require this to be seasoned for at least 2 months as in the case of a regular annual retirement extension. And, if your office is Chiang Mai, they will require your application to be submitted no later than 21 days before your latest permission to stay granted following a border run expires (rather than 15 days as stated in the heading).

So what is your answer to his question, then, eh, Mr Clever Clogs?

The following link sets out the detailed official requirements for seeking a non-O visa conversion for marriage: 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

Savannakhet appear to be alone among Thai embassies and consulates worldwide in issuing MENO's for marriage. Furthermore, they were, until recently, prepared to issue such MENO's without requiring any proof of funds (latest reports on here indicate that they now require evidence of at least 400k deposited in a Thai bank account).

I can only think that the OP obtains multi-entry non-O visas for marriage at Savannakhet and extends each 90-day permission to stay granted within the lifetime of a particular visa by 60 days for the purposes of visiting his wife.

Certainly not difficult when compared to the passport renewal minefield we Brits here in LOS are required to pick our way through every now and then - and for which the use of an agent is IMHO thoroughly justified!

It will certainly be possible for him to be admitted back into his home country on the basis of an expired passport. But whether his chosen airline will allow him to fly there on 1 of their flights in the absence of suitable alternative ID in the form of an emergency travel document could, I think, be another matter altogether.

Only if he doesn't have 20,000 THB on his person in crisp 1,000 THB notes to hand over to them at Departures. He would be at considerably greater risk of detention if he were stopped at a police check-point en route from Surin to BKK, I think.

Or maybe just for those lucky retirees seeking retirement extensions at Roi-Et whose embassies still provide a monthly income confirmation service as an alternative to 800k in the bank? But a bit strange that Roi-Et seem more interested in where transfers end up in Thailand as opposed to their sources in the form of pension statements, etc.

Incidentally, whilst most of us Brits in receipt of the State Pension will probably not have to pay any tax here in Thailand on our perpetually-frozen pensions, this may not be the case for anyone in receipt of the New State Pension who might be contemplating a move to Thailand after next April and their weekly pension rate has increased to £221.20 (before being then frozen in perpetuity): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/proposed-benefit-and-pension-rates-2024-to-2025/proposed-benefit-and-pension-rates-2024-to-2025#state-pension This amounts to £11,502.40 per annum which, in turn, converts to a shade above 500,000 THB on the basis of yesterday's Bank of Thailand GBP/THB exchange rate of 43.5078 (which, I gather, is the one upon which the RD would require conversions from GBP to THB to be calculated): https://www.bot.or.th/en/home.html

So, when the 60k in question is added to the initial 150k tax-free provision, this presumably means that everyone is, in practice, entitled to a personal allowance of 210k?

But presumably most working Thais would, in practice, only be entitled to the initial 150k tax-free allowance? And upon what basis is entitlement to the Personal Care Allowance assessed, please?

So no complete escape from the brazen incompetence and ineptitude of His Majesty's Passport Office even when renewing your passport in the UK, then!

Plus Chiang Mai require applications to be submitted no later than 21 days (officially 15 days) before the current permission to stay granted under a tourist visa or 30-day visa exemption expires.

Click on the following link for all relevant info: 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

OP - sorry if my previous comment sounded a tad harsh. It strikes me from what @proton has said that you might be in a similar situation to the OP of the following recent thread, which could be worth a read (provided you're prepared to spend some time sorting out the wheat from the chaff!): https://aseannow.com/topic/1312545-death-of-spouse-effect-on-my-marriage-visa/ However, if you're unable to rustle up 800k in a bank account for a future retirement extension, would it not be possible for you to prove finances on the basis of 65k monthly income instead? Or, if this is not possible and assuming that you already have 400k safely stashed in a Thai bank account for your marriage extensions, supplement this with monthly transfers of around 35k under the combination method which is available for retirement extensions (12 monthly transfers + 400k in bank must = at least 800k)? While a further marriage extension should still be valid for a full year regardless of what might happen in your wife's case in the meantime (as advised in the linked thread above), you need to start planning NOW for a possible switch to retirement this time next year. Specifically this means initiating appropriate monthly transfers ASAP to provide a run of 12 such transfers by end-2024 - and, equally importantly if you are intending to go down the combination route, discuss your plans with your local immigration office (who might have their own particular "take" on how the combination method operates, regardless of what the official rules might say). If I were in your shoes I would be seeking to accomplish all this myself without having to shell out 20k for the services of an agent - which IMHO only need to be sought for the truly difficult things in life, like renewing your passport from Thailand if you're a Brit!

If this is true, then it is a pity that he chose not to make this clear in his initial post, I think.

A pity that you chose not to be clear about this from the outset, I think.

Strikes me as using a sledgehammer to crack a nut in order to comply with a requirement which VFS appear to have dreamt up entirely off their own bat, though.

Mine certainly does!