DogNo1

A long-shot option would be to continue extending until a border bounce becomes possible.  The time period until that could be done is unknowable.

It is possible that an agent could sort things out for you.

The worst case scenario is a return to your country and re-entering on a Non OA.

Sorry about the bad luck with the timing.  It seems that nobody had a clue when the retirement extension and re-entry permit would be accepted for a return to Thailand.  Unfortunately any change in policy is not planned and announced.  That leaves all of us flying by the seat of our pants.

Sorry about the typo.  The amount should have been 65,000.   I will use the 13-month strategy for my statements - April 2020 through March 2021and a single month statement for April 2021.

Thanks for the comments.   I will give myself a 60 cushion for my return from Japan if I go before May.  I will keep my eye on the reaction to vaccines and treatments to see if I can avoid the 2+2 weeks of quarantine by going later.

I am now thinking of finessing the period for which I would have to buy COVID insurance.  My extension of stay expires on May 13th.  If I were to return to Japan to move out of my house in March and returned to Thailand in mid- to late April,  my COVID insurance would only need to last until May 13th, right?  I would renew my extension in late April or early May and assume that I wouldn’t need to extend my COVID insurance at that time. Does that sound doable?  What could possibly go wrong?

So if you return with a re-entry permit on an extension of stay for retirement, must you purchase COVID insurance to get the COE?

Thanks for the advice.  I will make that argument at my Bangkok Bank branch.

Note:. If you useTransferwise, you must tick the long-stay box.  Otherwise, your transfers may come from another bank in-country and not be coded FTT.  You must have a transfer in each calendar month.  Nothing else is acceptable if you are using the monthly transfer option.  They will not average large transfers into a monthly distribution.

You can deposit 6,500 baht or more any time during each month.  I wire money to my Bangkok Bank account between the 1st and 15th but don’t leave it too late because Fidelity sometimes needs extra step to verify that it’s really me.  I use the direct to BB wire transfer so there is never any trouble getting the correct code in my bank book.  People have sometimes reported trouble with Transferwise transferring the money from a local bank.  Wires from Fidelity are free so I only incur a small BB charge.

Joe, I tried to register online but got this message:

Sorry, your profile information is not complete. Please contact a Bangkok Bank branch for Bualuang iBanking registration. For further assistance, please call Bualuang Phone at 1333 or +66 (0) 2645 5555. (-197)

I'll consult the bank tomorrow.  Thanks.  I expect that the bank branch will want a work permit but maybe there is some other error that can fixed.

Yes, the out of order entry was my fault for opening to the wrong page when I inserted the book in the machine.  The printing of the August transfer directly on top of the July transfer was the machine's fault.

Thanks, Joe for the link.  I'll let you know if I am successful.

I sympathize with your situation since I am a permanent resident of  Japan with a rented house and most of my belongings there.  I would dearly like to be able to dispose of my things, relinquish the house and return to Thailand.  I had planned to do that three years ago and regret that I didn’t.  It seems that I will be stuck in Bangkok for a long time before barrier-free travel becomes acceptable.    I have valuables in my house there but there is nobody whom I can trust to retrieve them for me and have a removal company just dispose of everything else.  As time drags on, if there is no prospect of me being able to make a round trip to Tokyo, I may need to take desperate measures.  I am hopeful now that vaccines and medicines for COVID-19 will be forthcoming next year and will making traveling between countries easier.  

The transfer in my bank book was printed out of order in the updating machine.  I have been spoiled by the ATMs in Japan which automatically turn to the correct page.  Since the machine squeezed in my October transfer at the bottom of the page,  it appeared in the bank book before the May transfer on the following page.  After I had gotten my extension, the same machine at Central Chidlom printed my August transfer directly on top of the July transfer.  When I showed it to a teller, she told me never to use the updating machine.  I now always have a teller update the bank book.

Bangkok Bank always tells me that I must have a work permit to qualify for online banking.  I’ve tried at numerous branches but I’m always refused.

Thanks Joe, for suggesting the fool-proof  method. Getting the one-year statement the month before I apply will give me a record of of the twelve months before the month that I apply and satisfy any doubt that I had a transfer in April of this year.  It is interesting that the twelve-month and one-month statements are accepted while some offices apparently won’t accept two six-month statements.

Perhaps I could do it with a screenshot if Bangkok Bank would grant me online banking.

Trump spoke too soon but the facts are that Republican lawyers are investigating voting “irregularities” in various locations.  We have yet to see whether they constitute voting fraud.

If Joe Biden wins, he will have the right to appoint 4,000 people to various government positions so the government will actually change character. People only seem to be thinking of the distribution side of socialism.  The generous programs are going to be paid for by our increased taxes.  Fortunately, we seem to have held the Senate and picked some additional representatives.

I live here on one-year extensions of stay based on my Non-O visa for retirement received many years ago.  When I extended in  April of this year, I almost didn’t get the extension because the monthly transfers of 70,000 to Bangkok Bank were out of order but the IO relented and agreed to accept the copy of my bank book on which she underlined every transfer with a red pen.  I don’t want to take a chance next year so I am now getting a six-month statement which will span the period of 5 May until today.  In April, I intend to get another six-month statement and a bank letter when I apply for the extension in the middle April.  I will make sure that my April transfer is deposited before I apply.  My question is whether the time span of May 2020 through April 2021 is sufficient.  Since I applied in April of this year for the extension effective 13 May, would my one year statement need to begin in April rather than May?  I don’t know how nitpicky they are.  I think that they verified the April transfer when I applied this year but don’t remember clearly.

I call Fidelity Service Direct every month using Skype.  Never a problem.

There's always mail-in reporting.  I've been doing that for years.  Cost is less than 100.  Sending by registered mail is less than 60 baht and the stamp on the return envelope is only 3 baht.

So far as testing goes, the PCR test is relatively useless without timeliness.  The staffing of testing personnel and rapid movement of the test samples and reporting of the results is vital for the test to be useful.  Rapid testing could have been set up but the CDC and    others fumbled and dragged their feet.  Dr. Birx was one on the task force who consistently called for increased testing.  The others - not so much.

Uh, check your facts.  It was Dr. Tony Fauci and the White House Task Force who originally discouraged the wearing of masks.  It took quite a long period of time before it was acknowledged that wearing a mask could be PROTECTIVE.  For a long time it was claimed by Dr. Fauci and the task force that only infected people needed to wear masks.  Let’s not gloss over the history of how long it took before everyone was advised to wear a mask.

So far as issuing a national mandate, America has states’ rights.  Governors and local authorities have the power to issue mandates, not the President.  The declaration that Trump is responsible for the pandemic and the resultant deaths is just another political lie.

I think that it is no longer possible to transfer money to your local Bangkok Bank account using a USA domestic ACH to the NY branch of Bangkok Bank.  It is only possible if your bank supplies the additional information required for an International ACH.  There was a thread about this last year. You must now use a SWIFT transfer.

Be careful to get a card with no foreign exchange fee and then always pay in Baht.  Otherwise either the dollar exchange rate or foreign exchange fees will cost you a lot.

The thing that matters most to me is whether they will continue to be hospitable to the large number of long-stay retirees, especially those unmarried.  We seem to have a low priority for re-admission to the country at the moment.
I have heard some Thai say that they could do with a much lower number of tourists in the future.