I will be commencing the process for a retirement visa in 2 or 3 months time, having all the necessary items in place including the 800k in a Thai bank I thought I'd apply for it myself despite having a very low patience level with Thai procedures in general. I'm assuming having the 800k makes the process a little bit easier with a few less hoops to jump through?

 

My main question is this, if I enter the country on the 30 day visa exemption can I legally obtain the retirement visa in Thailand or do I have to travel to a consulate or embassy in Laos or somewhere like that? The reason I ask this is that with an education visa you do have to obtain it outside of Thailand.

 

Thanks for any help on this.

I did mine from within Thailand; I had been working in Thailand at the time. As I was, you might be asked to document where the B 800,000 came from. In my case it was money I had earned and saved in Thailand. I provided copies of 5 yrs. of income tax returns.  This was enough to convince them that I could have saved that amount of money.

You can apply for a 90 day non immigrant visa (category O) entry at immigration with a 30 day visa exempt entry. You must have at least 15 days remaining on the entry or the 30 day extension of it.

You need proof you have the 800k baht on the date you apply and proof the funds came from abroad.

Requirements for the visa application is here. https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_80  (click Eng at the top of the page to change it from Thai)

Then during the last 30 days of the 90 day entry you can apply for a one year extension of stay based upon retirement. At that time you will to prove the 800k baht has been in the bank for 2 months on the date you apply. You will need a letter from your bank and copies of you updated bank book,

Yes - you can apply for an O visa based on retirement at an immigration office if you meet the requirements for a subsequent extension of stay.

Cheers guys, much appreciated.