Don't worry....immigration will write a rule that makes it easy for the immigration officers but harder than hell for the applicant.    Like maybe only accepting Thai insurance documents like how only Thai bank documents are accepted for income proof.   I know some articles said foreign insurance would be accepted but didn't say "what blessing/proof" would be required...that's the Catch 22/Got You/Fine Print part that hasn't been exposed yet. 

From reading the article Ubonjoe provided I come to the conclusion it "will" apply to extensions of stay as the article talks about the O-A Visa, "how it can be renewed annually" which to me means they are talking about annual extensions of stay also  Plus they even talk about update the immigration police orders...and the police orders deal with extensions of stay.
 

...with a validity period of 1 year and can be renewed annually per year. 

 
Unfortunately I agree with you that is how it reads. But there is still ambiguity. I really am at a loss as to why Ubonjoe reads the same text and concludes that in itself is strong enough evidence to be telling the public definitively that it won't involve extensions. I think many people assume that Ubonjoe has access to powerful insider Thai sources. If so he has not stated that as a reason to explain his position on this and I did directly and explicitly ask for evidence.

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3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

 
Unfortunately I agree with you that is how it reads. But there is still ambiguity. I really am at a loss as to why Ubonjoe reads the same text and concludes that in itself is strong enough evidence to be telling the public definitively that it won't involve extensions. I think many people assume that Ubonjoe has access to powerful insider Thai sources. If so he has not stated that as a reason to explain his position on this and I did directly and explicitly ask for evidence.

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Ubonjoe uses common sense.

I would stick with him.

Ubonjoe uses common sense.
I would stick with him.

You don't have any stronger supporting evidence with either.

Again if this is going to only be about long stay visas obtained abroad why is immigration in Thailand involved in addition to the Foreign Ministry?

I've yet to hear a "common sense" answer to that one.

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1 hour ago, fishtank said:

Ubonjoe uses common sense.

I would stick with him.

Do Thai Immigration officers use common sense?

11 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I disagree. 

Explain -- RENEWALS.

The dictionary definitions of renewal are ambiguous and therefore it is preferable to refer to the original Thai text and look for the word that had been translated as renewal. 

6 hours ago, Pib said:

From reading the article Ubonjoe provided I come to the conclusion it "will" apply to extensions of stay as the article talks about the O-A Visa, "how it can be renewed annually" which to me means they are talking about annual extensions of stay also  Plus they even talk about update the immigration police orders...and the police orders deal with extensions of stay.

 

 

I have not doubts the whole thing is going to be applies to long term stayers.  But of course will have to wait and see what gets codified, and then what gets enforced.  How in the world and who is going to review such things and what would or would not be accepted will be another thousand threads

52 minutes ago, Maestro said:

The dictionary definitions of renewal are ambiguous and therefore it is preferable to refer to the original Thai text and look for the word that had been translated as renewal. 

Great. Can someone show the text to a high level Thai translator (not google)? Can someone interview the person that said it in Thai and determine whether that person even understands the complexities of retirement status here? I don't see that we're even close yet to certainty on these matters.

 

By complexity I mean the different things potentially involved --

 

Applications for O-A visas

Entering on active O-A visas to get additional one year stays for the life of the original visas

O visas used as a first step towards the initial retirement extension in Thailand obtained outside of Thailand

O visas used as a first step towards the initial retirement extension in Thailand obtained inside  Thailand

and, of course --

Annual extensions in Thailand based on retirement when the person started with an O visa

Annual extensions in Thailand based on retirement when the person started with an O-A visa

 

Would a health minister understand all of that? Or even most of it? I'm doubtful. 

 

Edited May 19, 20197 yr by Jingthing

15 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

I have not doubts the whole thing is going to be applies to long term stayers.  But of course will have to wait and see what gets codified, and then what gets enforced.  How in the world and who is going to review such things and what would or would not be accepted will be another thousand threads

I have doubts in abundance but what I have no doubt about is that proclaiming CERTAINTY at this point in time that extensions won't be included based on the text provided as evidence does not make any sense. 

I have doubts in abundance but what I have no doubt about is that proclaiming CERTAINTY at this point in time that extensions won't be included based on the text provided as evidence does not make any sense. 

So wait and see what happens!

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10 hours ago, Jingthing said:

 
Unfortunately I agree with you that is how it reads. But there is still ambiguity. I really am at a loss as to why Ubonjoe reads the same text and concludes that in itself is strong enough evidence to be telling the public definitively that it won't involve extensions. I think many people assume that Ubonjoe has access to powerful insider Thai sources. If so he has not stated that as a reason to explain his position on this and I did directly and explicitly ask for evidence.

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Maybe, maybe not. I would expect Visa agents to to also have connections and be able to determine what is fact and what is fiction. I have one friend who was shopping for insurance a few days ago having been told categorically it was needed for his Extension by his agent.

I obtained the Thai text mentioned above and used Google Translate and felt strongly we were ONLY talking about Non-Imm OAs, and the renewal of them simply meant, getting a new one! (IE no grandfathering).

Now nother topic derailed by the discussion of the health insurance requirement for OA long stay visas that is now 

Continue the discussion about in one the many topics about it in the Thailande news forum.