I am American. I applied at NY Consulate for Non Immigration Visa. I had all paper work and backup supporting papers for O-A retirement visa. When I picked up Visa yesterday I had received an O Visa for 1 year multiple entry. Also, in the remarks section it stated:"Extension of stay not permitted". Does this mean I must return to the US in a year and reapply for an O-A again? Is there a problem? Can I get it fixed in Bangkok?

Take a letter from your bank in Thailand evidencing your account having 800,000 baht credit, and your passbook into Immigration and apply for a one year extension. You need a very simple medical certificate in Thailand. No police clearance needed. Quite simple

Thank you Dr. Patpong!

Sorry for being so thick. Do I do this when I arrive in a week or when the year is almost over?

When you land in Thailand, Immigration will place an entry permit stamp into your passport. It will have an expiration date - most likely 90 days after date of issue. Technically, you are supposed to apply for extension only when you are within 30 days of that expiration date.

But - I understand that for retirement-based entry permits, they tend to be very cooperative - provided that you fully qualify. So - you can probably go down at any point.

In my experience, the two situations in which Immigration is the most cooperative (and the only situations where they issue long-term extensions on the spot) are:'

1) Issuing retirement visas to qualifying applicants

2) Issuing automatic one-year extensions to non-immigrant entry permits in "other country" passport, for Thai dual citizens who entered on foreign passport.

Good luck!

Indo-Siam