On 6/21/2021 at 11:55 PM, LisuLover said:

No. My UK State Pension starts from October 2022 when I will be 66.  Additionally, from an insurance point of view, I am not a straightforward case, due to the presence of some lung and heart disease that tend to come with long term Rheumatoid Arthritis.

OK, in these circumstances it looks like the visa-exempt/non-O conversion route will probably be the best way forward in your case. In these circumstances, it might be advisable for you to enlist the services of an agent to assist you in taking your non-O conversion forward, as suggested by @DrJack54, given that you do not yet have a bank account in your name in Thailand.

On 6/20/2021 at 11:14 PM, BusyB said:

State pension works out @ THB 34k/month

Not necessarily, UK state pension payments are based on individuals' contributions.

1 minute ago, OJAS said:

, given that you do not yet have a bank account in your name in Thailand.

This all came about regarding agent assisted bank account as I had been advising some folk to enter visa exempt as an option to obtaining non O.

 

Of course this required bank account. 

I had difficulty with opening new account even though I had an extension and existing bank account (another bank) I was finding it difficult to open a new account.

Bangkok Bank required something from my embassy (not sure what as I sorta switched off) they also wanted something from my Oz bank..., ridiculous.

 

I was bit concerned that my advise to enter visa exempt might cause some issue for folk without bank ac.

Mind you with covid extensions available they could buy some time.

 

At that time a TV member posted that while he was in quarantine he used the services of an agent (Siam legal). They were able to organize it and he could virtually go to bank (think it was Bangkok Bank) and open an account. Again from memory it was (to my thinking) cheap and painless.

 

Has anyone used an agent to assist with opening bank account. Your experience would be valuable.

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Not necessarily, UK state pension payments are based on individuals' contributions.

 

Indeed, and I won't be getting the full whack because of that, but the max as far as I can see is GBP 179.6/week.

Whatever ... was just a passing thought ...