16 hours ago, Dezmo said:

Curious, do you know if the $100k be the sum across different accounts, like savings, checking, CD (and across banks)?

I also have ~$20k in Bangkok Bank and wonder if I can include that if they allow across accounts to sum to $100k.

 

How did you meet the "passive income" requirement?

 

Can money in cash, spread across multiple accounts meet the requirement? 

 

I don't know. 

 

That is a good question to ask BoI.   Is there are particular reason why in that case you could not restructure and move all the necessary funds to one account?  Perhaps worried re: bank insuring the money?

 

I do believe thou, that $100K US$ equivalent, needs to be maintained the entire 5 years and needs to be immediately topped up if it falls below the $100k US$ equivalent - but that is my speculation.  It is worth contacting BoI. 

 

Speaking of which, I have the $100K US$ equivalent (in Euros) in a Thai bank foreign currency account that I use for the BoI self health insurance requirement. My wife discovered SCB bank, for foreign currency account in Euros, gives 3.25% interest, which is not much, but its better than next to 0% that I get with the Thai bank where my money is located.  So my wife wants me to contact BoI sometime this week, and ask if i can move this $100k US$ equivalent from one Thai bank to another, without causing any issues if (?) and when (?) it comes time to renew my LTR (in just under 3 years time) - showing a maintained the $100K US$ equivalent the entire previous 5 years. Is that even a requirement?  I don't know.  Keeping $100k US$ equivalent in a bank is no hardship for me - but I am 100% positive some would bristle and go ballistic at that suggestion.

 

Using $100k equivalent money in cash in a Thai bank for the self-health insurance had NOT been my plan. 

 

Back in early 2023 when I obtained my LTR I had planned to spend that money (in Thailand) - as i had a plan to change it to Thai baht. 

 

But BoI would not accept different cash amounts that I had in some offshore trading accounts, and that $100k US$ equivalent in the Thai bank, met the BoI health insurance requirements - so I offered that up when other examples I tried  failed.

 

I confess I have been deliberately trying to avoid making money off of ANY Thai banks from bank interest on savings, as I wanted to keep my Thai sourced income below the threshold requiring me to file a Thai tax return. 

 

However I recently confirmed in my mind (via specific references/proof from my own research into Thai tax law) what others have stated on this forum, that if one has 15% withholding tax applied to interest in a Thai bank, then that interest is deemed already taxed and need not be included in the Thai tax calculation. This is off topic, but I may if this becomes a point of curiousity for some, some time in the future I may share my detailed research, where I can now point to the specific clauses in the Thai tax law that I believes show such interest from Thai banks (IF a 15% Thai withholding tax was applied) is no longer taxable by Thailand, if one so chooses.

 

Reference passive income requirement, at that time, I obtained my income from :

- Canadian Old Age Security + European Government organisation (civil service type) pension

 

I also obtain a small German pension, but records for that is in German language, so when BoI asked for detail on that, I replied that German pension amount was not needed for me to achieve the $40K US$ /year passive annual income and BOI  accepted that response.  I noted this as I did not want to pay an official translator to translate my German pension records from German language to English or Thai language. Why translate such documents if it is not needed?

 

Having stated the above, BoI still insisted I provide Canadian Tax records for tax years 2021 and 2022.  I initially gave them year 2020 and 2021, but that was too old from them, they wanted to see my year 2022 tax records.  This was in January year 2023, and it took me a few months to obtain that, as I had to submit my year-2022 tax return to Canada, get Canada to accept such, get Canada to report on the Canadian government year-2022 tax assessment paperwork of my global income, which also proved income > $40k US$ equivalent.

 

BoI did throw in another curve, and asked for my specific Canadian government Pension financial record (as my being age-69, they assumed I was in receipt of such a pension).  I had to reply to them, that I did not yet get such a pension as I deferred receipt of that pension to age-70 and that i did not need that proof since I already exceeded the $40k US$ income threshold with my Canadian old age security + my European gov't pension.

 

For the $250K US investment in Thailand, I used the 50% of my share in a Thai condo + 2-million THB in Thai government bonds. Getting the Thai government bonds was another educational adventure - but I won't repeat that story here.

 

For my financial proof renewal in 2028, I plan to simplify things. 

 

Starting in 2026 my annual income will exceed $80k US$ equivalent, so I will then have year 2026 and year 2027 Canadian tax records in year 2028 to show BoI (and hence I will no longer need to show the $250k US$ equivalent investment in Thailand which means I no longer need to keep $2-million THB in Thai government bonds - which only give me ~3% interest).  And I also have learned (from another Asean Now member) the exact letter wording I should get from European Cigna (from where my health insurance comes from) so that in 2028 I no longer need to keep $100K US$ equivalent in a Thai bank as self health insurance, to satisfy BoI.

 

This may sound like a lot of paperwork/interactions, but trust me, from my perspective, since most of the paper work was submitted over the internet, with me on my condo balcony with a fabulous sea view, sipping a glass of wine, and typing on my laptop computer, was GREATLY preferable to the previous yearly sitting for hours at a crowded immigration office to renew the permission to stay in a Type-OA (and later Type-O) non-immigrant visa.

 

Best wishes in your efforts.

9 hours ago, Dezmo said:

Thanks.... i looked at the Document PDF linked there... and seems I may have to wait a year... until i meet the $80K threshold (IRA withdrawal)....you can have 40-80 but then need to invest in Thailand and I don't want Bonds or other investments there 😞

Since it's an IRA where you can probably control the distributions (to include stopping them and how much each year) I expect you would need to show 12 months of distributions. 

 

But if it was certain types of "pension" like say a government pension which started because you reached a certain age, retired and immediately started drawing the pension, etc., and that pension is basically  going to continue to flow come heck or high water until you die then I don't think BOI would require 12 months of pensions distribution.   BOI would probably accept just a few months of "actual" pension distributions (if 12 times each monthly pension distribution meets the wealthy pension income requirement) along with some documentation confirming it's a lifetime pension or at least 10 years worth.   Like say a military retirement pension, social security pension, etc., that typically last until death-do-you-part (i.e., you and the pension). 

 

I'm sure BOI wants to issue as many LTR visas as possible and on a case-by-case basis with adequate income proof they would approve the LTR visa.  And it does not need to be a Jan-Dec window of income...it could say be July-June 12 month period in those cases where you happened to meet the income requirements due to new income flow starting in July.  Tax returns are not always a requirement or the deciding factor nor the sole source of acceptable income proof if you can provide other documentation proving the income to include when it started.   Like say you just started a military or social security retirement pension....the paying govt agencies provide a benefits letter that is acceptable proof.   Yea, BOI does offer flexibility on a case-by-case basis since income sources can vary greatly from applicant to applicant. 

 

Good luck when you do apply.  Cheers.

 

 

Thanks.... I may have to wait another year on fulll retirement so they see Social Security and other IRA wirthdrawals.    The former are scheduled monthly by the USA Feds but the latter I can control...and not need be monthly but suspect at end of year ALL has to exceed the $80k so to avoid investment in Thai bonds, etc. :)

On 7/19/2025 at 10:37 PM, Dezmo said:

 

I am looking into the LTR from the USA... I seem to meet all the requirements though need clarification on "passive income" (unsure if just a IRA statment would suffice or need to show withdrawals), 

 

 

On this topic, I vaguely recall even reading of those who had a lot of cash/investments, but with minimal 'passive income' so what they did was setup 'passive income' by some financial restructuring (where granted that restructuring cost them some money).

 

In particular I have a vague recollection of someone who setup a registered company (where he was the only employee and the only manager). Part of the requirements for the company is to have an annual meeting with minutes. So he immediately held a meeting, where he was the sole attendee and he was the company CEO, the meeting chairperson, and also the meeting/company secretary.   In the meeting the attendees (only himself) approved to grant him a monthly dividend income, which on a yearly basis exceeded the $80K/year.   The dividends were deposited into his bank account, and he eventually had more than a year record of monthly dividend deposits into his account.  The meeting minutes are officially registered where he opened his company.  This purportedly was adequate proof for BoI.  Although if it were me, i would check with BoI before adopting such an approach.

 

What I do not understand in that approach, is how he avoided paying income tax on this dividend in the source country (where his company was registered). 

 

IMHO its far better if you can use your IRA if it is adequate.  Perhaps you can have consistent monthly withdrawals that you can show as proof? Maybe also a USA (?) income tax return showing Global Income.

 

I recently transferred my Canadian Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRIF - which is in some ways similar in someways, but not all, to a USA IRA) to a Canadian Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF - which is also in some ways, but not all, similar to a USA IRA).  The Canadian RRIF has a requirement to withdraw a certain % of money every year from the RRIF .  I believe that meets the BoI passive income requirements.   Since Canadian's have to pay Canadian tax on their RRIF obligatory withdrawals, the money withdrawn shows up as part of one's global income on a Canadian's tax return, where BoI place a lot of emphasis on the tax return

.

During the application phase are you able to message them to explain the documents and/or ask questions?  or is everything just uploaded in a PDF?

 

I wanted to explain my Tax form and various bank accounts and wonderif they meet the requirements before I buy insurance.

 

1 hour ago, Dezmo said:

I wanted to explain my Tax form and various bank accounts and wonderif they meet the requirements before I buy insurance.

You can skip the insurance part.  They give you an opportunity to upload the insurance as part of the end steps after you receive provisional approval.

43 minutes ago, BrandonJT said:

 

You can skip the insurance part.  They give you an opportunity to upload the insurance as part of the end steps after you receive provisional approval.

I've just been recently approved for LTR visa, and  i can confirm they asked for the health certificate just a few days after my initial application. I was surprised, as i thought i would have to buy the insurance only after being endorsed.
Not wanting to compromise my application i bought one online straight away (about 400€), hoping that it won't be for nothing…
Maybe the screener saw that the documents i had already sent would make me easily eligible, and asking the insurance that soon would make things faster (took 3 weeks) ? Who knows.

40 minutes ago, frankstraube said:

I've just been recently approved for LTR visa, and  i can confirm they asked for the health certificate just a few days after my initial application. I was surprised, as i thought i would have to buy the insurance only after being endorsed.
Not wanting to compromise my application i bought one online straight away (about 400€), hoping that it won't be for nothing…
Maybe the screener saw that the documents i had already sent would make me easily eligible, and asking the insurance that soon would make things faster (took 3 weeks) ? Who knows.

For the initial application did you supply the income and savings documents first, and do you know if they were approved before they asked for insurance?

 

Thx 

1 hour ago, frankstraube said:

I've just been recently approved for LTR visa, and  i can confirm they asked for the health certificate just a few days after my initial application. I was surprised, as i thought i would have to buy the insurance only after being endorsed.
Not wanting to compromise my application i bought one online straight away (about 400€), hoping that it won't be for nothing…
Maybe the screener saw that the documents i had already sent would make me easily eligible, and asking the insurance that soon would make things faster (took 3 weeks) ? Who knows.

 

Another question... when did you make the insurance Start date?

I assume you can make it for a few months out since it may take you that long to get the Visa.

I sent them everything in the initial application : proof of passive income, bank statements, tax returns 2023 and 2024. Every file had a front page explaining what was in the file, i made everything as simple as possible.
I don't think it could have been approved after only two days. But as everything was there and simple to understand, the screener may have thought i would be approved and asked for health insurance to have a complete application package to give to his manager.
The insurance start date was the day i sent it, as i did not know the processing time.

40 minutes ago, frankstraube said:

I sent them everything in the initial application : proof of passive income, bank statements, tax returns 2023 and 2024. Every file had a front page explaining what was in the file, i made everything as simple as possible.
I don't think it could have been approved after only two days. But as everything was there and simple to understand, the screener may have thought i would be approved and asked for health insurance to have a complete application package to give to his manager.
The insurance start date was the day i sent it, as i did not know the processing time.

Ah so it was sent up a level to a manager for final approval....

But guess if they asked for insurance maybe they did think the other docs were ok.. and hopefully they competent enough that the manager would just be a rubber stamp 🙂

I may try... cannot hurt.  The new PDF requirements only mention last years Tax form...

 

I may not schedule a flight to Italy for at least a few months so may start insurance then and guess could explain that in the cover letter too.

9 hours ago, oldcpu said:

 

On this topic, I vaguely recall even reading of those who had a lot of cash/investments, but with minimal 'passive income' so what they did was setup 'passive income' by some financial restructuring (where granted that restructuring cost them some money).

 

In particular I have a vague recollection of someone who setup a registered company (where he was the only employee and the only manager). Part of the requirements for the company is to have an annual meeting with minutes. So he immediately held a meeting, where he was the sole attendee and he was the company CEO, the meeting chairperson, and also the meeting/company secretary.   In the meeting the attendees (only himself) approved to grant him a monthly dividend income, which on a yearly basis exceeded the $80K/year.   The dividends were deposited into his bank account, and he eventually had more than a year record of monthly dividend deposits into his account.  The meeting minutes are officially registered where he opened his company.  This purportedly was adequate proof for BoI.  Although if it were me, i would check with BoI before adopting such an approach.

 

What I do not understand in that approach, is how he avoided paying income tax on this dividend in the source country (where his company was registered). 

 

IMHO its far better if you can use your IRA if it is adequate.  Perhaps you can have consistent monthly withdrawals that you can show as proof? Maybe also a USA (?) income tax return showing Global Income.

 

I recently transferred my Canadian Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRIF - which is in some ways similar in someways, but not all, to a USA IRA) to a Canadian Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF - which is also in some ways, but not all, similar to a USA IRA).  The Canadian RRIF has a requirement to withdraw a certain % of money every year from the RRIF .  I believe that meets the BoI passive income requirements.   Since Canadian's have to pay Canadian tax on their RRIF obligatory withdrawals, the money withdrawn shows up as part of one's global income on a Canadian's tax return, where BoI place a lot of emphasis on the tax return

.

Set it up in Labuan - Malaysia.  You have to go there once a year for the meeting which for me is a bit of fun.  Structure it right - no income tax but you have to spend about 20,000 Ringgit in Labuan to keep the status.

7 hours ago, Dezmo said:

During the application phase are you able to message them to explain the documents and/or ask questions?  or is everything just uploaded in a PDF?

 

I wanted to explain my Tax form and various bank accounts and wonderif they meet the requirements before I buy insurance.

You can message BOI at anytime about any question you have about applying for an LTR visa or during the actual LTR submission/review process.   However, I don't recommend you try to start explaining certain income issues "after" you have submitted your application unless BOI asks you by message.....you should have asked those questions before applying.   BOI typically responds to questions withing a business day or two.

 

If you want to explain certain docs/issues in your LTR application, what you do instead is include a short memo(s) explaining things you want to clarify/explain.   When I submitted my LTR application in late 2022 I included a memo and an income summary chart of all income primarily because of one non-reportable for tax purposes income source which I wanted to ensure BOI understood when bucking that against my tax return.  I also included a doc proving the non-reportable for tax purposes income.

 

An example might be along the lines of you receive some benefit payment/income that is totally or partially tax free in your country and not reported anywhere on your tax return since it's not required to be reported or maybe the benefit payment agency does not even issue a tax doc since by law it's tax free.  However, you know that unless BOI sees that income which might put your over the 80K USD equivalent income but your gross income on your tax return falls below 80K then BOI might not approve your LTR application because of falling short of the 80K income requirement.  But including a memo explaining certain income that does not appear on your tax return for reason XYZ and also providing a separate doc proving the tax free income like a benefit payment doc from the benefit paying agency.   

 

BOI understands some income may not appear on a tax return for a lawful reason in your home country but you just need to explain that lawful reason.   Such a reason in the U.S. would be certain Veteran's Administration (VA) benefit payments which are tax free, no annual tax docs like a 1099 tax form is provided (i.e., non-reportable for tax purposes), and that income is not reported on your tax return.....a memo explaining this along with some proof of this non-taxable/non-reportable income along with a doc proving the income would clarify the issue with BOI.   

 

Any memo(s) you provide should be included in the appropriate LTR upload area....probably best to make that memo the first doc you upload in a certain area....kinda like the first page of a chapter in a book.  A memo explaining certain issues is a good thing for BOI and the applicant...and could definitely help in BOI not rejecting your application or asking for unnecessary additional documentation which also delays your application processing.

 

And I'm sure a  memo that is determined to be "BS", disingenuous, deceitful,  etc., will result in BOI putting a bright spotlight on your application for very thorough examination and strict document requirements.....will not be any possible flexibility offered in your application.   Preaching to the choir....keep any explanation memo totally honest.   LTR application screeners know very well applicants from certain countries have some unique tax/income laws and they will probably already be aware of many such tax/income laws that exist in certain countries.  And I'm sure LTR screeners have seen a fair amount of "BS" applications where applicants are just throwing their application against the wall to see if it sticks or not---I'm sure very, very few if any have stuck.

 

17 minutes ago, Pib said:

You can message BOI at anytime about any question you have about applying for an LTR visa or during the actual LTR submission/review process.   However, I don't recommend you try to start explaining certain income issues "after" you have submitted your application unless BOI asks you by message.....you should have asked those questions before applying.   BOI typically responds to questions withing a business day or two.

 

If you want to explain certain docs/issues in your LTR application, what you do instead is include a short memo(s) explaining things you want to clarify/explain.   When I submitted my LTR application in late 2022 I included a memo and an income summary chart of all income primarily because of one non-reportable for tax purposes income source which I wanted to ensure BOI understood when bucking that against my tax return.  I also included a doc proving the non-reportable for tax purposes income.

 

An example might be along the lines of you receive some benefit payment/income that is totally or partially tax free in your country and not reported anywhere on your tax return since it's not required to be reported or maybe the benefit payment agency does not even issue a tax doc since by law it's tax free.  However, you know that unless BOI sees that income which might put your over the 80K USD equivalent income but your gross income on your tax return falls below 80K then BOI might not approve your LTR application because of falling short of the 80K income requirement.  But including a memo explaining certain income that does not appear on your tax return for reason XYZ and also providing a separate doc proving the tax free income like a benefit payment doc from the benefit paying agency.   

 

BOI understands some income may not appear on a tax return for a lawful reason in your home country but you just need to explain that lawful reason.   Such a reason in the U.S. would be certain Veteran's Administration (VA) benefit payments which are tax free, no annual tax docs like a 1099 tax form is provided (i.e., non-reportable for tax purposes), and that income is not reported on your tax return.....a memo explaining this along with some proof of this non-taxable/non-reportable income along with a doc proving the income would clarify the issue with BOI.   

 

Any memo(s) you provide should be included in the appropriate LTR upload area....probably best to make that memo the first doc you upload in a certain area....kinda like the first page of a chapter in a book.  A memo explaining certain issues is a good thing for BOI and the applicant...and could definitely help in BOI not rejecting your application or asking for unnecessary additional documentation which also delays your application processing.

 

And I'm sure a  memo that is determined to be "BS", disingenuous, deceitful,  etc., will result in BOI putting a bright spotlight on your application for very thorough examination and strict document requirements.....will not be any possible flexibility offered in your application.   Preaching to the choir....keep any explanation memo totally honest.   LTR application screeners know very well applicants from certain countries have some unique tax/income laws and they will probably already be aware of many such tax/income laws that exist in certain countries.  And I'm sure LTR screeners have seen a fair amount of "BS" applications where applicants are just throwing their application against the wall to see if it sticks or not---I'm sure very, very few if any have stuck.

 

Thanks... all good advice..

Concur about income not reports on Tax forms.. such as a Roth IRA here in the USA 🙂

I`m at least a couple of years away from applying , but just wondering about the insurance part . Presumably I would pay for 1 years insurance cover in advance to meet the requirements of the LTR . Is there any requirement to keep the policy going for the full 5 / 10 years ? What`s to stop someone cancelling the policy after the 1st year ?

56 minutes ago, persimmon said:

I`m at least a couple of years away from applying , but just wondering about the insurance part . Presumably I would pay for 1 years insurance cover in advance to meet the requirements of the LTR . Is there any requirement to keep the policy going for the full 5 / 10 years ? What`s to stop someone cancelling the policy after the 1st year ?

You must maintain insurance the entire length of the LTR visa.  The BOI web site states all requirements must be maintained during the length of the visa.  Failure to do so will result in termination of the visa.  

 

Nothing stops you from canceling the insurance once the visa is issued, however, if BOI Immigration finds out you can kiss your LTR visa goodbye.  Does BOI immigration ever check?...not that I've heard of.  Will BOI immigration check for the 5 year renewal?....no one knows as the first 5 year renewals will not occur until late 2027 when the people who got the first LTR visas in late 2022 need to apply for their 5 year renewal.

 

 

1 hour ago, persimmon said:

I`m at least a couple of years away from applying , but just wondering about the insurance part . Presumably I would pay for 1 years insurance cover in advance to meet the requirements of the LTR . Is there any requirement to keep the policy going for the full 5 / 10 years ? What`s to stop someone cancelling the policy after the 1st year ?

I wonder this also...  but would not cancel anyway as I would want it 🙂

But i would not want it to start at the time of application as I would not travel to Thailand for a few months later (assume this process takes 1-2 months and then I have 60 days window to arrive)...

 

Assume 1 year insurance is fine to prove but not sure...

 

https://ltr.boi.go.th/#type

 

 

 

 

 

 

And if failing to maintain LTR visa requirements (i.e., like for not maintaining insurance, etc) and this sin is too much for you to bear (i.e., sleepless nights worrying about it  😀) the BOI LTR website even has the form to complete to cancel the visa....partial snapshot below.

 

https://ltr.boi.go.th/page/cancellation.html

 

 

View/download the latest BOI LTR brochure which includes the latest updates like dropping the 80K USD requirement for Wealthy Global Citizen Category, etc.  Nice 2 page  brochure.   

 

https://ltr.boi.go.th/page/publication.html

Maybe buying the insurance would be cheaper than maintaining $ 100 k ( or equivalent ) as cash - if invested , that amount could generate a 6 % return ( $ 6 K ) , as opposed to cash which might only be ~ 3 % vs.so a $ 3 K difference. The insurance  might be a fair bit less than that .

3 minutes ago, persimmon said:

Maybe buying the insurance would be cheaper than maintaining $ 100 k ( or equivalent ) as cash - if invested , that amount could generate a 6 % return ( $ 6 K ) , as opposed to cash which might only be ~ 3 % vs.so a $ 3 K difference. The insurance  might be a fair bit less than that .

Good point.... 🙂

1 hour ago, persimmon said:

Maybe buying the insurance would be cheaper than maintaining $ 100 k ( or equivalent ) as cash - if invested , that amount could generate a 6 % return ( $ 6 K ) , as opposed to cash which might only be ~ 3 % vs.so a $ 3 K difference. The insurance  might be a fair bit less than that .

 

6% is good, but I suspect many might only be looking at 5% or less in terms of what they can get for interest.

 

What sort of health insurance can one get for $6k/year?

 

Even with higher global interest rates, relying on that interest to pay for health insurance may not be reliable strategy for some applicants - dependent on their age.

 

While some countries offer exceptionally high interest rates, they are often tied to volatile currencies or require deposits in foreign banks, which may be difficult for a non-resident to open and keep open given some banks do not like non-residents having an account with their banks.

 

For stable currencies like the USD, a high-yield savings account or fixed-term deposit in a reputable international bank might offer a rate of around 4-5%.. At a 5% rate, a $100,000 deposit would generate $5,000 in interest per year. This amount could cover a basic health insurance policy for a younger, healthy individual. However, for older applicants, or those with pre-existing conditions, premiums can easily exceed this amount, rendering the interest insufficient.

 

So I recommend caution and some good research here to the OP.

 

Best wishes in what ever approach the OP chooses.

Another question. ....my understanding is that if I do this process online from the USA, once final approval, I will get some sort of document I can print to show immigration in arrival to Thailand..

 

Let's say during this process (or latter part) I am in Thailand on a tourist exempt... Does that matter?

 

Would i then just leave Thailand for a moment before my 60 days are up, then enter and show the LTR document?

(Pretty sure I recall I need to use it within 60 days .)

 

I ask because I might make flight arrangements to Thailand before I get (if) final approval....(And understand I might need an exit flight to show on arrival..)..

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

9 hours ago, oldcpu said:

What sort of health insurance can one get for $6k/year?

One can keep an international insurance for good coverage and buy an extra Thai insurance with high deductible (that should be cheap even for old chaps and at least lower than proceeds earned from investing $100K. AXA, Pacific Cross, Luma offer specific plans) only to fulfill the LTR $50K coverage requirement.

 

Actually, a person from the US is most likely "not" currently going to be able to get a 6% bank rate like on CDs.  Currently the highest CD rate is around 4.6% and that's only at select financial institutions (see snapshot at bottom).    Most institutions are probably going to be paying around 4% for longer term CDs....and those rates are slowly going down as the Fed slowly reduces rates.     I guess if a person wants to attempt to open new accounts with those select financial institutions paying the highest CD rate of the day then more power to them.

 

Let's say 4% is more real world for most CDs at most USA banks aright now.  4% would earn you $4000/year before taxes....but let's say more like $3,400 after taxes (or approx Bt112,000) after taxes.  While Bt112K can surely pay the annual premium for many Thai insurance policies (full of pre-existing exclusions and a big annual deduction) if the person is say under 65, but after 65 the premiums start sky rocketing for a policy with a high annual deductible...and at 75 these skyrocket even faster or you may not be able to even get a Thai insurance policy after 75 unless you already had coverage with the insurance company before reaching 75.   

 

It's gets to the point that the Thai insurance policy can make a person feel like they are just pouring money down the drain with little chance of partial reimbursement unless it's for some major/big money medical issues like cancer, heart attach, stroke, etc., which will also have some maximum amount (that ain't that high) they will reimburse.  And then you might decide to go back to the home country for medical care where your government universal insurance, Medicare, etc. will provide coverage since the home country govt insurance does not provide coverage when outside your home country.   A person definitely needs to consider their age and Thai insurance premiums by age bracket,  pre-existing exclusions, max reimbursable per year or by medical event, etc....etc.   Health insurance costs vary greatly based on a person age and any pre-existing conditions.   Heck, some of these considerations even apply to home country insurance coverage.....each country has different insurance laws, norms of coverage, etc. 

 

OK, then don't use a CD...instead invest the $100K in the stock market, stocks, mutual funds, etc., and hope the stock market is always in a up cycle and you always pick good stocks.  But realworld the stock market goes up and down in cycles.   But now you can't use a stock investment type account to meet the BOI $100K self-insure requirement although some people were able to do so in the early days of the LTR visa program.   

 

And jumping back to the CD approach BOI may not accept that if they feel the particular CD can not very quickly be withdrawn to pay a  medical bill and/or the CD account is not paying the interest frequently like monthly/quarterly which can be a indicator if the CD can be withdrawn quickly....seems it may really be more like a stock investment account.  BOI want to ensure CD funds can "quickly" be withdrawn so choose CDs carefully when that CD acct is being used to meet the self-insure requirement.   So be sure you choose a CD acct that does show regular interest payments...the periodic statement looks very similar to a regular checking/savings account.   The reason I know this is from back and forth correspondence regarding this about a year ago when I started asking from a curiosity standpoint.

 

Yeap, meeting the medical insurance requirement either by using a Thai or home country insurance policy or self-insuring will be seen differently from individual to individual....and age is a BIG factor.

 

 

Best CD rate in USA as of July 2025

 

8 hours ago, Dezmo said:

Another question. ....my understanding is that if I do this process online from the USA, once final approval, I will get some sort of document I can print to show immigration in arrival to Thailand..

 

Let's say during this process (or latter part) I am in Thailand on a tourist exempt... Does that matter?

 

Would i then just leave Thailand for a moment before my 60 days are up, then enter and show the LTR document?

(Pretty sure I recall I need to use it within 60 days .)

 

I ask because I might make flight arrangements to Thailand before I get (if) final approval....(And understand I might need an exit flight to show on arrival..)..

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

The 60 days is the period, after you get Boi approval, to ask for the visa online from your embassy, or in BBK if you are in Thailand. Once you get it online there is no obligation to enter Thailand before 60 days. 

13 hours ago, Dezmo said:

Another question. ....my understanding is that if I do this process online from the USA, once final approval, I will get some sort of document I can print to show immigration in arrival to Thailand..

 

Let's say during this process (or latter part) I am in Thailand on a tourist exempt... Does that matter?

 

Would i then just leave Thailand for a moment before my 60 days are up, then enter and show the LTR document?

(Pretty sure I recall I need to use it within 60 days .)

 

I ask because I might make flight arrangements to Thailand before I get (if) final approval....(And understand I might need an exit flight to show on arrival..)..

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

When you finish the process, you get an "endorsement letter" which is your approval for LTR.

 

They then ask you, do you want to apply for an embassy, or do you want to pickup your LTR in Bangkok?  You can decide what to do, and that's the only thing that matters.  You either apply for the LTR from an embassy, and the visa the embassy sends you is your visa for 10 years.  Or you make an appointment with them and go to their office in Bangkok, and you get the visa in your passport that's good for 10 years.

42 minutes ago, BrandonJT said:

When you finish the process, you get an "endorsement letter" which is your approval for LTR.

 

They then ask you, do you want to apply for an embassy, or do you want to pickup your LTR in Bangkok?  You can decide what to do, and that's the only thing that matters.  You either apply for the LTR from an embassy, and the visa the embassy sends you is your visa for 10 years.  Or you make an appointment with them and go to their office in Bangkok, and you get the visa in your passport that's good for 10 years.

Thanks... so I may try to start process with BOI soon to see if I meet requirements.

I assume that if I do not, it is ok for me to start the process (online) to get the 90 day Non O visa so then later when I get to Thailand I can get the 1 year extension (and maybe try the LTR later)..???

18 minutes ago, Dezmo said:

Thanks... so I may try to start process with BOI soon to see if I meet requirements.

I assume that if I do not, it is ok for me to start the process (online) to get the 90 day Non O visa so then later when I get to Thailand I can get the 1 year extension (and maybe try the LTR later)..???

Yes

26 minutes ago, Dezmo said:

Thanks... so I may try to start process with BOI soon to see if I meet requirements.

I assume that if I do not, it is ok for me to start the process (online) to get the 90 day Non O visa so then later when I get to Thailand I can get the 1 year extension (and maybe try the LTR later)..???

Yeap....you could get a Non-O visa today and if you had applied earlier for an LTR visa and the LTR visa was endorsed (approved) tomorrow you could then get the LTR visa issued while getting the Non-O visa cancelled at the same time.  Well, actually the Non-O would be cancelled a few seconds before the LTR visa is issued.  Immigration can see in their computers (and from your passport) if you have another active visa that needs to be cancelled in order to issued the LTR visa.  At BOI immigration they can cancel your current visa and then a minute later issue the LTR visa.....it's like a combo transaction.  That's how it happened for me when I was on a 1 year Non-OA Marriage Extension of Stay....that Marriage Extension of Stay (which was only about 2 months old) was cancelled by BOI immigration and a few minutes later the LTR visa was issued and stamped into my passport.