Thai retirement funds cannot be touched under any circumstances.

[G_Money]

1 hour ago, mokwit said:

There may yet be a requirement to prove that, though.

Yet is not now.  I’ll cross that bridge whenever I need to.

 

Providing a cop of my USA tax return is easily done if needed showing proof.

 

One thing is certain, I’ll never pay a Thai income tax.

[KannikaP]

3 hours ago, G_Money said:

All I can say is when I send via WISE from the USA I send in USD.  By the time it reaches my Thai bank it’s been converted to Thai baht somewhere along the way.  
 

Not exactly sure but I believe my Thai bank makes the conversion into baht before posting to my account. 

No, Wise does the conversion to THB at their favourable rates. Then they tell the Thai bank to credit your account from another Thai source, but label it as a Foreign transfer if you use Bkk or Kasikorn. 

[KannikaP]

6 hours ago, JimTripper said:

Assuming you get it with no problems. The tellers at the bank I work with are pretty dull. Even doing an in person cash deposit seems confusing. Best thing to do is make a flat deposit and forget it in my opinion. The less interaction the better.

And the bank employees possibly think the same when you go into the branch. 555

[oldcpu]

8 hours ago, Henryford said:

 

Many banks don't show the money as coming from abroad, my Krungsri doesn't (even though i use WISE as well).  Plus you only need to miss one month as being clearly from abroad and you risk losing your visa.

 

Indeed - my view is if one goes for the monthly deposit route, then Bangkok Bank (which 'easily' shows the money from abroad) could be better than Krungsri, as long as one does not mind having to apply for paper work from Bangkok Bank about 1 week prior to going to immigration.  However if one has a fixed deposit with 400k or 800k then IMHO Krungsri is superior to Bangkok Bank, as one can obtain a one-day statement on the same day.

 

Until I switched to the LTR-WP visa, I successfully used a fixed deposit of 800k in Bangkok Bank (and later in Krungsri Bank) with Phuket immigration for my yearly extensions, with no problems.

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

On 2/15/2024 at 5:06 PM, couchpotato said:

Might be ridiculous to you, but for other people they DO NOT have money/property in another country..they live here permanantly and all their transactions and money/property etc is in baht, so different scenarios.

Also many guys fall into the category of working in Thailand, so their situation is also different also.

Yes indeed and some might not get regular payments monthly although over a year income is more than 65k/m but that is not acceptable to IOs.

[thaibreaker]

On 2/17/2024 at 8:17 AM, lopburi3 said:

It was always 2 months prior (but several offices required 3 months - and for marriage it was suggested to keep in account during review process making it 3 months) - there was no requirement for money in account after extension was issued.

That is not true. From 1998 it was 3 months prior on your second extension. That was the official rule. See the link a few posts back.

 

That's the confusion for me, that this has now changed to 2 months prior, regardless of 1st or second extension.

Edited February 21 by thaibreaker

[RoninTech]

On 2/16/2024 at 10:16 AM, Jimi007 said:

The income has to be from a pension. I do believe a Government pension. My income is mainly from my several rental properties. I have been doing retirement visas since 2006 and it was easy to do. Get a letter from my consulate. When the USA, Canada, UK and Australia said they don’t certify anything pretty much, Thailand said we are not going to allow you to use the affidavit from your Embassy/consulate any longer.

 

To any Canadians that read this, Canada did not stop issuing affidavits of income like the US, UK and Australia did a few years ago. After making an appointment, simply show up to your local embassy/consulate with your Revenue Canada proof of income statement downloaded from their website for free.  It can be any income, not just "from a pension".  This info is based on experiences at the Canadian consulate in Chiang Mai and the Chiang Mai immigration office where my Canadian wife and I both apply for annual Non-O extensions based on retirement (me) and trailing spouse (missus).  Since my wife is a trailing spouse, only I have to show statement of income while she shows marriage license, also confirmed by consulate/embassy.  Easy peasy and no need to transfer large sums of money into Thailand that you don't want to.  I'm pretty sure other countries also allow this, but definitely not US, UK and Australia.

[captpkapoor]

On 2/15/2024 at 4:17 PM, worgeordie said:

It's always been that way , just don't fall below 400 K and make sure it;s

back up to 800K   " 800,000 Baht for the remaining five months of the year."

it's not the remaining 5 months ,but 2 after and must be back up to 3 months

before renewal ,or other way round, cannot remember now. 

 

regards worgeordie

Quick question for you, please: 800 k has to be in bank 3 months prior application AND 2 months after, for Non-O application, here, correct? And does it need to be in a FIXED deposit or can it be just a regular savings account?

Thanks in advance!

[captpkapoor]

My annual extension of stay date is 15 March. So last year, I renewed on 3rd Feb (within the 45 days in advance window). However, the mistake I made was that, after renewal, Krungsri told me of a better rate of interest on the fixed deposit, so I changed to that better FD. Ho, ho, ho! This year, at renewal time, the IO was not happy, although after much persuasion her superior agreed and granted me the extension. So don't tamper with the fixed deposit - now Krungsri offered me 2.2% but I can't take up that offer - for 2 months after the renewal has been done. 

[DrJack54]

10 minutes ago, captpkapoor said:

Quick question for you, please: 800 k has to be in bank 3 months prior application AND 2 months after, for Non-O application, here, correct? And does it need to be in a FIXED deposit or can it be just a regular savings account?

Thanks in advance!

You are confused.

For application for non O the funds need to be in bank on day of application 

For annual extension funds need to be in bank for 2 months prior to application and maintained for 3 months after application and not below 400k in other months

[captpkapoor]

On 2/17/2024 at 10:38 AM, roobaa01 said:

Gday

Under current circumstances I would deposit the THB 800 k in a foreign currency fixed deposit account in USD to earn higher interest. Foreign currency accounts  are permissible as long as they are kept at a Thai bank.

 

Wbr

Roobaa01

I did that for my wife for 3 years. But the interest rate on the USD fixed deposit was a pitiful 0.1 %. Didn't make sense.

[captpkapoor]

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

You are confused.

For application for non O the funds need to be in bank on day of application 

Sorry, don't they need to be in the bank 3 months prior to application? I'm asking for a friend who will come in on a 90 day tourist visa, then apply here to change it to Non-O retirement. I had advised him to immediately first transfer 800 k to his existing savings account here. 

Thanks for clarifying.

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, captpkapoor said:

Sorry, don't they need to be in the bank 3 months prior to application?

No. 

Read my post. 

[captpkapoor]

4 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

No. 

Read my post. 

Dr Jack: please see page 4 of this thread, Sophon has posted on 17 Feb, quoting the rules, which say 3 months prior. 

Am a bit confused now as to what advice to give to my friend. 

[DrJoy]

On 2/15/2024 at 4:35 PM, Pattaya57 said:

it's now a paid for fake 800k deposit letter from the bank

Which Thai bank according to you issues a fake deposit confirmation letter ?

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, captpkapoor said:

Dr Jack: please see page 4 of this thread, Sophon has posted on 17 Feb, quoting the rules, which say 3 months prior. 

Am a bit confused now as to what advice to give to my friend. 

Ignore the post you refer to.

So...if applying for non O based on marriage or retirement from a visa exempt or tourist visa entry the funds need to be in bank on day of application. 

 

For subsequent application for 12 month extension then funds need to be in bank for TWO months.

After that it changes. 

If extension based on marriage the funds can be withdrawn after under consideration period. 

If based on retirement the 800k needs to remain for 3 months AFTER extension application. 

After that can be as low as 400k and back up to 800k TWO months prior to next extension. 

 

[captpkapoor]

3 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Ignore the post you refer to.

So...if applying for non O based on marriage or retirement from a visa exempt or tourist visa entry the funds need to be in bank on day of application. 

 

For subsequent application for 12 month extension then funds need to be in bank for TWO months.

After that it changes. 

If extension based on marriage the funds can be withdrawn after under consideration period. 

If based on retirement the 800k needs to remain for 3 months AFTER extension application. 

After that can be as low as 400k and back up to 800k TWO months prior to next extension. 

 

Right. Cheers! God bless.

[DrJack54]

24 minutes ago, DrJoy said:

Which Thai bank according to you issues a fake deposit confirmation letter ?

He is referring to extension using agent where the 800k in out is arranged by agent.

In Pattaya the agents use BBL