800k or 65k regular income for O visa?

[Smudgy]

My partner and I are both retired and are contemplating moving from the UK to Thailand possibly in around 12 months time and we are heading over at the beginning of next year to do a bit more boots-on-the-ground research.
I've done a lot of reading about visas and would most likely apply for non-immigrant O visas here in the UK ahead of relocating but I have a couple of questions regarding finances.
We both have eSIPP pensions alongside stocks and shares ISAs maintained by an investment company here in the UK. I understand that if we opt for showing a lump sum to satisfy the financial requirements we'd both need to move around £18000 into bank accounts ahead of any visa application this end and then show it as 800,000 baht in Thai accounts ahead of applying for a visa extension at the end of the initial 90 days but does it matter what type of account we opened? Is it possible to put it in savings accounts that accrue interest or does it have to go into current accounts where it would effectively lose value due to inflation?
We've also considered the 65,000 baht per month regular income option to satisfy financial requirements but are unsure how this would work. For our part we could arrange for the GBP equivalent to be deposited regularly into our UK accounts and then transfer to our Thai accounts on the same date each month but how would we prove it as regular income when applying for the visa extension as we would only be able to show probably 2 months of transactions after setting up Thai accounts?
I've assumed that the regular income option would be advantageous in that we could spend the money used to prove our finances rather than having to leave it dormant in a bank account but would appreciate some advice.

[Upnotover]

3 minutes ago, Smudgy said:

Is it possible to put it in savings accounts that accrue interest or does it have to go into current accounts where it would effectively lose value due to inflation?

The interest rates are so low it makes very little difference.  You don't want a "current" account in any case, everybody has a savings account.

[Upnotover]

7 minutes ago, Smudgy said:

We've also considered the 65,000 baht per month regular income option to satisfy financial requirements but are unsure how this would work

You can't do that for the first year/extension.  Maybe the second if that suits.

[Smudgy]

9 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

You can't do that for the first year/extension.  Maybe the second if that suits.

 

Thank you for that. I didn't realise you couldn't do it for the first year.

[DrJack54]

20 minutes ago, Smudgy said:

My partner and I are both retired and are contemplating moving from the UK to Thailand possibly in around 12 months time and we are heading over at the beginning of next year to do a bit more boots-on-the-ground research.

Assume you ain't married.

The income method won't work for first extension.

Nor will joint bank account.

Can you each tie up 800k in a Thai bank account.

Assume currently you do not have Thai bank accounts.

Have you looked at DTV

 

No offense however you seem naive.

How much time have you spent in Thailand previously 

 

[Smudgy]

13 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Assume you ain't married.

The income method won't work for first extension.

Nor will joint bank account.

Can you each tie up 800k in a Thai bank account.

Assume currently you do not have Thai bank accounts.

Have you looked at DTV

 

No not married but would do it if it simplified matters. No Thai accounts as yet but tying up 800k wouldn't be a problem especially if we switched to regular income for the second year.

I only found out about the DTV a few days ago and I'd certainly consider it as a plan B if necessary and I could obtain the necessary documents.

 

I am naive as far as relocating is concerned but I've been to Thailand on several holidays and spent 2 months there earlier this year which is when we starting seriously thinking about living there.

[DrJack54]

5 minutes ago, Smudgy said:

No not married but would do it if it simplified matters.

Assume your partner is Non Thai.

In that case best to do individual Non O applications. 

You could also consider use of agents.

Depends on long term plan 

[OJAS]

3 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

In that case best to do individual Non O applications.

 

Plus separate retirement extensions in due course IMHO if funds aren't an issue for them. Strikes me as potentially less messy than having one piggy-back on to the other as his/her dependant.

 

[Smudgy]

From what I've understood so far there doesn't seem any real advantage to getting visas as a British married couple so I think we'd apply individually and keep our finances separate as well.

[Goethe]

The simplest, "cleanest" way for you to proceed is to deposit 800 000 baht in a Fixed Deposit Account and to leave it there untouched for ever. Then every year when you apply for your extension of stay, you go to your bank and request a letter stating that you have this account and how much is in it, plus a 12-month statement showing that the money was untouched. Many people do this and they sleep well.

[DrJack54]

6 hours ago, OJAS said:

. Strikes me as potentially less messy than having one piggy-back on to the other as his/her dependant

Turns out not married so the piggyback option not on. 

[DrJack54]

3 hours ago, Smudgy said:

From what I've understood so far there doesn't seem any real advantage to getting visas as a British married couple so I think we'd apply individually and keep our finances separate as well.

Best idea to obtain visa + extensions as individuals. 

Obtain the Non O e-Visa in the UK. 

Do not come to Thailand visa, exempt as opening bank accounts would be very difficult.. 

As pointed out you could use income method in the second year. 

You would need to follow the financial requirements for money in bank method in first year and simultaneously deposit 65k each into Thai bank account.

In that way for second extension you can each show 12 monthly transfers. 

That's a LOT of income (too much) 

You may decide just to use money in bank method however that's lot of capital to tie up. 

 

If you ever were to marry and if your income/assets satisfy the requirements you could consider a LTR visa. 

Spouse can stay in Thailand (no financials) if you have that visa. 

[Smudgy]

We'd definitely organise the O visas back here in the UK then get bank accounts opened as soon as possible after arriving in Thailand as I understand it can be problematic.

 

The financial requirements of the LTR would be too high for us but the 800k or regular 65k would be ok. I can see that leaving 800k untouched is the simplest method but obviously we'd need money besides that to live on so if we transferred 65k each every month, even though it may be in excess of what we actually spend, it would at least then give us the option for future renewals and, if not needed for anything, we could transfer the original 800k back to our UK accounts. Having read a bit further into it though I think we'd probably just leave the 800k in the bank.

[DrJack54]

16 minutes ago, Smudgy said:

....but the 800k or regular 65k would be ok. I can see that leaving 800k untouched is the simplest method but obviously we'd need money besides that to live on so if we transferred 65k each every month, even though it may be in excess of what we actually spend

Slightly confused. 

Of course you mean 800k each in bank account in your name only. 

You are obtaining 2 separate Non O + subsequent extensions. 

If one of you could transfer the 65k per month then that person could use income method. 

Both doing income method is bit of overkill. 

We all have own particular life styles but for two people with total of 130k per month is on upper side. 

FWIW: I transfer approx 110k baht per month for the two of us. 

The way you outlined the transfers in your OP is correct. 

I transfer 14th of every month from my Oz online bank app using WISE. 

 

In your situation some would suggest using an agent..

1.6mil for a couple tied up in Thai bank with minimal interest is not nice. 

[Smudgy]

30 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Slightly confused. 

Of course you mean 800k each in bank account in your name only. 

You are obtaining 2 separate Non O + subsequent extensions. 

If one of you could transfer the 65k per month then that person could use income method. 

Both doing income method is bit of overkill. 

We all have own particular life styles but for two people with total of 130k per month is on upper side. 

FWIW: I transfer approx 110k baht per month for the two of us. 

The way you outlined the transfers in your OP is correct. 

I transfer 14th of every month from my Oz online bank app using WISE. 

 

In your situation some would suggest using an agent..

1.6mil for a couple tied up in Thai bank with minimal interest is not nice. 

What I thought was both of us would need to open Thai accounts at the earliest opportunity then transfer 800k into each of them ready for our first renewals but what you suggest is one of us leave 800k untouched in their account whilst the other utilises the 65k income method? 

 

At what point might it be worth using an agent and how do they alleviate the need for keeping money in the bank? 

[Upnotover]

13 minutes ago, Smudgy said:

At what point might it be worth using an agent and how do they alleviate the need for keeping money in the bank?

 

You could do it for the first extension.  You pay the agent, they pay off immigration.  Costs you more than the real cost, 25k(?) against 2k baht each per year, but you can make more than that in interest on the 800k x 2 you didn't have to deposit. 

 

However, personally, if you are not skint I'd do it properly.

[Smudgy]

6 hours ago, Upnotover said:

 

You could do it for the first extension.  You pay the agent, they pay off immigration.  Costs you more than the real cost, 25k(?) against 2k baht each per year, but you can make more than that in interest on the 800k x 2 you didn't have to deposit. 

 

However, personally, if you are not skint I'd do it properly.

At the moment, leaving the equivalent of 1.6m in a decent UK savings account would be worth around 64k so it's an avenue that could be worth exploring if it made the process simpler more than anything