Hello! This is my first post here. My name is Holly - I live in Chiang Mai with my 2 1/2 year old son. I've been in thailand on and off since i was 16 (and first an exchange student here). I plan to live here as long as I can. My son and I are from the USA and we have multiple entry non-immigrant "O" visas. We have one last visa renewal at the end of this month - then we have 3 months left before we must do something (maybe go back to the USA to get another one - or find a way to get something else to stay here). My son is attending a really nice Thai school (it is not international but there is a division of the school - a separate kindergarten that is international but he does not attend that). I want him to learn thai. I spoke with someone about visa possibilities and he suggested that I get my son an education visa.

-does anyone know if it is possible to obtain an education visa for someone not attending an international school?

I am almost positive it is possible (from what I read online) but the guy I spoke with (who is a lawyer here) said it might not be. Besides that - I would need to get a visa based off of the fact that my son is here attending school and is my dependant.

Has anyone gone through this process - or does anyone have any advice or referrals to someone who might help. The lawyer I spoke with said that there isn't a huge reason for the people to give me a visa based off of my son's - but I was previously in the military and I receive quite large monthly payments and will receive them for the rest of my life. I have paperwork from the US govt/treasury to support that. But definitely not of retirement age so I 'm not sure. ok enough rambling here....what do you recommend? Anyone have any advice? THANKS!!!

You probably should find a better lawyer. Read police order 606/2006 which can also be found in Thai in the pinned items at top of forum.

You apply for son using para 7.8 and yourself using para 7.10. If not an "International School" there is an extra paper required. For your visa extension you need to have a bank account of 500k baht for the previous three months in a Thai bank.

Thank you very much - that helped immensely! And I most definitely agree with you about the lawyer situation - I don't have a new one yet but will get one if I do not manage getting this one my own with the school.