For the past 15 extensions based on retirement, i always used the 800,000 in my Thai bank up 3 years ago.

Then for the past 3 years, I have used the 65,000 monthly international transfer way , but I have always still kept a minimum of 800,000 in my Thai bank as a safety measure just in case something like one of my monthly transfers that I send via Wise from the UK and in August last year , something did in fact go wrong , my 65,000 international transfer sent to my Bangkok Bank, somehow ended up going to Kasikorn bank first and Kasikon sent it domesticly to my Bangkok Bank..

I did my latest extension on 16 January this year and my new extension is valid until March 1st 2027.

Once I got the extension with no issues, they seemed to overlook the August transfer recorded as domestic on my 12 month statement, but I had obtained a credit advice from Kasikorn which showed the funds originated from Wise UK.

Anyway as I had now got a new extension, I withdrew about 150,000 from the 800,000 thinking this would not be a problem if I wanted to go back on the 800,000 way next year. I normally do my extension in January about 40 days before its due on March 1st.

So I thought if I decided to end the 65,000 way , I could just make sure I had 800,000 in my Thai bank account say as from November this year.

Today, I asked at Immigration if that would be OK , but to my amazement, I was told No , it would not be possible as the young guy who checks the paperwork at Phuket immigration said , i had gone below 800,000 , and as my extension was done on 16 January, I would have to provide a 12 month bank statement next year as from 16 January and it should not have gone below 800,000 for the first 3 month. I then tried to explain that I had just done my new extension using the pension way so why would I need to have kept the minimum 800,000 in my bank as I had not done my new extension based on the bank deposit method.

He was very polite and helpful but he said I shouldn't have gone below 800,000 and advised me to now carry on making monthly international transfers if 65,000 and then in 2027 on the day I do my extension, make sure I had a minimum of 800,000. Then I could go back on the 800,000 way in 2028 , it seems very incorrect to me .

If you show them you have 800,000 in your account, they will ALWAYS use that method for your extension. It doesn't matter what else you show them, it's less work for them to use the 800k. So your mistake was giving them that information. You think you've been using monthly income the last 3 years, but you haven't. You've been using 800,000 for all of those years.

I changed from money in bank method to income method for my last extension (Nov 2025).

I satisfied both methods as I had highlighted 12+ monthly transfers of 65k ++ AND my balance was always 800k +

I know it was approved on income method as they asked me to write on the application that I would continue ongoing using income method.

Yes bizarre.

This was at CW.

If I lived in a province with easy access to immigration then I would visit for advice.

That's not so simple with Bangkok.

If you have 800K and transferring 65K per month, keep them in separate accounts, or even separate banks to avoid confusing Immigration which method you are using.

As @BrandonJT correctly states, Immigration will always use the 800k method given both options.

3 minutes ago, Liquorice said:

Immigration will always use the 800k method given both options.

I satisfied both options with one bank account and immigration (CW) accepted my 12 highlighted monthly transfers. Income method.

Extension done Nov 2025

12 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I satisfied both options with one bank account and immigration (CW) accepted my 12 highlighted monthly transfers. Income method.

Extension done Nov 2025

800K or 400K still in the account?
You obviously made it abundantly clear you were switching.
That obviously didn't happen with the OP.

Exactly the same happened with a good friend where he thought he'd changed to the monthly income method 3 years ago, but because he provided a single account statement that met both the requirements, Immigration had used the 800K funds method despite his request to use the income method.
Last year after the 3 month period, he withdrew 50K, leaving a balance of 750K and 12 overseas transfers of 65K+ so they had no option other than to use the income method.

He's since opened another account at another bank and transferred the 750K into there to avoid any further confusion in the future.

12 minutes ago, Liquorice said:

800K or 400K still in the account?
You obviously made it abundantly clear you were switching

I had over 800k balance for the whole year. One bank account.

Provided 12 month bank statement + bank letter (both obtained days prior to application + small deposit on day of application to update and show, activity.

I highlighted the 12 monthly deposits all on the 14th of every month.

Verbally made it clear that I was using income method.

Note: in OP second sentence he points out that for 3 years he used income method and at same time maintained balance above 800k

My current balance is 900k and and that will be maintained along with monthly transfers continue.

I will be gobsmacked if they state that they are using fundsin bank method.

BTW it's actually less work for the io to check the 12 highlighted transfers vs check every single entry along with the months that only require 400k

The OP was changing from income to money in bank. I was, doing the opposite.

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Note: in OP second sentence he points out that for 3 years he used income method and at same time maintained balance above 800k

OP assumes they used the income method previously, but from what the Immigration officer stated, it seems apparent they had used the funds method for his previous extensions.

11 hours ago, Brick Top said:

So I thought if I decided to end the 65,000 way , I could just make sure I had 800,000 in my Thai bank account say as from November this year.

Today, I asked at Immigration if that would be OK , but to my amazement, I was told No , it would not be possible as the young guy who checks the paperwork at Phuket immigration said , i had gone below 800,000 , and as my extension was done on 16 January, I would have to provide a 12 month bank statement next year as from 16 January and it should not have gone below 800,000 for the first 3 month.

As an aside, after I married and switched from extensions based on retirement to extensions based on Thai spouse, and even though I stated the reason as 'Thai spouse' on the TM7, supplied two complete sets of documents, the wife attended and signed her documents, and the inclusion of additional documents such as a Kor Ror 2, photos in and around the house, after 20 minutes they returned my passport.

Expecting to see an under consideration stamp, they'd issued the extension based on retirement, purely because i provided a bank statement from a FTD account with over 800K in it.

When I protested, they stated 'easier for us, better for you'.

Lesson learned, I subsequently transferred 200K from the FTD account to my Savings account for the following year.

12 hours ago, BrandonJT said:

If you show them you have 800,000 in your account, they will ALWAYS use that method for your extension. It doesn't matter what else you show them, it's less work for them to use the 800k. So your mistake was giving them that information. You think you've been using monthly income the last 3 years, but you haven't. You've been using 800,000 for all of those years.

No , totally incorrect, I obtained the extension on 16 January using the pension method with the international transfers coming into my Bangkok bank , I did not show them or mention i had 800,000 in my other Krungsri account. It was only yesterday the 30 January I went to pick up a COR and it was then I made the inquiry and showed the officer the Krungsri account with the funds .

3 hours ago, Liquorice said:

If you have 800K and transferring 65K per month, keep them in separate accounts, or even separate banks to avoid confusing Immigration which method you are using.

As @BrandonJT correctly states, Immigration will always use the 800k method given both options.

The funds were in separate accounts , I used the Bangkok bank for the incoming funds of 65,000 , i have never shown them my balance of over 800,000 in my Krungsri account until yesterday, I obtained the extension using my Bangkok Bank income on 2 weeks before on 16 January.

Sorry , just reread my original post and its a bit misleading.

I have actually 4 bank accounts, SCB , Krungsri, Kasikorn and Bangkok bank. I use my Bangkok Bank for tge monthly international transfers , I have two accounts with Krungsri, one for day to day spending and one were I have always held a minimum of 800,000 , this account was never shown to immigration when I did my extension on 16 January, I only showed them my Bangkok Bank account, so they would have no idea I had over a 800,000 in a Krungsri account. I keep just over 1 million in an SCB EZ account for emergencies as it pays 1.5% interest.

The whole idea of doing my last 3 extensions using income method was to be in a position to transfer all these funds i have sitting in these Thai bank accounts and invest them into Wise Stocks , I have just been waiting for the THB to get stronger and planned to transfer the funds out once I got my new extension.

44 minutes ago, Brick Top said:

Sorry , just reread my original post and its a bit misleading.

I have actually 4 bank accounts, SCB , Krungsri, Kasikorn and Bangkok bank. I use my Bangkok Bank for tge monthly international transfers , I have two accounts with Krungsri, one for day to day spending and one were I have always held a minimum of 800,000 , this account was never shown to immigration when I did my extension on 16 January, I only showed them my Bangkok Bank account, so they would have no idea I had over a 800,000 in a Krungsri account. I keep just over 1 million in an SCB EZ account for emergencies as it pays 1.5% interest.

The whole idea of doing my last 3 extensions using income method was to be in a position to transfer all these funds i have sitting in these Thai bank accounts and invest them into Wise Stocks , I have just been waiting for the THB to get stronger and planned to transfer the funds out once I got my new extension.

You probable confused the young IO as well.

If your using the income method via monthly transfers to your Bangkok bank account, but at a later dated wanted to switch to the 800K funds method using your Krungsri account, then you'd only require evidence of 800K for 2 months prior to submitting the application.

Extension based on income the financial evidence must be from the preceding 12 months.

Extensions based on funds the financial evidence is based on the preceding 2 months, then by 800K for 3 months thereafter, then min of 400K for the following 7 months.

Only if changing from the funds to the income method are you required to provide evidence of meeting both requirements.

7 hours ago, Liquorice said:

You probable confused the young IO as well.

If your using the income method via monthly transfers to your Bangkok bank account, but at a later dated wanted to switch to the 800K funds method using your Krungsri account, then you'd only require evidence of 800K for 2 months prior to submitting the application.

Extension based on income the financial evidence must be from the preceding 12 months.

Extensions based on funds the financial evidence is based on the preceding 2 months, then by 800K for 3 months thereafter, then min of 400K for the following 7 months.

Only if changing from the funds to the income method are you required to provide evidence of meeting both requirements.

7 hours ago, Liquorice said:

You probable confused the young IO as well.

If your using the income method via monthly transfers to your Bangkok bank account, but at a later dated wanted to switch to the 800K funds method using your Krungsri account, then you'd only require evidence of 800K for 2 months prior to submitting the application.

Extension based on income the financial evidence must be from the preceding 12 months.

Extensions based on funds the financial evidence is based on the preceding 2 months, then by 800K for 3 months thereafter, then min of 400K for the following 7 months.

Only if changing from the funds to the income method are you required to provide evidence of meeting both requirements.

Yes , thats exactly how I see it , the 800,000 would only have to be in.the account 2 moths prior to the new extension in 2027.

The thing is , there was absolutely no way the young Immagration officer was confused. He was highly intelligent and spoke fluent English and he clearly understood everything that was being discussed.

I only went in there to just check and clarify the situation on Friday 30th January, but he was addiment about it.

He clearly knew that my last 3 extensions were obtained using the 65,000 income way.

I just dont understand, why he looked through all my banking apps and pointed out that I had gone below the 800,000 after my extension on

16 January and therefore couldn't use that way for next year.

I think i will continue with sending in 65,000 per month and obtain the 2027 extension that way , but I still think he is incorrect and the 800,000 need only be in the account 2 months before.

1 hour ago, Brick Top said:

I just dont understand, why he looked through all my banking apps and pointed out that I had gone below the 800,000 after my extension on

16 January and therefore couldn't use that way for next year.

I think i will continue with sending in 65,000 per month and obtain the 2027 extension that way , but I still think he is incorrect and the 800,000 need only be in the account 2 months before.

Look at it this way. Every time you obtain an extension you make an implicit promise to maintain financial requirements for the next year, which they retroactively check when you renew.

Now you want to switch to money in the bank method. Well, then you would have to retroactively meet the 800k requirements when you show up at immigration for your next extension, which is 800k for 3 months after and 2 months before next application and never below 400k for the remaining time.

The IO was correct - your account dropped below the 800k during the 3 months after requirement so you can not use the money in the bank method next time you renew.

Keep making those transfers.

12 hours ago, expat_4_life said:

Now you want to switch to money in the bank method. Well, then you would have to retroactively meet the 800k requirements when you show up at immigration for your next extension, which is 800k for 3 months after and 2 months before next application and never below 400k for the remaining time.

That would be correct when applying for the first extension based on income from using 800K funds the previous year.
OP stated he has used income for the previous 3 years.

On 2/1/2026 at 12:48 PM, Liquorice said:

That would be correct when applying for the first extension based on income from using 800K funds the previous year.
OP stated he has used income for the previous 3 years.

Yes , correct i have used the income method for the past 3 years including the recent one done on 16 January and for all of those 3 extensions , I had never revealed that I had well over 800,000 in another Thai bank account with a different bank.

So I just cant understand why if I did want to go back to the 800,000 deposit method, why I can just make sure I have at least 800,000 in a Thai bank at the very least 2 or even 3 months before I applied for the extension next year.

On 1/31/2026 at 12:32 AM, Brick Top said:

For the past 15 extensions based on retirement, i always used the 800,000 in my Thai bank up 3 years ago.

Then for the past 3 years, I have used the 65,000 monthly international transfer way , but I have always still kept a minimum of 800,000 in my Thai bank as a safety measure just in case something like one of my monthly transfers that I send via Wise from the UK and in August last year , something did in fact go wrong , my 65,000 international transfer sent to my Bangkok Bank, somehow ended up going to Kasikorn bank first and Kasikon sent it domesticly to my Bangkok Bank..

I did my latest extension on 16 January this year and my new extension is valid until March 1st 2027.

Once I got the extension with no issues, they seemed to overlook the August transfer recorded as domestic on my 12 month statement, but I had obtained a credit advice from Kasikorn which showed the funds originated from Wise UK.

Anyway as I had now got a new extension, I withdrew about 150,000 from the 800,000 thinking this would not be a problem if I wanted to go back on the 800,000 way next year. I normally do my extension in January about 40 days before its due on March 1st.

So I thought if I decided to end the 65,000 way , I could just make sure I had 800,000 in my Thai bank account say as from November this year.

Today, I asked at Immigration if that would be OK , but to my amazement, I was told No , it would not be possible as the young guy who checks the paperwork at Phuket immigration said , i had gone below 800,000 , and as my extension was done on 16 January, I would have to provide a 12 month bank statement next year as from 16 January and it should not have gone below 800,000 for the first 3 month. I then tried to explain that I had just done my new extension using the pension way so why would I need to have kept the minimum 800,000 in my bank as I had not done my new extension based on the bank deposit method.

He was very polite and helpful but he said I shouldn't have gone below 800,000 and advised me to now carry on making monthly international transfers if 65,000 and then in 2027 on the day I do my extension, make sure I had a minimum of 800,000. Then I could go back on the 800,000 way in 2028 , it seems very incorrect to me .

Leave B800k+ in a bank account.

Update maybe monthly with B100 to check balance.

Update book after tax/interest transacs.

Do not withdraw from account.

Simples & end of story.🙃🙃