25 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

The other side of it is that if you go to a lot of agents, they will tellyou there is only the 800k baht rule

Agents only do extensions using money in bank method (800k)

And those funds are not maintained in bank.

They do not deal with income method unless it's just hand holding exercise.

Same as marriage extensions.

15 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Seems your friend was doing a 4 month visit perhaps not as ongoing thing. Non O + extension most likely not best option

Many other easy cocktails for 4 month stay esp for married to Thai folk.

Yes METV provides 60 day stamp.

He would have needed to exit and reenter as you outlined.

Each entry can be extended by 30 days (60+30).

@DrJack54 .. For certain he likes travelling, so rather than be upset about only getting 60-days, he turned it into a positive thing and used it as a good reason to visit Vietnam. I need to take notes from him, so to learn his positive attitude.

@BrandJT ... thanks also for your comment and reminder. He is debating whether he should (in a subsequent visit) open a bank account. In his 70s (like me) thou, the clock on our remaining years is ticking, so one does not want to over complicate one's estate too much.

Reference staying in Thailand, like the OP of this thread, he typically stays 4 months in Thailand. He does have Thai family in Thailand via his Thai wife and they visit her family every year since living together (they have been living together since the start of COVID, were married 2 years ago, and they spend 3 to 4 months every year in Thailand during the cold Canadian winter months)). I will pass on to him more of my understanding as to his Visa options - such that he is better able to decide what he will do next year, from Nov-2026 to Feb-2027.

12 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

For certain he likes travelling, so rather than be upset about only getting 60-days, he turned it into a positive thing and used it as a good reason to visit Vietnam. I need to take notes from him, so to learn his positive attitude.

Fact is your friend only needs 4 months and does not want to have funds in Thai bank.

METV was a mistake as he only wanted 4 months.

In future seems visa exempt will be back to 30 days.

He could (in future) enter with a SETV eVisa + obtain 60 day extension to visit wife.

Or since he enjoys, travel do the SETV + trip to Vietnam.

I'm in Saigon now. Nothing to do with visas, etc.

If anyone in similar situation (snowbird) want more like 6 months then the top shelf option is Non O + ongoing extensions with reentry permit OR METV