Hmm guys ... to clarify things a bit 😅

Yes my original post was about what can I do with my OA, but since we have already gone beyond that, might as well.

I applied for an OA for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, I reckon it's better to deal with the application here than over there. I really dunno how things work over there. The whole process here took only 5 days with minimal fuss from the comfort of my PC, and I get 1-2 years stay straight.

The total cost is also reasonable to me.

Secondly, I kinda missed the O category (90 days stay), but even if I didn't, I would probably still go for an OA for the above reasons.

Yes I want to continue to live in Thailand, for at least 5 years!

I also have no problem depositing 800k in a Thai bank account, eventually.

However, my confusion is this, how to continue after 1-2 years?

According to all the helpful forummers here, I can let my OA visa/POS expire, and apply for an O (while in Thailand?)

This visa/POS thing is confusing me a lot. So according to Liquorice:

17 hours ago, Liquorice said:

You cannot extend a visa, you extend the POS at a local Immigration office.

So with my OA visa, what should I do to continue to stay year after year?

Lets say I exit and reenter Thailand on 31 Jul 2027 (expiry of visa), and get a new POS until 30 Jul 2028, you mean I can further extend the POS to 2029 and beyond (all with appropriate insurance) despite the fact that the original OA has expired?

I really need to find out more when I arrive ...

There is no way I can re-apply for an OA in my home country, as I no longer has an address/place to stay back home! 😂

Cheers guys.

5 minutes ago, ngozumpa said:

So with my OA visa, what should I do to continue to stay year after year?

Lets say I exit and reenter Thailand on 31 Jul 2027 (expiry of visa), and get a new POS until 30 Jul 2028, you mean I can further extend the POS to 2029 and beyond (all with appropriate insurance) despite the fact that the original OA has expired?

Yes you can. You're extending your stay, not your original visa. You'll need to meet the financial requirements (800k) to do it The reason people dump the OA is to avoid the insurance requirements, if you're not worried about that then no need to do anything visa-wise, just get the extension.

5 minutes ago, ngozumpa said:

So with my OA visa, what should I do to continue to stay year after year?

Prior to expiry of permission of stay in your second year you apply for a 12 month extension and you do that ongoing each year.

That has financial requirements.

You would require 800k in Thai bank a/c in your name and seasoned for two months prior to application for extension.

The 800k would need to remain in account for 3 month after obtaining extension then not below 400k after that and back up to 800k two months prior to next extension.

Wash and repeat.

Many guys just leave the 800k all year round.

The extension is obtained up to 30 days prior to expiry of permission of stay. 45 days at some big offices.

Since you originally had a Non O-A you will require 12 month insurance each year.

1 hour ago, ngozumpa said:

This visa/POS thing is confusing me a lot. So according to Liquorice:

Please note that the period of visa validity is different from the period of stay.  Visa validity is the period during which a visa can be used to enter Thailand.  In general, the validity of a visa is 3 months, but in some cases, visas may be issued to be valid for 6 months, 1 year or 3 years.  The validity of a visa is granted with discretion by the Royal Thai Embassy or Royal Thai Consulate-General and is displayed on the visa sticker. 

On the other hand, the period of stay is granted by an immigration officer upon arrival at the port of entry and in accordance with the type of visa.  For example, the period of stay for a transit visa is not exceeding 30 days, for a tourist visa is not exceeding 60 days and for a non-immigrant visa is not exceeding 90 days from the arrival date.  The period of stay granted by the immigration officer is displayed on the arrival stamp.  Travelers who wish to stay longer than such period may apply for extension of stay at offices of the Immigration Bureau

https://www.mfa.go.th/en/page/general-information?menu=5e1ff6d057b01e00a6391dc5

A Non Imm O visa is valid to enter Thailand for 90 days from the date of issue.

On entry you are granted POS for 90 days. Permission of stay stamps are 'permits'.

The visa is now 'used' as it was single entry, but your Immigration status is 'Non Immigrant', as opposed to a 'Tourist'.

To remain longer than 90 days, you apply at your local Immigration office to extend your POS for a further 1 year, subject to meeting the financial requirements.

(Simply referred to as extensions on this forum).
You repeat this procedure each and every year to continue extending your permission of stay.

In your case, the Non O-A visa is multiple entry (not single entry) and valid for 1 year from the date of issue to enter Thailand.

On entry you are granted POS for 1 year, subject to the expiry date of the compulsory Insurance.

During the 1 year validity of that visa, you can exit and reenter as many times as you wish and on each new entry you will be granted POS for another year, subject to the expiry date of the Insurance, meaning although the visa is only valid for 1 year, you could possibly remain for almost 2 years.

Your visa expires on the 'enter before' date of that visa, after which if you wish to exit and reenter during a second year of POS, you need to purchase a re-entry permit which protects any POS already previously granted.

At the end of that 1 or2 year period of stay and you wish to continue remaining in Thailand, then you apply to extend your POS for a further 1 year at your local Immigration office subject to meeting the requirements. The financial requirement is to deposit 800K in a Thai bank account for 2 months prior to submitting the application, with the additional requirement of proof of Insurance (because you entered with a Non O-A visa).

There is no compulsory Insurance requirement with the Non O visa, you'd need to exit and kill any remaining POS, obtain and reenter on a Non Imm O visa.

I wouldn't worry about what to do later at this stage, plenty to learn beforehand and best to enquire nearer the time.

Just get settled in Thailand first.

Got it, guys. Thanks!

More or less I know what to do to stay in Thailand forever 😂

Now on to other things to worry about; more posts coming! 😅

4 hours ago, ngozumpa said:

Now on to other things to worry about; more posts coming!

The added bonus for you is that with a Non O-A entry there is no rush to check out options location to live in Thailand etc.

Aseannow has forums for advice on regions and real estate etc etc

On 8/2/2026 at 2:41 PM, ngozumpa said:

However, my confusion is this, how to continue after 1-2 years?

According to all the helpful forummers here, I can let my OA visa/POS expire, and apply for an O (while in Thailand?)

A couple of points - in case you don't know.

Note that once you have an OA , the only way to switch to an O (that i am aware of) , unless things have changed, is at some point you will need to depart Thailand, without a re-entry permit associated with the OA and in effect 'kill' the OA.

This means you must depart Thailand after the OA visa 'valid' date but while still on a permission to stay in Thailand associated with the underlying type-OA. (I hope I have my terminology correct).

That's what I ultimately did some years ago. I was on a Type-OA extension, I left with no re-entry permit (which invalidated my Type-OA), and returned to Thailand Visa exempt. I already had the needed funds in a Thai bank and so as soon as I returned Visa exempt to Thailand, i applied at local immigration for a 90-day Type-O. Once I had that, with about 45-days left in the 90-day permission to stay in Thailand (that comes with the 90-day Type-O), I applied at the same immigration office for a 1 year extension on the permission to stay (based on retirement) on that 90-day type-O visa. For some Thai provinces i think 30-days before permission to stay in Thailand expires, is the number instead of 45 days in which one can apply.

On 8/2/2026 at 2:41 PM, ngozumpa said:

There is no way I can re-apply for an OA in my home country, as I no longer has an address/place to stay back home! 😂

Just a heads up on this, as I think it has not changed over the years. Using your non-Thai health insurance to get a Type-OA while outside of Thailand can work - and likely did for you. But ... but ...

But once inside Thailand, if you ever wish at some point to get a 1-year extension that goes past the duration of the permission to stay associated with your Type-OA, you will not be able to use your non-Thai branch health insurance. You would (for a 1-year extension on an underlying Type-OA) have to go with health insurance from the Thai branch of a health insurance company.

That was a show stopper for some of us on Type-OA visas (as our foreign health insurance was too good to give up , and we did not want to buy double health insurance). Hence many of us left Thailand, to 'kill' our Type-OA, and switched to the Type-O - which I believe is Dr.Jack54's point in suggesting Type-O.

Possibly you are already aware of all of this -and if so, my apologies for 'spamming' on this aspect.

21 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

A couple of points - in case you don't know.

Note that once you have an OA , the only way to switch to an O (that i am aware of) , unless things have changed, is at some point you will need to depart Thailand, without a re-entry permit associated with the OA and in effect 'kill' the OA.

This means you must depart Thailand after the OA visa 'valid' date but while still on a permission to stay in Thailand associated with the underlying type-OA. (I hope I have my terminology correct).

That's what I ultimately did some years ago. I was on a Type-OA extension, I left with no re-entry permit (which invalidated my Type-OA), and returned to Thailand Visa exempt. I already had the needed funds in a Thai bank and so as soon as I returned Visa exempt to Thailand, i applied at local immigration for a 90-day Type-O. Once I had that, with about 45-days left in the 90-day permission to stay in Thailand (that comes with the 90-day Type-O), I applied at the same immigration office for a 1 year extension on the permission to stay (based on retirement) on that 90-day type-O visa. For some Thai provinces i think 30-days before permission to stay in Thailand expires, is the number instead of 45 days in which one can apply.

Just a heads up on this, as I think it has not changed over the years. Using your non-Thai health insurance to get a Type-OA while outside of Thailand can work - and likely did for you. But ... but ...

But once inside Thailand, if you ever wish at some point to get a 1-year extension that goes past the duration of the permission to stay associated with your Type-OA, you will not be able to use your non-Thai branch health insurance. You would (for a 1-year extension on an underlying Type-OA) have to go with health insurance from the Thai branch of a health insurance company.

That was a show stopper for some of us on Type-OA visas (as our foreign health insurance was too good to give up , and we did not want to buy double health insurance). Hence many of us left Thailand, to 'kill' our Type-OA, and switched to the Type-O - which I believe is Dr.Jack54's point in suggesting Type-O.

Possibly you are already aware of all of this -and if so, my apologies for 'spamming' on this aspect.

No worries mate, it's always good to hear from a rare fellow OA-er 😁

My insurance is from a Thai company, so no problem there.

After reading many posts, I am now more inclined to switch to O eventually.

I suppose coming in via visa exempt and applying for an O is not a difficult process?

50 minutes ago, ngozumpa said:

After reading many posts, I am now more inclined to switch to O eventually.

I suppose coming in via visa exempt and applying for an O is not a difficult process?

It's probably less complicated to apply for the Non O visa from a local Thai Embassy in Lao, to re-enter Thailand.
You can just apply directly for the 1 year extension later.

4 hours ago, ngozumpa said:

I suppose coming in via visa exempt and applying for an O is not a difficult process?

It's not difficult however the option pointed out by Liquorice is good alternative.

The Non O eVisa application is all online and process time maybe ~5 days.

Mini holiday in Saigon would be my preference.

12 hours ago, Liquorice said:

It's probably less complicated to apply for the Non O visa from a local Thai Embassy in Lao, to re-enter Thailand.
You can just apply directly for the 1 year extension later.

8 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

It's not difficult however the option pointed out by Liquorice is good alternative.

The Non O eVisa application is all online and process time maybe ~5 days.

Mini holiday in Saigon would be my preference.

Oh, can one easily apply for the O evisa from outside Thailand and your home country (while holidaying in Laos or Vietnam for example)?

I haven't really look at the required documents though.

28 minutes ago, ngozumpa said:

Oh, can one easily apply for the O evisa from outside Thailand and your home country (while holidaying in Laos or Vietnam for example)?

Yes you can.

One slight negative regards Laos is that payment cannot be made online.

As soon as you make the application and have acknowledgement you attend the embassy to make payment.

Other places eg Vietnam the payment is online.

Depending on pp country you may be visa exempt to Vietnam.

Good option IMO

5 hours ago, ngozumpa said:

Oh, can one easily apply for the O evisa from outside Thailand and your home country (while holidaying in Laos or Vietnam for example)?

I haven't really look at the required documents though.

If you decide to apply for the Non O at a local Immigration office, you'll still have to do a border run to exit, and reenter VE.

It's then 2 visits to your IO to obtain the Non O.

Procedure here; Number 9 on the list. https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/en/issuing-and-changing-type-of-visa/

It's worth noting that if you apply for the Non O at a Thai Embassy the 800K (or equivalent) can be in any bank account, any Country.
When applying for the Non O, or 1 year extensions at local Immigration offices, the 800K must be in a Thai bank account, in your sole name.

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Depending on pp country you may be visa exempt to Vietnam.

I have an inkling the OP is from your neck of the woods, Australia.