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Bold Prediction re: financial requirements for OA and O retirement

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18 hours ago, JerryM said:

No they paid their money. Then they were depoprted.

If that was the case, what were they paying for? They are being deported anyway, so why pay those amounts?

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  • henryford1958
    henryford1958

    The same as nominee companies. They turn a blind eye, until they don't.

  • henryford1958
    henryford1958

    Talking about the long standing level of 800K bank method OR 65K a month income method. Totally illegal

  • Jingthing
    Jingthing

    Then why has there NEVER been a crackdown? The loophole is that officers have the legal right of DISCRETION on approving or rejecting.

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What's the difference -- for these guys it was petty cash.

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1 hour ago, JerryM said:

People here talk of raising the 800K baht as if this is the primary decision and the 65K is an alternative afterthought.

IT MAY BE JUST THE OPPOSITE. The 65K may be the primary decision as to what is an adequate monthly amount for a retired non-Thai person in Thailand and the 800K is the alternative for persons who do not have a demonstrable 65K baht monthly income.

And as noted on the 2.22, the 65K option is (3) and the 800K option is (4).

2026-09-01_10h57_34.png

Don't see your point.

The amounts are almost equivalent.

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Don't see your point.

The amounts are almost equivalent.

It is how the decision is made.

The talk on here is of bank access to deposit funds or emergency spending and that might not be their principal consideration.

Edited by JerryM

On 8/29/2026 at 2:30 PM, NanLaew said:

You sound like another member with an inordinate sense of grievance over things that other totally unknown strangers do, that neither concerns you nor impacts you. It's like some weird type of online proselytizing.

@JerryM are you just going to sit there and let him talk about you like that?

9 hours ago, Oliver Holzerfilled said:

@JerryM are you just going to sit there and let him talk about you like that?

Sure. Wouldn't be the first time. For those strangers 'any port in the storm' when the law is not on their side.

And for some of the experts on AN, if you don't like the way the law reads, make up your own.

Edited by JerryM

Do you know how many non-Thais live in Thailand? 3 Mil to 4.5 Mil and some say 6 Mil. Now subtract the labors and you get about 1/2 Mil to 1.3 Mil. that are retires, skilled labor and teachers, ect. Now how many of those do you think have an extra $90,000 laying around to put in a Thai bank that only receive 0.015% interest about $1,350 per year vises 0.06% interest $5,400 back home per yea, if they even have $90,000 available to deposit it in a Thai Bank? How many have a $100K per year income or 3 million baht in a Thai bank, very few. I could do it, I have $126,000 per year income and right now 4.5 Mil baht in Thai banks, but if they make those changes and I'm gone, the reason is the Thai goverment would clearly be saying we don't what you here. I can live very comfortable back home on my income plus my stocks.

 

king about the long standing level of 800K bank method OR 65K a month income method.

On 8/27/2026 at 7:30 PM, Jingthing said:

People have been predicting it was about to go up for the last 10 to 15 years but it has not happened.

Recently such predictions are heating up.

It's a safe, logical and superficially superficially probable prediction.

But I submit it is probably a wrong prediction.

Why you ask!?!

Multiple reasons.

The current level reflects within a range that is dominant globally for retirement visas including in Europe.

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Basically the mainstream level is between 1000 USD and 2000 USD a month.

Thailand added new visas that can be used instead.

The Long-Term Resident Visa (LTR Visa) which does have higher financial requirements and also the Privilege Entry Visa (ex Elite) that is widely acknowledged now to be very overpriced.

So they have already raised the financial requirements if you choose those options!

The standard option serves Thailand's purposes well and I submit at the current levels will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

What are you saying dude? Have you gone batty?

Well the agent system which apparently is quasi legal is a boon for certain people in the system. Make the original offer too high and you'll scare off a lot of people even to get to the point of paying agents.

The filtering out system long in place is CACHING central. Why would you mess with it?

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Every new retired expat in Thailand is a big old cash now in creating new households, importing lots of money (now may be taxed), maybe buying condos and cars, etc.

Whether the new expat lasts one year or forty. Thailand makes almost no commitment to them so inviting masses of them is almost all reward, and almost no risk.

The ones who flame out for all the well known reasons, so what does Thailand care?

They leave or die. End of story.

If being able to afford to live here was the main problem, they'll just flame out. Doesn't hurt Thailand.

So I submit it is against the self interest of the government of Thailand to increase the financial requirements for the classic basic retirement path (OA or O).

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Why didn't I put this topic in the Thai visa section?

Because topics like this are NOT WELCOME there.

Otherwise I would have.

If I read this again a few times would is start making more sense?

But I don't want to encourage any changes or speculation about them.

40 minutes ago, Dickp said:

I could do it, I have $126,000 per year income and right now 4.5 Mil baht in Thai banks, but if they make those changes and I'm gone, the reason is the Thai goverment would clearly be saying we don't what you here. I can live very comfortable back home on my income plus my stocks. 

All good points. Still ... Some of us have Thai family based on our spouse, and its now their turn to live in Thailand after living for decades outside of Thailand with us. And some of us, even without Thai family, ... just like Thailand and like staying here. Its not always about the money.

Re: your income, >$80,000 US/year, if it is passive income, and if you are over age 50 and given you have 4.5 million THB in a Thai bank (I assume cash where that is greater than $100,000 US$) then it qualifies as self health insurance. So you could likely qualify for an LTR-Wealthy Pensioner visa, and not have to think about this 800,000 THB in a Thal bank.

My having typed that, I suspect you considered the LTR and either age, or the "passive" income aspect, or perhaps the self health insurance aspect, put you off.

Edited by oldcpu

7 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

All good points. Still ... Some of us have Thai family based on our spouse, and its now their turn to live in Thailand after living for decades outside of Thailand with us. And some of us, even without Thai family, ... just like Thailand and like staying here. Its not always about the money.

Re: your income, >$80,000 US/year, if it is passive income, and if you are over age 50 and given you have 4.5 million THB in a Thai bank (I assume cash where that is greater than $100,000 US$) then it qualifies as self health insurance. So you could likely qualify for an LTR-Wealthy Pensioner visa, and not have to think about this 800,000 THB in a Thal bank.

My having typed that, I suspect you considered the LTR and either age, or the "passive" income aspect, or perhaps the self health insurance aspect, put you off.

Or he's just a bullsh*ter

8 hours ago, greeneking said:

But I don't want to encourage any changes or speculation about them.

Whatever Thailand does or doesn't do, it won't come from reading anything on here.

18 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Or he's just a bullsh*ter

I just stumbled across another of his posts - where he noted his age.

He is a good 10+ years older than myself - which IMHO explains why LTR would not appeal to him. I did not know such when I replied suggesting LTR to him.

Likely if I was his age I might consider the LTR 50,000 THB a waste of money (as I can't see myself living into my 90s) , and I would start giving away my assets to family, making self health insurance more difficult to maintain. ... and further if I was in my mid-80s/90s (if I should I be so lucky to live that long) I likely would only use an agent, passing to the agent legal power of attorney to legally handle all my immigration aspects.

For @Dickp - stay healthy!! Good on you for still staying active in Thailand.

Edited by oldcpu

On 9/4/2026 at 3:11 PM, oldcpu said:

I just stumbled across another of his posts - where he noted his age.

He is a good 10+ years older than myself - which IMHO explains why LTR would not appeal to him. I did not know such when I replied suggesting LTR to him.

Likely if I was his age I might consider the LTR 50,000 THB a waste of money (as I can't see myself living into my 90s) , and I would start giving away my assets to family, making self health insurance more difficult to maintain. ... and further if I was in my mid-80s/90s (if I should I be so lucky to live that long) I likely would only use an agent, passing to the agent legal power of attorney to legally handle all my immigration aspects.

For @Dickp - stay healthy!! Good on you for still staying active in Thailand.

I made a mistake when I said yearly it should have said monthly income of $100. I never said I had a yearly income of $80,000, I said I Had a yearly income of $126,000 ( all passive ) and that dose not include my US stocks which are doing real good. My age is 83 years 5 months and I have lived in Thailand 35 years with my Thai Wife age 83. We have Tricare ForLife health insurance which is real good I pay strating the first of 1 Jan each year the first $300 we pay. Then after that I pay 25% of the bill insurance covers thr rest. But once my Co pay of 25% adds up to $3,000 thats normally in early June, The insurance pays 100%. For all the last 35 years I have done my own extension of stay. And renewal of my driver License. We have 0 debts, house and car were pay cash. So we plan on buying what we what and no plan on saving. Have one daughter which her and her husband, live in the US and are well off, so no need to save for them. And I am no bullsh*ter !!! And I really mean it " if they make those changes then I'm gone, the reason is the Thai goverment would clearly be saying we don't what you here.

3 hours ago, Dickp said:

I made a mistake when I said yearly it should have said monthly income of $100. I never said I had a yearly income of $80,000, I said I Had a yearly income of $126,000

I think you made another mistake with the maths.
Surely you meant a monthly income of $1,000.

3 hours ago, Dickp said:

My age is 83 years 5 months and I have lived in Thailand 35 years with my Thai Wife age 83.

So your extensions are already grandfathered on the lower financial requirements ?

Edited by Liquorice

6 hours ago, Liquorice said:

So your extensions are already grandfathered on the lower financial requirements ?

He says: For all the last 35 years I have done my own extension of stay.

He doesn't say whether via retirement or marriage extension. There is no marriage grandfathering 2.18(6) 2014 Police Order.

On 8/28/2026 at 7:39 AM, Jingthing said:

Then why has there NEVER been a crackdown?

One reason is that is that the regs on bribery assume that the the official soliciting a bribe and the potential bribee are sitting at a table across from each other and the bribee KNOWS who is this official. And since the most common reported corruption complaint regards local government procurement, that likely holds.

But it falls apart when the potential bribee has no idea who is the official or officials or office involved and only knows an intermediary 'facilitating' agent. Indeed this is the standard NACC official corruption complaint form (edited).:

2026-09-07_05h04_30.png

Edited by JerryM

6 hours ago, JerryM said:

He says: For all the last 35 years I have done my own extension of stay.

He doesn't say whether via retirement or marriage extension. There is no marriage grandfathering 2.18(6) 2014 Police Order.

Immigration first introduced the baseline for 400/800K as a financial requirement (Police Order No. 606/2549), which went into effect on Oct 1st 2006.

Prior to that they accepted 200K -250K per annum (income or funds) based on both retirement and marriage as sufficient evidence of being financially self sufficient.

You are correct they didn't grandfather extensions based on marriage, but they advised and allowed those on marriage extensions to switch to retirement extensions so they would be grandfathered. I know someone who did exactly that, but in 2018 departed for a visit to the UK forgetting to obtain a re-entry permit and blew his grandfathering.

6 minutes ago, Liquorice said:

You are correct they didn't grandfather extensions based on marriage,

I just looked at the Police Order.

As to your UK friend the current 'grandfathering' clause says: has been consecutively permitted to stay in the Kingdom

and could be part of any future grandfathering

Edited by JerryM

47 minutes ago, JerryM said:

As to your UK friend the current 'grandfathering' clause says: has been consecutively permitted to stay in the Kingdom

and could be part of any future grandfathering

As I pointed out, he blew his consecutive extensions of permission of stay by not obtaining a re-entry permit in 2018, so had to start from scratch again.

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