22 minutes ago, JerryM said:

Only capital injection funds into the banks from expats too dumb not to use an agent.

Not dumb to not use an agent.

Using agents creates dependency on agents for future extensions and also legal risk. Personally I don’t think there will be a crackdown but its possible.

11 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

If you don't know what happened in Malaysia with their retirement program and you think its off topic to your dumb idea for Thailand you aren't worth talking to you about this.

Exactly as I expected. No legitimate reply.

Malaysia? Off topic.

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

Then why has there NEVER been a crackdown?

The loophole is that officers have the legal right of DISCRETION on approving or rejecting.

Thats the excuse expats that want to use it give but it is total illegal as it uses forged documents and fake bank deposits which is the illegal party. Try as hard as you like the imm officer descretion has nothing to do with accepting forged docs.

Edited August 29Aug 29 by Dan O

13 minutes ago, jas007 said:

Actually, the situation in Malaysia is very much relevant to what transpires in Thailand in terms of expat retirees and their choices for a place to retire. Malaysia, like Thailand or Vietnam or Cambodia or the Philippines or Vietnam or Panama or any number of places, is a possible destination for expat retirees. Malaysia, like the others, is a viable choice. And not all considerations are strictly financial.

I didn’t see Malaysia or the other countries mentioned in the title. I may of missed it. Perhaps you can point it out.

I did see O and OA in the title which is unique to Thailand which is what the thread is about.

I learned the term “off topic”. from the OP from previous threads and felt inspired to use it when appropriate such as my previous post.

6 minutes ago, Dan O said:

Thats the excuse expats that want to use it give but it is total illegal as it uses forged documents and fake bank deposits which is the illegal party. Try as hard as you like the imm officer descretion has nothing to do with accepting forged docs.

I have never advocated that people use agents.

However, there has never been a crackdown on agents or customers and I personally think in the age of crackdowns on land nominees there would have been a crackdown by now related to that push, that leads me to the opinion it remains "safe" to use them.

19 minutes ago, jas007 said:

Just because they'd like to have more money into Thailand doesn't mean that raising the price of retirement will accomplish that. Imagine how silly that would be, from an economic perspective. Thailand does not have a monopoly. That much is obvious. There are alternatives. In economic terms, its pricing power is constrained. Thailand isn't the only retirement destination worth consideration.

Anyway, I can see how public sentiment might trump other considerations, including the consideration of what makes sense.

Interesting post.

I see you are relying on the "The Thai's would never do that, they would lose too much money" theory.

You know what's it's like here, money today, don't care about tomorrow. Since when has the Thai government cared about public sentiment?

I agree with you that Thailand's monopoly of being the premium retirement destination in the region is facing more competition, particularly as Vietnam is now looking at a long stay visa. Thailand is / will continue to lose market share.

Have you factored in the present retirees who have invested emotionally and financially in Thailand? This demographic are at the mercy of the Thai government. They will pay whatever they want in order to stay.

For the next wave of newly retired expats, they will get to chose, so they are the ones Thailand risks losing, but they don't care, they want the money today, and don't care about tomorrow.

2 minutes ago, HolmesEquivelant said:

I didn’t see Malaysia or the other countries mentioned in the title. I may of missed it. Perhaps you can point it out.

I did see O and OA in the title which is unique to Thailand which is what the thread is about.

I learned the term “off topic”. from the OP from previous threads and felt inspired to use it when appropriate such as my previous post.

Blah blah blah.

Ma;aysia's change to very high requorements and the result to their volume of takers is DIRECTLY related to your hairbrained advocacy that Thailand make the same error.

15 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Not dumb to not use an agent.

If someone uses an agent there is no 800K baht or whatever might be the amended number capital flowing into the bank.

16 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Probably no need to long explanations and worrying: Last time they changed retirement extension deposit, it was "grandfathered" for existing retirees — i.e., if you started before 1998 and continue uninterrupted your original extensions of stay based on retirement, the original deposit value of 200,000 baht also continues — likely the same will appear if and when the present 800,000 baht deposit is raised.

I disagree.

A few reasons are:

The Thai economy is not doing so well.

Tourism is down 7%.

Thailand has record household debt.

There is a higher cost of living in 2026, and into the future.

Humans are living longer.

Why would they grandfather? They want / need the money.

20 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Not dumb to not use an agent.

Using agents creates dependency on agents for future extensions and also legal risk. Personally I don’t think there will be a crackdown but its possible.

I think there will be a crackdown, similar to the Thai company nominee crackdown. The use of agents has got out of hand.

I posted that the Australian aged pension isn't even 65k a month, but plenty of Australian aged pensioners are living here, month to month, on the pension, with no savings to top it up.

Agents / corruption effectively means anyone can retire here on any amount of money, if they can pay the agent's fee.

At some point they will have to clean it up, despite how lucrative it is.

4 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Why would they grandfather? They want / need the money.

And they sure aren't now getting YOUR money.

18 minutes ago, Dan O said:

Thats the excuse expats that want to use it give but it is total illegal as it uses forged documents and fake bank deposits which is the illegal party. Try as hard as you like the imm officer descretion has nothing to do with accepting forged docs.

It's corruption. It's as simple as that. It been allowed to balloon into a free for all, just like the Thai company nominee owning of property.

The party will have to end one day.

2 minutes ago, JerryM said:

And they sure aren't now getting YOUR money.

Hence, the banning of agents in the future.

The Thai government and Thai banks want more money.

11 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Blah blah blah.

Ma;aysia's change to very high requorements and the result to their volume of takers is DIRECTLY related to your hairbrained advocacy that Thailand make the same error.

I suppose a Malaysia thread was too complicated.

Silly me.

1 minute ago, KhunHeineken said:

Hence, the banning of agents in the future.

The Thai government and Thai banks want more money.

I was referencing your phantom 800K baht today.

Just now, HolmesEquivelant said:

I suppose a Malaysia thread was too complicated.

Silly me.

It must be painful to be terminally literal,

I explained the relevance to THIS topic and you just play dumb about it.

You're wasting my time.

15 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I have never advocated that people use agents.

However, there has never been a crackdown on agents or customers and I personally think in the age of crackdowns on land nominees there would have been a crackdown by now related to that push, that leads me to the opinion it remains "safe" to use them.

I understand you point, however, despite this form of corruption being extremely lucrative in Thailand, it also has a lot of unintended consequences when it basically creates an open door policy for anyone over 50 years of age to live in Thailand.

I can see a clean up in the future.

3 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

It's corruption. It's as simple as that. It been allowed to balloon into a free for all, just like the Thai company nominee owning of property.

The party will have to end one day.

Maybe. Maybe not.

Anyway I sleep better NOT using agents.

MANY years ago I knew a Thai agent socially. I asked him if he was worried about a crackdown. He responded with full confidence that there never will a crackdown and I got the feeling that he believed what he was doing was legal in the Thai system.

Right or wrong I was impressed with his confidence about no crackdown which I would rate at 100 percent.

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

The loophole is that officers have the legal right of DISCRETION on approving or rejecting.

Nope! That's a cop out excuse for those using agents.

Order 327/2557

5. In the case where an alien applicant does not meet the full qualifications stipulated by the criteria herein or in other cases not specified in this Order but a competent officer equivalent to or higher than inspector is of the opinion that the alien has legitimate reason for staying in the Kingdom of Thailand, the application shall be forwarded to the Commander of the Royal Thai Police or an authorized competent officer for further consideration of the alien's application.

How many Inspectors of Immigration offices do you know that forward an application to the Commissioner that doesn't meet the full qualifications.

None! Money talks, the rest walk.

I think the impending worldwide debt crisis and likely global depression will make this a moot issue soon enough.

Edited August 29Aug 29 by Gecko123

3 minutes ago, JerryM said:

I was referencing your phantom 800K baht today.

The 800k / 65k will rise in the future.

I can see a banning of agents in the future.

I believe there will be no grandfathering.

I can not see the monthly method being scrapped. That's a bridge too far. That would cause quite an exodus of retired expats.

On 8/28/2026 at 9:42 AM, AhFarangJa said:

I have a concern that the new deportation laws he has brought in are just the tip of the iceberg.

There has been no new deportation law brought in. What has been newly introduced are the rules for the correct implementation of the existing law that governs deportation procedures.

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

It must be painful to be terminally literal,

I explained the relevance to THIS topic and you just play dumb about it.

You're wasting my time.

For those that don’t live in, visit or follow Malaysia how would one know all the requirements especially on a Thailand thread?

I see you losing face so you’re inclined to repeat your insult pattern we witness often.

1 minute ago, KhunHeineken said:

I understand you point, however, despite this form of corruption being extremely lucrative in Thailand, it also has a lot of unintended consequences when it basically creates an open door policy for anyone over 50 years of age to live in Thailand.

I can see a clean up in the future.

Honestly, I can't. I explained why before.

Thailand takes very little risk with more "open" retirement extensions.

It offers no permanent residence path.

There is no welfare system for people who fail.

Such cases burn out and either leave or die.

For the most part it's all GRAVY for Thailand.

Why upset that system?

2 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

The 800k / 65k will rise in the future.

I can see a banning of agents in the future.

I believe there will be no grandfathering.

I can not see the monthly method being scrapped. That's a bridge too far. That would cause quite an exodus of retired expats.

It ALREADY has risen.

The Long Stay visa in which you actually get more residence security.

There is no reason for them to raise the standard O / OA.

13 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

I see you are relying on the "The Thai's would never do that, they would lose too much money" theory.

I'm not "relying" on that way of looking at the issue. I just point it out as part of the obvious.

As for "factoring in" the retirees who have invested emotionally and financially in Thailand? Sure, some of those people may have a problem. I'm not denying that. I just think that, unfortunately for them, the problem is unnecessary.

Personally, I've never assumed my retirement extension of stay was anything other than a one year at a time deal. I don't have a wife here, I don't have kids here, and if I wanted, I could be on a plane in a day or so to somewhere else. All I'd lose would be a condo security deposit and some Ikea furniture.

2 minutes ago, HolmesEquivelant said:

For those that don’t live in, visit or follow Malaysia how would one know all the requirements especially on a Thailand thread?

I see you losing face so you’re inclined to repeat your insult pattern we witness often.

Terminally literal and willfully IGNORANT. What a combo!

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

Terminally literal and willfully IGNORANT. What a combo!

You’ve got issues. Seriously

Losing face deeply affects you.

Edited August 29Aug 29 by HolmesEquivelant

Just now, HolmesEquivelant said:

You’ve got issues. Seriously

Pot kettle black.

32 minutes ago, Dan O said:

Thats the excuse expats that want to use it give but it is total illegal as it uses forged documents and fake bank deposits which is the illegal party. Try as hard as you like the imm officer descretion has nothing to do with accepting forged docs.

Try has hard as you like to say otherwise, but the immigration officer, by virtue of being the government's enforcer of the government's immigration laws, still has absolute and final discretion as to what documentation he or she deems is acceptable or otherwise.