Hi I am trvaling to Ning Khai in September, hopefully to stay for at least a year. I have a small pension, enough to live on but not quite enough to meet the retirement requirements. I am degreed with a teaching specialty in English so I may decide to teach after I get there. It looks like to begin with the single entry 90 day visa is my best shot. Is this ? What other better options are there for me so that I don't hit complcations when I try to stay longer. Have read most odf the threads and am still abit confused. Also is it possible to get a medical, rehabilitation stay visa after arriving there and will it give me a longer term there?

Thanks from a newbie

Hi I am trvaling to Ning Khai in September, hopefully to stay for at least a year. I have a small pension, enough to live on but not quite enough to  meet the retirement requirements. I am degreed with a teaching specialty in English so I may decide to teach after I get there.  It looks like to begin with the single entry 90 day visa is my best shot. Is this ? What other better options are there for me so that I don't hit complcations when I try to stay longer. Have read most odf the threads and am still abit confused.

what is your age and which country you are a citizen of?

if you get a teacher job lined up then you will need a non immigrant B/work permit and your entry should be able to be extended to one year. that will save you from leaving every 90 days. you will need to report your address every 90 days.

Also is it possible to get a medical, rehabilitation stay visa after arriving there and will it give me a longer term there?

Thanks from a newbie

there isn't a medical visa, however some of the larger hospitals have personnel within the hospital or in the area that can get an extension for you while you are in the hospital, but don't count on it for sure...the last thing you want is to be in a hospital bed racking up an overstay.

Thanks for the info. I am a US citizen 59 years old. I will look at teaching if thats what I have to do to stay at least a year. If I can find a way to stay that long without teaching I just want to limit the number of border runs to as few as possible and to be sure I can use that method if necessary. Again thanks for the help

You can qualify for a retirement visa based on qualifying BOTH on your pension income combined with a bank account in Thailand, to total 800K baht.

For example, if your pension totals 500K baht a year, you could open a Thai bank account by transfering in 300K baht. That would financially qualify you for a one year visa extension based on retirement. If you do not have enough savings to total over 800K when added to your pension, I would question whether you can really afford to retire in Thailand (and so would Thai immigration).

If you have the money for this, it sounds like the way to go. You are probably too old (nothing personal, there is open age discrimination in employment in Thailand) to easily get into teaching and it sounds like you are not enthusiastic about it anyway.

With this kind of one year visa, you do not have to ever leave Thailand (no visa runs), though you would need to requalify annually.

If you decide to explore the "combo" option (qualifying with both the pensions and a bank account), spend some time researching on this board about the exact mechanics of going about getting this visa (and then ask more questions).

Thaiquila has put the forward the best option for you.

Forget the medical option or the teaching.

Working without a permit can get you in lot of trouble.

Just enjoy the delights of Thailand.