Retirement Renewal At Suan Plu

[farangene]

BANGKOK BANK:

1. The day before going to Immig. I asked for update of my bankbook which had not been updated for 9 months (I usually use ATMs). I checked the balance and it was correct but didn’t looks at the detail. Unfortunately, the clerk only updated the book with the transactions for this month and last month, and skipped the prior 7 months.

I noticed this problem while reviewing my paperwork before going to Immigration. Had to return to the bank the next day to get the missing 7 months details printed on separate bank stationary.

2. The bank charge for the verification letter was “only 100 baht”. I thought it was 200 baht in prior years?

IMMIGRATION:

1. Reverse side of TM-7: Official told me to write my telephone number next to my signature.

2. The date of last year’s visa lapsed over 2 bankbooks. Be sure to bring both books as she wanted copies and the original bankbooks of all bank transactions since my last visa renewal.

3. Had to sign two additional forms given to me by the immigration official. The first was a statement to verify my residence address and second was a statement that said I understood that the 800K must be in my account at least 90 days prior to the visa renewal date. My 800K was in the account only 45 days prior to renewal this year but she never questioned it or mentioned it.

4. Bathrooms at Suan Plu are deplorable. The first floor bathroom had 3 “out of service” urinals and only 1 useable toilet with ½ inch of water on the floor. Second floor had 3 bad urinals and 2 bad toilets. Third floor had functioning toilets and urinals. With the amount of paying customers using that building, I think they should be able to do better than that.

5. I arrived at 11:30AM midweek and didn’t see the immigration official until 4PM. Bring lots of reading materials and plan on a long leisurley lunch. There is an A/C vegetarian restaurant across the street.

[gregchambers]

Just out of interest, the bank verification letter presumably has to confirm the amount in the bank book and that is has come from abroad. But what would happen if you had an interest payment from Thai bank increasing the final balance (which has to be confirmed in the letter), some of which would not then be from abroad.

[lopburi3]

As long as there is documentation of 800k transfer from abroad, this year or in previous years, there should not be any problem. Not everything in account has to come from abroad. Just be sure you can prove a total 800k transferred at some point prior to three months ago if using the bank deposit method.

[Guest]

For me, the requirement that the money has to come from abroad has never been tested or questioned after the initial visa. My experience in annual extensions is almost identical to Farangene's, except that I always arrive early and have rarely spent longer then 45 minutes there in all.

[farangene]

Just out of interest, the bank verification letter presumably has to confirm the amount in the bank book and that is has come from abroad. But what would happen if you had an interest payment from Thai bank increasing the final balance (which has to be confirmed in the letter), some of which would not then be from abroad.

I had interest payments from the bank as well as several minor cash deposits (less than 10,000 baht each) and they were not questioned. The received interest also was not significant.