At the moment I live in Gran Canaria and want to live in Thailand for a long time. I know if I catch a plane I get a 30 day visa, obviously tourist. Can I go to an immigration office near Jomtien Beach and get an extended visa or is it non immigration visa or long term visa. The list seems to be endless. Hopefully somebody knowledgeable will be able to tell me the ins and out of this maze.

I do not want to stop in England and go to a Thai Embassy there because that will cost a fortune.

If I move money to a Thai bank which gives the best rates?

Should I wait until I get a longer visa before moving money, I do not want to leave it too long because Spanish banks charge what they like.

At the moment I live in Gran Canaria and want to live in Thailand for a long time. I know if I catch a plane I get a 30 day visa, obviously tourist. Can I go to an immigration office near Jomtien Beach and get an extended visa or is it non immigration visa or long term visa. The list seems to be endless. Hopefully somebody knowledgeable will be able to tell me the ins and out of this maze.

I do not want to stop in England and go to a Thai Embassy there because that will cost a fortune.

If I move money to a Thai bank which gives the best rates?

Should I wait until I get a longer visa before moving money, I do not want to leave it too long because Spanish banks charge what they like.

Depends on your age. I believe if you're 50+ you can turn a non immigrant O into a retirement visa if you put 800,00 baht into a Thai bank for 3 Months.

If you're under 50 you can buy a triple entry tourist visa that would get you 6 Months and maybe 3 30 day extensions.

If you can get a multi entry non immigrant O you could stay for 90 days, do a visa run then have another 90 days up until the 1 year visa expires. Then I believe you can extend it for a further 3 Months. Therefore a one year Non O could get you 15 Months but you leave Thailand every 90 days.

Thai banks don't normally pay interest to Foreigners but I think there might be some that do. But it wont be much.

You can get 7%+ in a UK bank now and the money's safe.

Unless you're 50+ or Married or WP/Business visa, nobody can stay longer than 90 days in Thailand without leaving the Country. As far as I know but the experts on here might have better ideas.

Edited July 26, 200817 yr by farangmal

I do not want to stop in England and go to a Thai Embassy there because that will cost a fortune.

For a start you'd go to the Thai consulate in Hull.

And since when does it "cost a fortune" to fly from Gran Canaria to the UK? And as far as I know there aren't any direct flight from Gran Canaria to Thailand so you'd have to come back to the UK anyway (assuming your'e British)

RAZZ

Edited July 26, 200817 yr by RAZZELL

Doug.

You will need a Visa of some kind.

The airline will not let you on the flight with a one way ticket without a Visa.

As you are over 50 you will need a Non Imm O Visa preferably or a Tourist Visa. From a Thai Embassy.

When you arrive you will need 800,000 Baht in a Thai bank for 3 months OR an income/pension of 65,000 Baht a month.

You will then get a years extension to stay based on Retirement. You renew this every year with the same financial requirements.

A Thai bank will give around 3% interest on a fixed interest acc.

If over 50 (don't see where he provides an age - only retired) you will need 800k in a Thai bank account for 3 months to apply for one year extension of stay. Thai passbook savings account pay about .75% interest currently. Fixed deposit would be in the 2-3% range.

From Hull you might be able to obtain a multi entry non immigrant O visa allowing 90 day stays for one year validity. At the end of that, or when ready, you could change to retirement extension with the bank account above.

If over 50 (don't see where he provides an age - only retired)

Looked at his previous posts. You taught me well.