Farangchopthai, thanks very much for the update on the current situation at Pattaya Immigration.  An e-mail friend also indicates that Pattaya has recently been very relaxed re the issuance of retirement visas.

Also, another acquaintance got a retirement visa at Suan Plu (Bangkok Immigration) within the past 2 weeks using an O visa and said the process was very straightforward and the officials were very helpful.  Though I believe he used an 800K bank deposit to meet the financial requirement.

From what he said there appear to be some changes in personnel and the way the application is handled as compared to my experience in April, May and June of this year.  He initially dealt with two women who then sent him on to an older grim woman - who in fact turned out to be very nice.  He apparently did not deal with Kuhn Pallop who seemed to be the primary officer issuing retirement visas earlier this year.

-redwood

Do you have to obtain a retirement visa from the city that you are residing in or can you apply anywhere in Thailand?

If you have a Non-Immigrant O visa issued anywhere outside Thailand, and you are otherwise eligible, you can apply for the retirement extension at any Immigration office in Thailand.