Looking For Advice From Anybody That Can Help.

[pauwhi]

I am a British citizen but am resident in The Netherlands. Before my retirement I worked on and off in Thailand, approx 33 visits in 4 years. Now I am living alone I want to semi retire to Thailand. I have read quite a lot about the Thai retirement visa but don't really want to change Euro (strong currency) to Baht (an unreliable currency). I am thinking of maybe living in Thailand (Jomtien area) for any length of time between 1 - 10 years, probably more likely to be 10 years. I have no problems with returning to the Netherlands every 90 days. Can anybody tell me which visa would suit my requirements? I will be on a 3 week holiday in Jomtien arriving 28 Feb. I intend visiting the Thai Imigration Office in Pattaya, if there is one there otherwise in BKK.

[Mario2008]

You can apply for a non-immigrant visa based on retirement, if you are over 50. This would require you to show 1250 Euro on a recent bankslip when applying at the consulate in Amsterdam.

Once in Thailand you can extend your stay by one year and every year after that if you qualify. To qualify you would need an income of 65,000 Baht.a month OR a deposit of 800,000 baht in a Thai bank for 2 months prior to aplying for the extension OR a combination of income and money in the bank, together totaling 800,000.

http://www.thaiconsulate-amsterdam.org/visa_nl.asp

[Lite Beer]

A Non Imm O-A Visa can be obtained at the Thai Embassy in London. No need to have the money in a Thai bank.

Details O-A Visa

Or you can get a Non O Multi Entry Visa from the Thai Consulate in Hull UK. This would give you up to 15 months stay but would need a border run every 90 days. Details. Hull

Or you can do as Mario2008 suggested.

[Mario2008]

Don't worry LB. The Amsterdam consulate is very friendly also. He can also apply there for a multiple non-O.

I understand he can apply for a non-O-A in the Netherlands too, at the embassy in The Hague. But their website is useless: http://www.mfa.go.th/web/1326.php?depid=227

[Lite Beer]

Don't worry LB. The Amsterdam consulate is very friendly also. He can also apply there for a multiple non-O.

I understand he can apply for a non-O-A in the Netherlands too, at the embassy in The Hague. But their website is useless: http://www.mfa.go.th/web/1326.php?depid=227

We get so few reports from Holland on here. I did not realise that Amserdam was in the same league as Hull. I am afraid that my visits to Amsterdam ended up in a different direction.

As for the O-A, I thought you could only obtain this from your own country. He is British.

[Mario2008]

I believe it is the country you are residing in, not the country you are a national of. But interesting point for some more research.

[Lite Beer]

I believe it is the country you are residing in, not the country you are a national of. But interesting point for some more research.

You could well be right. From the Thai Embassy London website. 1.4 Holding the nationality or permanent residence of the country of application

[pauwhi]

Hi Mario2008 and Lite Beer,

Thanks for reply.

Your first reaction refers to, I think, to a retirement visa. As I already pointed out, I am not to happy with having my Euros in a Thai Bank in Baht. What are your thoughts on the Baht, my feedback from Thailand is not too positive.. Both you and Lite Beer refer to an non O-A visa. What is this exactly? Should I look into this further, maybe the best way forward.

[Mario2008]

The O-A visa is a longstay visa. The requirements are in the link Lite Beer provided:

http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/visa_retirement.html

It emans that when you come to Thailand you will get a permission to stay of 1 year. With a multiple non O-A you could spread that out to 2 years. (A mulitple O-A is valid for 1 year, and during that year you will get permission to stay in Thailand for 1 year every time you enter Thailand. So by just leaving and entering Thailand again a few days before the visa expires, you would get a new permission to stay for 1 year, making it 2 years).

It is harder to get, but would mean that you would have 2 years before you would need to have the money in the Thai bank. Alternatively you could apply again for a O-A visa.