Once 2 years ago i didn't have enough so used the fact i was over 50 and had a thai child and only needed to show $500,000 ( their figures even though u dont need to show anything in Bangkok). and got my extgension on that fact and next year went back tot he retirement extension.

This option is no longer available since the new rules came out.

If you have a child that is Thai you do not need to be 50 to get the extension. Their is now a requirement of 400,000 baht in the bank or 40,000 baht inocme.

I accept this, but please can you explain what is the difference in practice?

A visa is nothing more then a permit to come to Thailand and ask for permission to enter. It is not a permission to enter Thailand itself. Immigration can and will refuse you if they want, wether you have a visa or not.

The permission to enter and stay you get in the form of a stamp from immigration and this permission to stay you is what you extend. Not the visa, as you already are in Thailand.

That is why you can stay in Thailand, although your visa has expired.

Someone earlier raised the question of opening a bank account.

No problem Link

Even with a Tourist Visa!

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So next year I'll try not giving them the Forex photocopy and the bank pass book copies. I don't think there's anything else contentious that I could try not giving them.

Doesn't time fly...

I didn't give them the Forex transfer document this year, and they didn't ask for it. So it looks like that document is no longer - if it ever was - a requirement.

However, I did give them the bank book copies and they questioned me hard on what they saw. One of the "update" machines screwed up when I used it about a month ago and used a huge font. That pushed everything over to the right and made the "Withdrawal" figure appear in the "Balance" column of the book. The actual balance figure was missing - obviously printed off the page.

(The front metal panel of the update machine fell off just before I used it and crashed to the ground. Note to self: do not use update machines that are falling apart.)

So it looked like my balance was 9,000 baht about a month ago.

So, in Phuket, the first thing the lady "checker" (the one who sits at the back on her own and checks all the documents) said was: "Only one month? Must have for three months!"

It was obvious to me what had happened, but I had to explain the effect of this printing error and that the actual balance figure was off the page. It was also clearly printed that I had over 900k before and after this printing cock-up. They eventually accepted my explanation but it was touch and go for a while. I suppose they could have asked me to go to the bank and get a new print out of the last three months.

They also checked that the figure in the bank letter matched the last entry in the bank book. Thank Buddha it did.

So, next year I'll make sure the last 3 months of my bank book get printed in perfect condition and if they don't I'll get a fresh print out from the bank.