According to all the Thai Embassy and Consulate websites a Retirement Visa is no longer available as a Single Entry, only a Multiple Entry at a Cost of $200 US.

Type O Visas are issued only as Single Entry and not accepted as Multiple Entry at a Cost of $80 US.

Any Type O Visa's for Multiple Entry will be rejected and returned thus taking longer to get processed.

Tourist Visa is $40 (I did not see anything about Multiple Entry Tourist Visas, altho it may be in the website).

This info is readily available on any of the Thai Embassy and Consulte Websites for the USA.

Don't know when they started charging the higher fees and limiting the Retirement Visa to a multiple entry only and the other type O's to Only a single entry.

The updated fees have been in effect since 1 Oct 11 as shown on the Thai Consulate Washington D.C. web site. Link

Type O Visas are issued only as Single Entry and not accepted as Multiple Entry at a Cost of $80 US.

Any Type O Visa's for Multiple Entry will be rejected

Please provide a link to that information.

This is a very confusing post. I thought an "O" visa was a retirement visa? So you are saying in one sentence that all retirement visas are multiple entry now for $100.00 but on another sentence it says that:

Type O Visas are issued only as Single Entry and not accepted as Multiple Entry at a Cost of $80 US.

Any Type O Visa's for Multiple Entry will be rejected

Someone PLEASE explain all this.

You have different categories of O visas with different requirements for issue.

Some allow entry for 90 days before you have to do a border run (like a multiple entry O visa); some for a year.

A retirement visa is a OA visa (in the O visa category) which allows entry for a 1 year. With a multiple entry OA visa you could do a border run just before the visa expires and you get an additional year effectively extending the visa to almost 2 years assuming you first entered Thailand very shortly after the visa was originally issued.

Edited September 21, 201213 yr by Pib

I think he has taken his info from this on LA consulate website.

NO MULTIPLE-ENTRY NON-IMMIGRANT VISAS FOR TEACHING, VOLUNTEERING, WORKING WITH NGO, STUDY MUAY THAI/DIVE SCHOOL/MASSAGE/MEDITATION. Applying for a multiple-entry visa will only delay your application while you send a new money order for a single-entry visa.

Non-immigrant visas will not be issued for such purposes as tourism, visiting friends, visiting fiancé/fiancée, seeking employment opportunities, looking for a school for teaching or studying purposes, etc.

The Consulate will consider the application on a case-by-case basis and may ask for additional documents.

Link: http://www.thaiconsulatela.org/service_visa_detail.aspx?link_id=34

If that is what he actually means not a real change for those obtaining for family reasons; or even retirement from honorary consulates.

You have different categories of O visas with different requirements for issue.

Some allow entry for 90 days before you have to do a border run (like a multiple entry O visa); some for a year.

A retirement visa is a OA visa (in the O visa category) which allows entry for a 1 year. With a multiple entry OA visa you could do a border run just before the visa expires and you get an additional year effectively extending the visa to almost 2 years assuming you first entered Thailand very shortly after the visa was originally issued.

that is true. (these visa's I got in the USA)

I had a multiple OA which allows entry for 1yr and can extend an additional year extending the visa to 2 (as you mentioned)

I also have a existing O now, its a little different from OA, it entitles me to stay 90 days but I must leave the country every 90 days to get another

90 days; I can extend my stay to a maximum 15 month on this O, the cost was $200US.