Retirement visa question

[piston broke]

If you arrive in Thailand by land, and obtain the 30 day visa exempt stamp (uk passport holder, age 50 plus)....

During those 30 days, can one go to the local immigration office and apply for a retirement extension ? or would you have to leave Thailand and go to an adjoining country and apply for an O visa based on retirement, then convert to a retirement visa after returning ?

Any advice / help greatly appreciated...

[Sceptict11]

You can apply for the visa exempt entry to be converted to a Non "O" visa . You must have evidence of ability to meet the financial requirements of the "retirement extension" of stay.

If successful in your application for "conversion" an extension of stay can be applied for --- subject to meeting the financial reqirements.

[piston broke]

You can apply for the visa exempt entry to be converted to a Non "O" visa . You must have evidence of ability to meet the financial requirements of the "retirement extension" of stay.

If successful in your application for "conversion" an extension of stay can be applied for --- subject to meeting the financial reqirements.

where do you go to get it converted ( living near pattaya ) ?

can you leave it a couple of days before expiry ?

[wayned]

Pattaya iimmigration will do it.

No,you must have at least 15 days left on your current permission to stay.

You must show that you either have 800k in a Thai bank in your name only, it doesn't have to be seasoned for the conversion, but will have to be seasoned for 2 months for the extension (letters from bank required), OR a letter from your Embassy stating that you have at least 65k/month coming in from overseas.You are British so the embassy will require proof. The cost of the conversion is 2000 baht, the extension 1900 baht.

You will get 90 days when you convert the entry and during the last 30 days you go back in and do the extension. You will need two bank letters or embassy letters, one for the conversion and one for the extension.

[davejones]

You will need two letters from the bank to do the conversion (assuming you're showing money in the bank): one to show the amount and the other to show that it came from outside the country.