I find my wife and I have now to leave Thialand due to bad advice from "Visa Experts" and conflicting information from Immigration. We attempted to enter Thailand and retire, first was to apply for 90 day Non O based on retirement in the UK, then change to 1 year Retirment visa once in Chiang Mai.

London Embassy would not accept Non O application based on funds only, but on certified pension payments (Retirement Visa). So we applied for 60 Day Tourist , then when in Thailand open a Bank account and transfer 800,000 Baht. As we were informed we needed a requirement of 60 day maturity of funds in Bank before we could apply for Non O convertion (cannot convert Tourist too Retirement directly) we had to apply for 30 tourist Visa extension. This was we did.

However we are in Chiang Mai and was told we would have to go to Bangkok as Chiang Mai would not do a Tourist to Non O based on retirement visa change. We waited for the required 60 maturity and started to orginse a trip to Bangkok, but then was adviced that Bangkok had stopped this service for residence of Chiang Mai as this was now being done in Chiang Mai. As always we started asking for clarification Bangkok or Chiang Mai. Urgent call from "Visa Experts" that Chiang Mai was now doing the Tourist to Non O based on retirement visa change, but we need to go now as there needed to be at least 15 days before the current Tourist Visa extension runs out.

The end game: after running round getting the Bank certificate proving the money had been in the bank for the required 60 days and all the other documentation together we arrived at the Immigration office at 13:00. Lined up for queue ticket and would you guess, no queue ticket available for a Tourist to Non O based on Retirement as they are not sure which queue to put us in. Waiting at the counter as various officers are asked to deal with our application. 1 hour later after various discussions we are asked to sit at a desk. The kind immigration officer smiles and informs us we are too late to apply as the 15 days mentioned is based on week working days and therefore we should have come (applied on the 8th May) 2 working days earlier. However the Money would have not have been in the bank for 60 days until the 11th May. We applied on the 12th May.

As we explianed we would have gone to Bangkok earlier but told by Bangkok they no longer did this service for Chiang Mai residents and until we had confirmation from Chaing Mai we had to wait. He smiled simpathetically but he was unable to get round this ruling, and to help for the next time (after we leave Thialand) he informed us that for the 90 day Non O Visa based on retirement we did not need to wait for the 60 days maturity as this was only required for the first 1 Year Retirement Visa. This meant we could have gone to BK once the money was in the bank and applied for the 90 Day Non O based on retirement.

Any suggestions as to which overseas Thia Emmbasy should we go to for another visa (60 Tourist or 90 day Non O based on Retirement). I may as well make a holiday of it so could go for 1 or 2 weeks, not to keen on any long bus based visa runs, but would like to keep the cost down.

HELP.

You need and must get NON "O" visas. Maybe from Savannakhet or Vientiane.

You will need to provide evidence of having funds available to support an application for an extension of stay !

The "O" visa will provide a 90 day entry to Thailand . After 60 days apply for the extension based on retirement ( it is not a "visa")

Best wishes

You can get a the non-o visas in Vientiane Laos without a problem. You will show a bank book showing the 800k baht in the bank and your wife will show your marriage certificate to prove relationship.

You can fly from Chiang Mai to Udon Thani and get a van to the bridge in Nong Kai.

If you wife was planning on getting an extension as your dependent she would not of been able to do a change to a non immigrant visa at immigration. She would of had go out for the non-o anyway.

Getting the tourist visa seems like the mistake here.

I have read that the embassy in the UK changed the requirements at some point last year. Nobody appears to know why.

You would think an embassy would encourage people to come to the country but this doesn't appear to be the case with Thailand.

Edited May 12, 201511 yr by ukrules

You need and must get NON "O" visas. Maybe from Savannakhet or Vientiane.

Not Savannakhet for a non-o for being 50 or over. They have denied several peoples applications.

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You need and must get NON "O" visas. Maybe from Savannakhet or Vientiane.

Not Savannakhet for a non-o for being 50 or over. They have denied several peoples applications.

Thanks !

I was not aware

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You need and must get NON "O" visas. Maybe from Savannakhet or Vientiane.

Not Savannakhet for a non-o for being 50 or over. They have denied several peoples applications.

Thanks !

I was not aware

That was the start of the problem of not being able to apply for a Non O based on retirement in London and therefore having to get a 60 day Tourist. Both me and my wife are british and applying both for Retirement visa's this gives the wife more security if for some reason I die while in Thialand. If we had known we would have applied for the Non O based on retirement in Bangkok the day after we had the money in both our bank accounts.

The problem is this reply suggest Savannakhet as also followed London and therfore can we trust that Vientiane will still do Non O based on retirement with documented proof of funds in the Bangkok bank or are we back to 60 Day Tourist process.

If not Vientiane then which international direct flight to a city with a good Thai embassy should we go to and have a week or so there as part of an holiday.

As I wrote before Vientiane will do the non-o visas. People get them there all the time.

Just show bank books updated before you leave the country that show 800k baht in the account.

Brain, if there is one piece of advice I can give you, it is to follow the advice of ubonjoe.

OP ... If you go to Vientiane, Laos by way of Udon Thani and Nong Khai ... I know a nice little guest house in Nong Khai on the Mekong River. Jing Jo's.. Australian guy named John ... he serves great Western cooking in his small cafe. If he should be full- not likely now ... he shares his small car park with another Guest House - RuanThai.. There is also a fine very large Vietnamese Restaurant just down the alley ,,,

I suggest these things because you seem to need a break and find a way to enjoy the trip. You can also take the night train to and from Nong Khai -- in a private cabin to and from any location in Bangkok and major cities north.

Contact me by PM if you want details.

Edited May 12, 201511 yr by JDGRUEN

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You need and must get NON "O" visas. Maybe from Savannakhet or Vientiane.

Not Savannakhet for a non-o for being 50 or over. They have denied several peoples applications.

Thanks !

I was not aware

That was the start of the problem of not being able to apply for a Non O based on retirement in London and therefore having to get a 60 day Tourist. Both me and my wife are british and applying both for Retirement visa's this gives the wife more security if for some reason I die while in Thialand. If we had known we would have applied for the Non O based on retirement in Bangkok the day after we had the money in both our bank accounts.

The problem is this reply suggest Savannakhet as also followed London and therfore can we trust that Vientiane will still do Non O based on retirement with documented proof of funds in the Bangkok bank or are we back to 60 Day Tourist process.

If not Vientiane then which international direct flight to a city with a good Thai embassy should we go to and have a week or so there as part of an holiday.

The OP is Still talking about "Retirement VISAS " something which doe not exist!

Suggest the OP concentrates on obtaining the required non "O" visas and then applying for an "extension of stay" based on retirement ( not a "visa" ! )

The first time I switched over to a "retirement" visa, I hired an "expert" based on Soi 6 in Pattaya to the tune of 19k baht. This ripoff "expert" screwed up, and when immigration caught it when I was applying for re-entry permit, this thief "expert" said, for an additional 20k baht, they could fix it.

I went straight to my embassy and asked them what the process was to get an honest-to-God legitimate stamp in my passport. They tried to balk, telling me to go to immigration. I VERY politely and VERY firmly told them I had been screwed over by experts and immigration, and I wasn't going to leave until I got assistance from my embassy! They quickly brought over someone else to the window and this embassy rep explained in perfect detail what I needed to do,

Moral of the story: Talk to the REAL experts. Get his or her name, jot down the date and time you spoke (and make sure they see you are doing this, it will help them realize they will be held responsible for any misinformation given).

Keep in mind MANY other foreigner-friendly countries are MUCH less expensive, have MUCH easier visa processes, and are MUCH less xenophobic, though this last one can be said of just about every other country in the world.

As I wrote before Vientiane will do the non-o visas. People get them there all the time.

Just show bank books updated before you leave the country that show 800k baht in the account.

Dear Joe !

You say bank books ?

do they need each of them a bank book with funds ?

or must it be in both names ??

As I wrote before Vientiane will do the non-o visas. People get them there all the time.

Just show bank books updated before you leave the country that show 800k baht in the account.

Dear Joe !

You say bank books ?

do they need each of them a bank book with funds ?

or must it be in both names ??

If you look back at the OP's last post he stated that both of them are applying for extensions based upon retirement. They each need a bank account of their own to apply for the extensions.

If they weren't then only one book would be needed for the person that will be applying for the extension.

Savanaket is not a good place to go for a Non O over fifty, they are pretty tough for some reason. My friend recently got denied there for lack of documentation. When he asked what documents were required he was told to look on the embasy website. Vientienne is fine and a better place to go if you are planning on hanging out for a while before returning to Thailand. On the other hand the guy at Savanaket gave me a multi entry Non o based on marriage without batting an eyelid I was at the counter less than a minute.