thaivisareader

did the so-called captain go down with the ship? I hope.

he'll stay, regardless. It's what dictrs do

certainly a good way to target those elusive & never gonna visit well heeled tourists. You idiotots

To each their own for sure. In Thailand there are cities and then there is Bangkok. Nothing against the place. First rate medical care if needed, endless dining, shopping options and all the rest. But as a retired old guy with small family, I love upcountry living on a couple rai just a few kilometers from a medium sized city. Has everything but on a much smaller scale. As they say- 'up to you'

let the damn baht keep sinking down and down she goes to 40+ = $1

so the airlines will be directed to be Thailand's tourist scam tax enforcers, sorting out who pays or doesn't pay it? They'll be thrilled with that.

...want the old days back again---careful what you wish for. careful? F.U. I wish for the baht to keep on depreciating to 'the good old days' of 2005 when 40+baht=$1/72b=1£. where it should be. BTW way back when the baht was 25/35 you got a ton load more bang & brews for your $'s & £'s.

bahts been manipulated and propped up way too long. should be in the £70/$40 range. Reason? baht not backed up by anything. Exports/tourism/manufacturing- way down. unpopular stagnant dictatorship doesn't help.

those damn vending drink machine hair/fiber filters are always malfunctioning???? -need to be cleaned bi-yearly

I was given an O-A long stay visa (based on retirement) in the U.S. in 2004 and no problems extending it until 2019. That year I was told I needed some huge amount of medical insurance- much more than my existing Aetna family plan. They told me to change it over to "based on marriage" which I did the next day. No specific insurance requirement. Been extending the visa that way since then. It still says O-A on the extension.

consider swapping out your O-A retirement extension for O-A marriage. No insurance required last Nov. Just show monthly foreign transfers of at least 40k baht or 400k deposited within last 2-3 mos. Best if you DO have family health cover but they have never asked for policy. Subject to change of course

my point was if keeping O-A consider changing from retirement to marriage visa. not as many requirements. Yet

Changed from O-A retirement to O-A marriage extension for past 3 yrs. Udon. Need to take wife & witness with. They haven't ask for insurance although we have Aetna 500k baht family plan. No parked money in thai bank, i show the monthly transfer of well over 60k baht with 1 yr. bank statement showing code for foreign transfer, bank book, map to house, 2k baht. Pick up visa after 3 weeks. Of course, this is subject to change on a whim at any time

if you are American, expect to fill out an IRS form showing your ss no. That started a few years back.