avidorn

More good info, thanks. It sounds like appointments aren't as important there. Which is helpful, if you can't really get one. 😄

Okay, thanks for your help!

Not too long, considering. Thanks, that's a good trip report!

I have, but I appreciate that anyway. I almost posted more about the bank documents (5.1-5.3) but don't want to take too much advantage of a board that answers the same questions regularly. Those bank account documentation requirements in particular seem like a real headache, requiring (I think) 3-4 documents + copies of things and visiting different places (basement in the morning, possibly an HQ depending on bank the day/week before), and so on. It's all in older threads, I know.

That would be great, thanks for the information.

Is a walk-in feasible for that, and how long does it take? Arrive early and sit all day in the bleachers? I'm looking at online appointments too, but those are several weeks out and would leave me with < 15 days on an extension. With so little time I think I might not get past the document check and that's also a long time to wait only to potentially be rejected, so I'm thinking it might be better to go sooner and sit with the crowd (which I'm sure I'll be doing anyway).

As an experiment and to compare with CW I found the online appointment site for Chiang Mai, and it has IMO clearer options for appointment selection, and also doesn't require email validation as a preliminary step. So I selected "Retirement Purpose" to find a date. March is fully booked so I checked April, but it also had no available dates. Despite being greyed out I tried clicking on a day to confirm that's correct, and it displayed "There is no availability on this date" so that's in fact how it works. So I clicked forward to May...no dates. Finally June, and it has one day the entire month available. Beyond June, you may not pass. One day, in the next three months. So with 30 days and even a 30-day extension you'd be out of luck. I think there was a recent marriage visa thread about the appointment system, so online appointments and CM may not mix. Has anybody here done the initial Non-O there recently? Are they reasonable with walk-ins, or is it an all-day or even "All full today, come back tomorrow" affair?

Would a reset work? Hop out and back in, start over. Though all roads may lead to the Bad Desk, if not in Year 1 then in Year 2 (and they may notice anyway)? Is that desk only extensions? I don't know how/if it would all work, just an idea if you haven't considered it already.

Is it safe to say that if the process for obtaining a Non-O for retirement purposes includes entering with or without a tourist visa and "Present passbook and deposit certificate from banks in Thailand" along with "Copy of all entries of the applicant’s passbook showing that the applicant has a savings or fixed deposit account (etc.)," there is no official explanation of how to legitimately obtain this account? The non-official answer would seem to be: "Your problem."

"Sir that is not a urinal."

Coincidentally I was reading a helpful post on this in the (quiet) Laos forum: So apparently on Friday you'll encounter a minimum of bubs.

I don't think "despite" is the best interpretation.

I thought that might be particular to Penang/Malaysia, but Vientiane is the same: "Single-Entry Tourist Visa: 3-month financial statements with an average balance of 20,000 baht per person or 40,000 baht per family." It's crazy that this is for a tourist visa. Asking for a bank balance is intrusive enough, what are they going to do with 3 months' worth of your financial history? You've already demonstrated you can afford the bulk of the trip by purchasing airfare and hotel reservations.

I noticed a random consulate in Canada (Vancouver) shows the following: "A copy of a bank statement showing a deposit of the amount equal to no less than 200,000 (Baht) per person or 400,000 (Baht) per family." That's for an METV. But here's Penang's for a Tourist SETV: "The applicant’s bank statement or bank book showing the account’s name and number, balance and history of transactions for the last 3 months." Does that seem excessive to anybody else? They want 3 months' worth of your financial transaction history for only an SETV. Plus: "Proof of payment for accommodation for the whole period of stay in Thailand (the receipt must state the tax payer number of the relevant hotel/accommodation)" I think I'd just take an exempt entry and extend from there instead. (Too bad it's only 30 days and not 90.)

Yes, definitely a dedicated account with the balance untouched. ????