"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
Aren't Thai bank accounts only insured for up to 1 million THB?
That is true. If you wish to save more than 1million baht and you feel concerned, you can open a second bank account.Originally Posted by cdnmatt
I wouldn't start worrying about this. First, this applies only to the Los Angeles Thai Consulate and only about O-A visas which, in my opinion, these days is the most foolish visa to get with all the nonsense going on about it. What I noticed, but he did not mention, when he was showing the paperwork the proof of 65,000 baht per month income was now 100,000 baht per month.
Consulates, just like immigration, can be very good at making up their own rules. Sometimes when you walk into immigration, you can't be sure what you're walking into. In my opinion, for those who wish to retire in Thailand, do everything within Thailand for obtaining your visa. That way you will have an O visa, not an O-A. If you already hold an O-A, I would look into whatever is necessary to do to get it switched over to an O visa, even if it requires a Thai attorney or a visa agent to help get it done. And, as my dad used to say. "Do it now. RIGHT now!"
The way things are happening in Thailand, if you are going to retire in Thailand, you definitely want your retirement visa to be the O visa, not the O-A. And the only way to get the O visa is to get it within Thailand.
Other than that, I see no reason to be worried about any upcoming changes.
Interesting video, but as the person notes, he and his Thai legal staff have seen nothing officially of a change in financial requirements for retirement. But he does note that it may be a an indication of changes that will come about in the (near?) future.
Will such change come about -- IMO it is possible. The current requirement for 800,000 baht has been in place for more than 20 years. Needless to say, costs in Thailand have increased over those years. But, if it does come about, it most likely will only impact those obtaining visas or doing first extensions after rules are officially changed (which, as yet have not happened).
In the past, when changes were made, those already on extensions of stay were "grand fathered" in and so long as they keep their extensions continuous, the old amount (800k for most of us. Section 2.22 of the current Immigration Police order governing extensions has the following re those that were on extensions of stay prior to October 21, 1998:
(6) An alien who entered the Kingdom before October 21, 1998 and has been
consecutively permitted to stay in the Kingdom for retirement shall be subject to the following
criteria:
(a) Must be 60 years of age or over and have an annual fixed income with fluids
maintained in a bank account for the past three months of no less than Baht 200,000 or have
a monthly income of no less than Baht 20,000
(b) If less than 60 years of age but not less than 55 years of age, must have an annual
fixed income with funds maintained in a bank account for the past three months of no less
than Baht 500,000 or have a monthly income of no less than Baht 50,000
Dodger (November 9th, 2021)
The fact that the Managing Director of the Law Firm speaking in this video didn't contact the Royal Thai Consulate in LA directly to question this erroneous requirement BEFORE broadcasting this video publicly is both negligent and totally unprofessional in my opinion.
Law firms like this have a track-record of fear mongering when it serves their best interest, and personally, I won't pay any heed to this piece of flimsy speculation at all.
There are 63 Thai embassies and 40 consulates operating around the world and not a single one (other than LA) has mentioned this erroneous requirement. According to the Managing Directors own statements, there has been no mention of this policy change in Thailand at all. And that includes the Thai lawyers who work in his office, who, one would assume, are connected to the network over here and have their ears close to the train tracks. And one has heard anything?
He should have contacted the LA Consulate before opening his mouth...Bottom Line.
React as you choose. But I wouldn't go changing your visa classification (O, O-A, etc.)...messing with your bank account(s), or anything else based on this nonsense.
As 2Lz2p mentioned, if changes like this were to occur in the future they would probably apply the "grand father" clause anyway.
Maybe the Integrity Legal Law Firm who produced this video should look at the LA Thai Consulates web site again. It appears as if the error has already been corrected. Go figure!
(Site link below)
O-A Visa Requirements:
4. Bank statement or evidence of adequate finance showing
– a deposit of the amount equal to and not less than 800,000 Baht; or
– an income certificate (an original copy) with a monthly income of not less than 65,000 Baht; or
– a deposit account plus a monthly income totaling not less than 800,000 Baht.
– In the case of submitting a bank statement, a letter of guarantee from the bank
(an original copy) is required.
https://thaiconsulatela.org/en/visa/...-category-o-a/
This is there original site the video references the new updatesd site.
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
There is a saying “when someone tells you who they are believe them” the government wants wealthy tourists and expats, what part don’t you get?
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
And it wouldn't be this guy's first time. It is exactly what you call it - fear mongering.
If anyone out there wants to get themselves nervous or frightened by this, be my guest.
Meanwhile, this was also posted on my board. I deleted it. I'll scare people when there's a good, valid, confirmed reason to scare them. This isn't it. There has been more than enough of that over the past few years.
The easiest way to avoid O-A visa problems is not to get an O-A visa. Come to Thailand. Get your retirement visa here. Now you'll have the O visa. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Dodger (November 9th, 2021)
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"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
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