Country guide
Thailand retirement visa: THB 800,000 or THB 65,000
Updated
Thailand publishes its numbers plainly, in baht, on a ministry page. The complications start after you arrive, not before.
The published test
The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs sets out the Non-Immigrant Visa O-A (long stay) requirements. The applicant must be aged 50 years and over on the day of submitting the application. On money, the applicant must provide one of the following (mfa.go.th).
- A copy of a bank statement showing a deposit of an amount equal to and not less than THB 800,000.
- An original income certificate showing a monthly income of not less than THB 65,000.
- A deposit account plus a monthly income totalling not less than THB 800,000.
Where a bank statement is submitted, an original letter of guarantee from the bank is also required. The holder of this visa is allowed to stay in Thailand for 1 year.
The arithmetic people get wrong
THB 65,000 a month is THB 780,000 a year, not THB 800,000. The two limbs of the test are not the same size, and the combination limb is written against the THB 800,000 figure rather than the annualised income figure. If you are close to the line, the deposit route is the one with no interpretation in it.
What this page does not tell you
- Seasoning and maintenance of the deposit. The ministry page quoted above sets the application test. Rules about how long money must sit in a Thai account before and after an extension are applied by the Immigration Bureau, not the consulate, and we do not publish a figure for them because we could not read the Immigration Bureau's own page.
- Health insurance. The O-A category has carried an insurance condition. The ministry page we read does not state it, so we do not state a figure either. Ask the consulate handling your application.
- Extensions inside Thailand. Extending a stay is a separate process under the Immigration Bureau with its own evidence requirements.
- The O-X and Non-Immigrant O routes. Different categories with different thresholds. This page covers the O-A only.
Absence is deliberate here. Where the official page did not state something, we say so rather than filling it in from a forum. Confirm the current position with the Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate that will handle your application.