Mr Smooth is correct about the one year retirement visa which is different than becoming a "resident" in a country as Westy is talking about.....two entirely different things.
I am living in Thailand now on a one year retirement visa. As Mr Smooth said, if you are 50 y.o. and have income of 65,000 baht$2,100 US) income per month you can easily obtain a one year retirement visa here in Thailand at any immigration office...there are a number of them in the cities all over Thailand. I obtained mine right here in Pattaya in a matter of just an hour or two and at a cost of about 3,900 baht($130 US). The only paper I needed from the American embassy was the sheet of paper that stated that my income was 65,000 baht or more. YOU fill in a few blanks on a single sheet of paper stating what your income is. They don't ask for any kind of verification at all. You fill in the sheet yourself and hand it to them...there are no questions asked. This is very easily obtained from the American embassy at a cost of $50 US. They notarize the letter for you and you go to the Thai immigration office with this income letter(they call it an affidavit) and fill out two easy Thai forms, hand this to them with the 3900 baht. They put your one year visa in your passport and away you go....all set for one year. Yes, you do have to go to any immigration office in Thailand every 90 days to verify your address....easy, no cost, and takes about 10 minutes...just did it earlier this week. This stuff isn't complicated. Once you have this one year retirement visa there are no boarder runs or hassles necessary to stay in "the kingdom" for 12 months. If you want to leave the country to travel during the 12 months you go to the immigration office again and get what they call a "re-entry" permit...that way your 12 month retirement visa stays in effect as you go out and back into the country...easy!
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