# confused over 800,000 Baht



## lightpanther

I'm finding it difficult to arrive at "official" information via internet over the 800,000 baht deposit option for retirement visa.

Does this mean that this figure must sit in a Thai bank account in perpetuity, thereby rendering it useless for any greater than basic bank account level of interest?

Does this happen once, or does it have to be repeated EVERY year? If every year, does the 800,000 have to sit in the account three months before the renewal date as per the first year?

Does a retirement visa require this "annual renewal" for the rest of your life?

Additionally, in the Philippine system, it seems that the (equivalent of this) deposit can be converted into investment (i.e. used as part of the purchase of a home). I am assuming this is not possible in Thailand?


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## Dave0

You can use any money coming in from say a pension, or rent from a house in your country so if you have a pension that amounts to say 400,000 a year you only need 400,000 in the bank, yes it needs to be in there for 3 months before and each year the same, the day after you get your visa you can use it.
Not sure on the last bit of your question.


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## Mweiga

*The 800 grand*



lightpanther said:


> I'm finding it difficult to arrive at "official" information via internet over the 800,000 baht deposit option for retirement visa.
> 
> Does this mean that this figure must sit in a Thai bank account in perpetuity, thereby rendering it useless for any greater than basic bank account level of interest?
> 
> Does this happen once, or does it have to be repeated EVERY year? If every year, does the 800,000 have to sit in the account three months before the renewal date as per the first year?
> 
> Does a retirement visa require this "annual renewal" for the rest of your life?
> 
> Additionally, in the Philippine system, it seems that the (equivalent of this) deposit can be converted into investment (i.e. used as part of the purchase of a home). I am assuming this is not possible in Thailand?


For your last query on using all or part of the 800,000 for investment , as far as I'm aware there's no restrictions imposed on what you can spend this money on. It's your money and up to you what you spend it on - there's nobody checking what you buy and where the money originated.

On the 3 month rule , this seems to be a bit more relaxed for the retirement visa renewals - I only had this 800 grand credit balance for a couple of months prior to my last two renewals. 

One further requirement that is currently being implemented at the Pattaya immigration office for one year retirement visa renewals is that , along with the bank letter confirming account balance and all the other usual passport page copies , they also require copies of your bank passbook covering activity for the previous year - imagine this may be to check you have some kind of regular in and outgoings of cash and not just borrowing the 800 grand from somebody then paying it back immediately your visa renewal is granted , ie , you're actually spending this money in Thailand.


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## cnx_bruce

lightpanther said:


> Does a retirement visa require this "annual renewal" for the rest of your life?
> 
> Additionally, in the Philippine system, it seems that the (equivalent of this) deposit can be converted into investment (i.e. used as part of the purchase of a home). I am assuming this is not possible in Thailand?


The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site is perhaps the best source for this issue

Yes it must be renewed annually as well as the 90 day reporting process

No, Thailand is not terribly flexible in this regard. The system for retirees in Malaysia is, for example, much more accommodating


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