Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are asking, are the pension requirements for Thai retirement visas going up? Let me be clear and I'm going to preface this video by sort of answering the underlying question of it which is in-country, especially for extensions in-country, unequivocally it looks like to answer that question is NO. As of right now, whatever pension requirements you have been dealing with, you're going to continue to be dealing with. But I wanted to make this video because somebody send me these data points and anybody else that came across this, I could see where it can become sort of the fodder for misunderstanding, misinformation, misconceptions.

Actually a viewer sent me a link to the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles, So thaiconsulatela.thaiembassy.org, and under Non-O (O-A/O-X), so under the O Retirement categories, under the Eligibility/Other Required Documents: 

1. Applicant must be aged 50 years and over.

2. Applicant not prohibited from entering the Kingdom.

3. Having the nationality of or residence in the country where applicant’s application is submitted.

4. Applicant must have a bank deposit of, - and we are familiar with these:

    4.1 Account balance no less than 800,000 baht or" - we all know that one,  

    4.2 an income certificate with a monthly income (pension) of not less than 65,000 baht" 

So that is the standard and for when we are talking about doing this stuff in-country, that is the rule of thumb and remains the rule of thumb at 65,000 a month. That said, quoting further, and this is where I wanted to make the video for clarification: 

"or 4.3 A deposit account plus a monthly income (pension) totalling not less than 80,000 Baht."

Now, what does that mean? We have discussed this in other videos. Although not often used, and frankly not something you want to try to rely upon, it is possible for any Immigration Officer, be they with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the form of a Consular Officer at an Embassy or Consulate of Thailand abroad, or an Immigration Officer at the Immigration bureau here in Thailand, does have the ability to use this sort of third prong where it's not just a bank balance, it's not just a pension income, but it's two things mixed. I've discussed this in other videos in the past; I have even had to correct myself on that topic in the past. Long story short, it's not something you want to rely upon, because as a practical matter, anytime you are relying upon officer discretion, it leaves open a lot of variables and the possibility of not getting the outcome that you want. That being said it remains a possible prong. 

What's being said, again purely on the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles' website is saying that for them when they look at sort of a mixed option, they are looking at somebody who has a bank account with some sort of substantial balance plus 80,000 Baht per month in pension; that's what it looks like to me. So a deposit account plus a monthly income (pension) totalling not less than 80,000 Baht. So if you're doing some kind of mixed sort of attempt, then they're going to say you need 80,000 Baht plus the balance. Which then creates the situation of well that kind of negates 4.3 because if you have a 80,000 Baht in pension, you clearly have 65,000 baht in pension, so you just do it under 4.2. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but it is posted on that website, so I feel like the clarification was useful because the person who sent it to me said, "hey does this mean they are trying to change the pension requirements?" No, that's not what I think they're trying to do. It's basically that 80,000 is a by-product of the analysis of what's going to happen if they have to deal with a mixed sort of analysis on Bank account plus pension income. 

That being said, how this plays out remains to be seen. They could, I guess raise pension requirements; I think it's very, very unlikely. As I have discussed another videos, back in the '90s when they did change the financial requirements associated with Retirement Visas, they grandfathered folks in that were in the system prior to the changes. I suspect that is very likely to be what happens here if they were to make any major changes to the Retirement Visa category here in the Kingdom of Thailand.