Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Retirement Visas here in Thailand. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Thailand's medical insurance rules for foreigners are a muddle. Quoting directly: "Foreign retirees with one type of yearly visa, known as O-A, require Medical Insurance on an ongoing basis, while those with the similar O type do not. The difference is that O-A is initially awarded by a Thai Embassy abroad, whereas the O is an annual extension of stay issued by a different agency - the Immigration Police." and they're under the auspices of the Ministry of Interior. Meanwhile, the Embassies and Consulates abroad are under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and there is a difference, there is a difference in terms of policy. Again, this is kind of a review video. For a lot of folks that watch my videos, this will be very much a review.

O-A Retirement Visas which are issued by Embassies and Consulates abroad, do require insurance in order to be issued and it is required to maintain said insurance when extending that status here in the Kingdom. The O Retirement Visa, which is a different animal, does not require such documentation when either obtaining it or extending it. So, this is a fundamental difference in terms of requirements associated with maintaining and extending Immigration statuses of retirees in Thailand. 

So a lot of folks ask me what's the best way to come in to Thailand. For the most part, there are folks that may benefit from other types of visa categories, if you are over 50 and meet the requirements, the O Retirement Visa to my mind is about the most optimal visa to be in, in terms of retirement. You're in that status, we've seen in the past that when there are rule changes, they are grandfathered in, the folks that were in the prior iteration of the rules. I tend to think that if there was some massive overhaul in Immigration where they fundamentally change Retirement Visas - and it looks like they are talking about that, I will get to that in another video - but if they were to do that, I suspect that probably, again it's not a forgotten conclusion, but probably the O Retirement Visa, probably the O-A Retirement Visa, the terms and everything associated with that status would maintain and remain sort of grandfathered in for folks in that status. 

So, the thing to take away from this video is while it's kind of becoming a passé type visa these days, in a lot of cases, the O Retirement Visa may be the most optimal way of maintaining Long Term Visa status for the most reasonable cost and under the best terms, here in the Kingdom of Thailand.