Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Retirement Visas. We're discussing them in the context of bank statement documentation associated with proving the financial threshold one needs in order to continue renewing a Retirement Visa here in Thailand. Now this analysis could be applied with respect to the O Retirement Visa as well as the O-A Retirement Visa; they are both Retirement Visa categories. For those who are unaware, there are differences between those two visas. For example, the way they are used is slightly different but one of the big differences is that the O-A requires Insurance whereas the O Retirement Visa does not. 

That said, I received an email from a viewer and they sent me this. "Ben, I just wondered if you could throw some light on this new directive. I picked up the paperwork to renew my Retirement Visa, and I'm now told that they want a 13-month bank statement. I can only get this by ordering it from the local branch, but the statement has to come from Head Office in Bangkok. The bank wants four clear working days’ notice so that you can collect it on the same day as you have to go to the Immigration Office. My passbook shows no movement in five years, so why would this be needed?" Yeah, good question. I mean honestly just insane amounts of overreach especially in the banking sector right now. I don't understand where this is coming from. The banks are the banks. How about you stick to the business of banking, and stop bothering everyone with your Nanny-minding both in a general sense, and specifically in an immigration sense. If policy makers in Thailand want to make new rules regarding the Retirement Visa, make new rules regarding the Retirement Visa. Stop doing all this through the side door, through Banking. And on top of this, again I've said this before and I'll say it again. I am really worried about Thailand on this one, because long term, this is the kind of stuff that drives away real money, real people who want to hang out here and want to be here and want to keep capital here and want to spend it here. Nobody with any real money is going to want to throw it into a Bank Account or in a Visa scheme where they end up having to do X number more paperwork with each passing year than they had to before. I just think this is all bad policy overall. 

That being said, it doesn't look like it's going to change. If anything, it's probably evolving in a more negative way than most would like. That being said, we will certainly be keeping folks updated on this channel as this situation evolves.