Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the options associated with Retirement Visas going into 2026. Let me just state the reason for this video. I like doing these videos at the end of one year beginning another and I usually put the year in the title to the description because it gives me an opportunity, at least on a yearly basis, to go in and do sort of a roundup video on the generalities associated with a given Visa or a given topic, and the time has come this year to go ahead and do that. So for those who are like long-term avid watchers of this channel, this video is largely going to review. If you're new, if you're just coming into Thailand, this is your first time here, we're in high season right now. We're seeing a lot of new folks, new faces on the streets and things. Well welcome, but if you're interested in a Retirement Visa there are multiple options and there are probably other options aside from the ones I'm going to talk about in this video.

I am specifically going to talk about the O Retirement Visa, the standard O Retirement Visa versus the O-A Retirement Visa, and also understand, there are other options out there that may benefit a retiree like the Thailand Elite Visa. I've discussed in other videos Destination Thailand Visas although if you have the option to go for a standard Retirement Visa, I think you're better off on that rather than a DTV. Meanwhile, there's things like the Long-term Resident Visa which there are certain pensioners and retirees that may be able to benefit from the Long-term Resident Visa, which not to sound like a broken record, I have discussed this before in other videos, doesn't actually confer Residency per se. There is Lawful Permanent Residence in Thailand, that's a different thing from the LTR Visa, might be an option.

That said, the main thrust of this video is going to focus on the difference between the O, the standard O Retirement Visa and the O-A Visa for retirees. O-A Visas are issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs facilities, so that's Embassies and Consulates outside of Thailand. O Visas are generally issued and extended, they can be issued abroad, you can get O Visas issued abroad, but generally speaking at least through the first half of 2025, we often were dealing with those in cases of first impression at Immigration here in Thailand where people were getting converted into an O Retirement Visa then right around the time we started seeing all the political turbulence this past year, we also started seeing problems in Immigration associated with, you guessed it, the O Retirement Visa and we started seeing conversion becoming difficult to the point of impossible. Now there has been stuff out there in the ether of the internet, nonsensically saying it's now impossible to convert into a Retirement Visa. It's not impossible but the specific facts in the case have to be such that it raises sort of special circumstances enough that maybe an Immigration Officer might exercise their discretion to allow a conversion. What I'm saying is in-country at one time, it was much more of a foregone conclusion, it's much less of a foregone conclusion now. And what I mean by that is less of a foregone conclusion that you can convert into status in Thailand; again it might not be impossible. For those who might be interested in doing that, you would probably want to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.

That said, comparing the O to the O-A, the big difference is the O Retirement Visa does not require insurance in order to stay in Thailand. That said, both O and O-A Retirement Visas do have a financial requirement; 800,000 Thai Baht in a Thai bank account, or 65,000 Baht per month in pension inbound to a Thai Bank account in order to extend status in Thailand. Same application criteria applies to Ministry of Foreign Affairs when applying for an O-A Retirement Visa abroad in addition to other things including but not limited to insurance. Again, insurance requirement is not in Thailand. An O Retirement Visa I should say, - it's not a matter of being in Thailand or out of Thailand, it's the category - O Retirement Visa versus O-A; O retirees are not required to maintain insurance. So those are the big differences.