Marriage Visa or Retirement Visa?

[naelo]

Let's assume your friend wishes to stay in Thailand "forever". Once one receives either the marriage or the retirement visa extension and continues to make those extensions on an annual basis, that person is (generally) grandfathered in at the current financial requirements. For example, somebody who has been on continuous retirement extensions since prior to 1998 only needs to have 200K baht in the bank because that's what the rule was previously.

 

My thought is that if one can swing the retirement extension, that's the way to go. You should be grandfathered into the system using the 2014 rules. If one opts for the marriage route, the marriage goes bust or your spouse dies say, ten years down the road, you have to deal with whatever the rules have changed to in the interim.

[The Sly Fox]

I've had both through the years - marriage visa and retirement visa. I'm currently no longer married and on a retirement visa and it is much easier than the marriage visa. If I got married to a Thai again tomorrow I would keep that to myself and continue with retirement visas.

[retrodude]

you can obtain a multi entry marriage visa and just fill in a simple form when going out,

 

What form is that then?

 

I'm here on a multi entry marriage visa and have just returned from a three week trip to the UK, I didn't fill out a form other than the departure form that was alread stapled into my passport.

 

Should I have informed immigration that I was leaving the country?

[Jebb]

Thanks for all the informed comment and input guys. Valuable information there, that is what the forum is all about. Well Done!