Three retirementroutes, compared.
There are three ways to retire in Thailand and they suit different people. This page sets them beside each other so the decision is visible in one screen rather than four.
Prefer this handled for you?
General information, not advice about your case. Procedures change, so where a detail matters to your application we confirm it with you rather than print a figure here that could be out of date.
One outcome, three doors
The routes were written for different applicants at different times. They are not tiers, and the longest one is not the best one.
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Why three
Jump to sectionEach route was designed around a different applicant, and the differences are not cosmetic.
Side by side
Jump to sectionEvery condition that separates the routes, set out in one table rather than four paragraphs.
Who each suits
Jump to sectionThe circumstances that point at one route, including the insurance question on the O-A.
Changing route
Jump to sectionMoving between routes later, which people do more often than they expect.
Three doors, one outcome
The practical differences show up in three places: who may apply, what has to be true of your money, and how often you are back at a counter.
Why there are three
One route is granted on the strength of your age and your finances and extended each year. One is issued in your home country and carries an insurance requirement the first does not. One is open to a shorter list of nationalities, with its own financial and insurance conditions.
That is the whole architecture. Everything else is detail, and the detail is where the cost of choosing badly sits.
Which one people here take
Most readers of this page want a Non-O. Some qualify for an O-A and would rather not, once they have seen the insurance requirement.
We will tell you which one your circumstances point at, before you spend anything.
The numbers, and why they are not here yet
Every figure that separates these routes is a number that moves. A stale number on this page is worse than no number at all, because someone will plan around it.
The three routes, in one table
Read down a column to see one route whole. Read across a row to see where they actually differ.
| Non-Immigrant O | Non-Immigrant O-A | Non-Immigrant O-X | |
|---|---|---|---|
| In brief | Granted on the strength of your age and your finances, then extended each year. | Issued in your home country, and carrying an insurance requirement the Non-O does not. | Open to a shorter list of nationalities, with its own financial and insurance conditions. |
| Who may apply | On request | On request | On request |
| Where it is issued | On request | Your home country | On request |
| Financial conditions | On request | On request | On request |
| Insurance | Not part of this route | Part of this route | Part of this route |
| How long it runs | On request | On request | On request |
Cells marked on request depend on your circumstances and current practice, so we confirm them for you rather than print them here. The descriptions in the first row are the ones carried on our retirement page.
Prefer this handled for you?
Tell us your age, where your funds sit, and what permission to stay you hold today. You will have the route before you spend anything.
The decision, in plain terms
Choosing badly is expensive in time rather than money, which is why it is worth ten minutes now.
Who each route suits
The question is rarely which route is best. It is which route is available to you, given where you are standing, where your money sits, and what you are willing to carry every year.
Once those three answers are known, the choice usually makes itself.
The insurance question on the O-A
The insurance requirement is the single most common reason someone who qualifies for the O-A takes the Non-O instead. Whether that trade is worth making depends on your age, the cover you already hold at home, and what the requirement actually asks for.
Changing route later
People move between routes, usually because their circumstances changed rather than because they chose wrongly. What it involves depends on the direction you are going and where you are standing when you decide.
The page this guide feeds
One service page, and the two guides that sit either side of it.
Retirement visas in Hua Hin
Read the guideNon-Immigrant O and O-A applications, prepared against what the office asks for this year.
The money side
Read the guideThe deposit route, the income route, and the timing that catches people out.
The admin calendar
Read the guideEvery recurring filing, when it falls, and how the dates interact.