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 If you plan to do business here, or reside with a spouse, or retire. This requires documentation of your intent, usually a letter from your employer or your spouse's employer, or a marriage certificate with your Thai spouse.
Non-immigrant B (Business) Visa
If you are coming to Thailand for business, then you apply for a Non-immigrant B (Business) Visa. This 90 day visa can be extended for up to 1 year (and again for the next year) if you subsequently get a work permit and can show you've been paid the minimum monthly salary (50,000 baht for nationals of most Western countries)
Non-immigrant O Visa
If you have a registered legal marriage to a Thai or to a foreigner who has a work permit in Thailand, then you apply for a Nonimmigrant O Visa. This 90 day visa can be extended for up to 1 year (and again for the next year) if you can display sufficient funds in a Thai bank savings account (a minimum balance of 400,000 baht over the previous 3 months). You show immigration your bank book, but immigration can also check its list of applicants using its contacts in the banks.
Retirement Visa
Retirement Visa for those over 50 years old who keep a minimum balance of 800,000 baht in their Thai bank account over the previous 3 months and/or can prove they have a pension or regular income of at least 65,000 baht/month (including a required letter from their embassy about this pension), and wishing to retire in Thailand. If you are relying on the 800,000 baht then you must show it came into Thailand from a foreign country. Sometimes, a combination of the two (bank and pension) is allowed. A medical certificate is no longer required.
Visa Extension
You start with a 90 day non-immigrant visa and extend to a year by submitting an application to the Immigration Department near the time your visa will expire. You will normally get a 30 day extension while the application is being considered and processed (assuming it is complete and you meet the requirements), and it may require multiple trips to the immigration department for additional 30 day extensions -- if the one year application has not been approved before your visa expires, then you must make sure to go back and ask the clerk to stamp your passport with another visa extension before your visa expires, which is extended one month at a time so may require more trips. This situation has improved over time so that most people don't need additional 30 day stamps. In fact, many retirement visas have been processed on the same day.
There are a few immigration department branches around Thailand, but most people must go to the branch in Bangkok on soi Suanplu. Which branch you must go to depends upon where in Thailand you live.
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