karazopa

Following this my only option is to go to another country. Please, get me right. I love rules, it makes live simpler. But Thai is not about them, is more about know-how. I lived in the past on NON-ED visa in Thai for a couple of years, and, following the latest chats, not much changed. The same corruption scheme. Going back to Non-B visas- as you mentioned, option with 3M baht does not require to work. Also, as i got, there might be NON-B visa without work permit (and work permit != NON-B visa), when you do not have the right to work. As was previously said in the post, the main problem are consequences of the positive test and i do not want to bear an extra risks of it. Reading the second post of yours i just more getting in the idea that you are not welcome me in Thai for some reason. Talking more about ED visa - there are options, where you just pay for the visa and that's it. no lessons, no hassle. ofc it's more expensive than visa runs, but it's more convenient. so, there is, at least an option to make this with the cost of 90k fo 2. So, from the beginning i know how to make this for this about of money, but want to find cheaper options, cos i do not believe that this price for my necessities is optimal. This is why this topic was created. If you do not have the idea how to make it, then why are you here?

This are a great news and I'm happy to hear that this restrictions are finally really going down. Will be happy to get confirmations (nowadays all the info have to be double checked) and review my opinion about visa runs. Anyway, the requirement to do PCR tests on entering the country makes it far from comfortable.

There is a simple test about it - to see the latest youtube videos of those, who was unlucky to be covid-positive. I agree, that it's not that bad as it was 2 years ago, but as i saw some reports on Jan and Feb, it's still required to drop your rented property in favour of some covid related facilities. Again, it's not the end of the world, but i do not feel right to expose myself to the risk when its avoidable. That's why i'm saying that visa runs are not here yet. It's only from the perspective of my risk tolerance. For others, who are not such a cowards, life is way easier.

Thank you for such a full answer! After all the readings about stealth COVID detection in Thai and all the "care" which i would be surrounded just in case this happen i can not rely on visa runs at least until this policy changes. It's just too risky to be imprisoned for my own expense (with no real guarantee that it will be refunded by insurance). Plus, i'll go with my wife, meaning, and all the inconvenience will be multiplied by 2. Been short - as i see it, visa runs are not here yet. Elite visa assumes the requirement or desire to go to Thai for 5 years, cos the price is quite high, which i can not show at the moment. I have no idea how it will go, but not i'm not ready to make such commitment. This is turning back to NON-B visas, which might have some options, at least as my brief research shows. Willing to dig in this direction and will be very thankful for any suggestions.

But isn't it possible to make any sort of business visa? Or maybe there are some helpers with investment visa? Or maybe volunteer or any other hack? I mean that obvious routes like visa-runs and ED visa are at both expensive. So the question is about options besides this 2

We are totally on the same page about visa-runs - they are not here yet. Technically they are possible, but it's not the way how the things should be done at least for us. If i go alone, i probably stick with the provided solution and that's it. But since i require 2 visas, fo me and my wife, some NON-B options might work. So i just wanted to ask if there is anything better than ED.

1. It's possible to transfer 3M baht to Thai bank, but not desirable. Plus, i can not start with this visa anyway, cos at least i do not have an active Thai bank account. 2. I do not care about work permit and I'm not willing to work in Thai. The goal is to get the visa with the least hassle and for minimal money. I'm not interested in learning Thai (or English), so the school is just one of options to just get visa. My question is, what else devent options do i have, which beats the ED visa? Pls keep in mind that i'll go with my wife, so for EV disa we'll have to pay for each, while for any NON-B visa one of us will be able do go as a dependent.

Thank you for the advice. There is a problem with ThaiPass & constant COVID screenings, expose us to the risk of having positive result once (we are vaccinated) and ruin a few weeks of life and test the insurance. I'm not afraid to get sick, but i'm scared to be surrounded with care by the Thai hospital. So it feels that the best option is to avoid border runs until ThaiPass is gone. If you sum up all the expenses, you will see, that even the cheapest border runs with the ThaiPass requirements will overall cost more than just 2 EV visas. And this is keeping aside the scheduled trips regardless the desire of it and mentioned earlier COVID risks.

Hello, I (36 yo, Israeli citizen) & my wife (38 yo, UK citizen) are willing to go to Thai for 1 year. We are living in Portugal for the last 6 years. Atm the primary visa option is ED, but it will cost ~90k THB for us both (fix me if i'm wrong), so i'm willing to sing a better solution. All the statements below are my own investigations and any comments/fixes/suggestions are more than welcome. NON-b visas allow to get only 1 costly visa and the other one can go as a dependent for almost free. 1. NON-B investment (paragraph 3.1, the last bullet), requires to show 3M of THB, which i have on my UK bank, but i'm not sure that consulate will accept this (already sent a message to them, but it might take a WHILE) 2. NON-B BOI . Another known as SMART visa is a tricky one. I can not run with SMART-T cos it requires to work on Thai company, which i'm not going to. Investment requires 20M+ which is too much for this case. Smart-E requires a degree, which i do not have, and, i assume, working to Thai company as SMART-T, so anyway i can not go with it. SMART-S requires probably way to much for some formal visa creation (am i wrong?) and it's probably will be more costly than ED visa. 3. STV visa - for 9 months stay i have to buy the insurance, which is laughable in terms of the coverage, but will cost ~30k THB per person (for the coverage 10k EUR and max payment per case 2.5k). It's kinda another form of bribe, cos i'm not willing to go for it even is i'll sick and will have to buy the proper insurance for real protection than this one. Plus, i have no idea how can i evidence, quote "evidence of long-stay accommodation" outside of Thai, because i'm willing to rent it inside the country. The medical certificate is yet another joke, which i do not even know how to fill (and translate), because there is no way that i'll get simply a sign under this. We are completely healthy, but local doctor will require to test for all of diseases in the list to prove it, so it will cost a lot of time and money. 4. go with stamp and them extend with COVID extensions - the thing is, that how then can i make a 1 year lease contract, which is required for the most offers? Plus, you never know for how long will it be, so idk if it is the best option. 5. shelter company. This is just an example, cos there are a few of them and all of them are the same. They will give you NON-B visa for a fee 500-750 USD/month or even higher. In the comparison with this Thai elite does not look that costly. 6. Thai Elite, which is not my case, because at the moment i'm planning to go to Thai fo a year (or about this duration), so it's over expensive for this purpose. As you can see, i did some homework, and do not know what was forgotten. What are my options? Will be extremely thankful for any thoughts and fixes for the list.