Transition from Formal Thai Job to Digital Nomad

[Peter Bergmans]

Dear all,

 

At the moment I hold a legit job, since 2yrs, in Thailand with a big company (I have a work permit + non-immigrant B visa). In future I want to make the transition to a 'digital nomad job' and keep working from Thailand for the first 4 to 8 months. After these months I am planning to leave Thailand long term, so this question is only about how to do a medium long stay in Thailand. Some recent horror stories (about people being denied entrance) spooked me, so I am looking for some clarification and/or reassurance :) All help with the questions below is very very welcome!

 

-1.How much days can I stay in Thailand after quitting my job (can I stay for the days left on my Non-B-VISA or do I need to leave the same day/week?)

-2.What is the best approach to make sure I can stay in Thailand as a digital nomad afterwards? There seem to be many options, but I also hear quite some stories of people being denied entrance. What would you think is the safest option:

-Border run or flying?

-Cambodia or Lao or....

-30-day VISA exemption stamp or apply for a tourist VISA?

 

I recently heard some horror stories of people being denied entrance or being 'grilled' at BKK, both I like to prevent :)

 

All advice is welcome!

Thanks

 

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, Peter Bergmans said:

1.How much days can I stay in Thailand after quitting my job (can I stay for the days left on my Non-B-VISA or do I need to leave the same day/week?)

If you have a valid multiple entry non-b visa issued by an embassy or consulate it remains valid.  If you actually have an extension of stay based upon working issued by immigration it ends on the day you stop working,

 

3 minutes ago, Peter Bergmans said:

2.What is the best approach to make sure I can stay in Thailand as a digital nomad afterwards? There seem to be many options, but I also hear quite some stories of people being denied entrance. What would you think is the safest option:

-Border run or flying?

-Cambodia or Lao or....

-30-day VISA exemption stamp or apply for a tourist VISA?

Best would be a single entry tourist visa that allows a 60 entry entry that can be extended for 30 day at immigration. You can get them from any nearby Thai embassy or consulate. You could easily get 3 of them that would allow a total stay of almost 9 months.

You are limited to to two 30 day visa exempt entries per calendar year at land border crossings. By air there is no written limit. You can extend the 30 days for 30 days at an immigration office.

[elviajero]

You should have no problem staying for 4-8 months using single entry Tourist Visas plus 30 day extensions.

 

It shouldn't make any difference if flying in or using land borders when using Tourist Visa.

 

Avoid using Visa Exempt Entry whenever you can as that will increase the chances of being scrutinised about what you're doing in Thailand.

[JackThompson]

2 hours ago, Peter Bergmans said:

I recently heard some horror stories of people being denied entrance or being 'grilled' at BKK, both I like to prevent :)

Best avoided by not entering by air - though I don't recall any bad stories of folks entering with Tourist Visas at Chang Mai airport.  The only land-border who would give you trouble would be Poipet/Aranyaprathet. 

 

It is debatable what is going on in the minds of the IOs who give people a hard time at airport immigration - even those with a Tourist Visas.  But we have some indication from reported comments that anyone with a longer-stay history could have trouble with some IOs.  A short stay and go - no problem; but stick around, and there may be issues.  They can't do anything about those on Non-Imm visas, so they seem to try to prevent people from putting down roots, and reaching that level, by giving them trouble when they are only longer-stay Tourists.

 

My philosophy when staying longer-term this way was: Stick to Tourist Visas, Never fly-in, and Use Visa Exempts in emergencies only.  But if you have a sure "going to leave by" date, you could use a Visa Exempt by land-border without trouble.  I'd save it until near the end, in case you change your mind.

 

Also, if you have the state-health plan from your job, I'd fork over the ~500 Baht/mo to keep the Thai health-ins going - a real bargain in case anything unfortunate should occur.