Digital nomad, Thailand ?

[Sebast]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm a French developer trying to work on a long term project, my research brought me to the idea of going to Thailand to keep working without spending much.

I'm planning on leaving before December at the latest, and staying for 6 to 9 months, not necessarily only in Thailand. 

 

My first question would be which city to choose to get something nice to work from ( I have a screen with me and desktop computer ) and It would be ideal to have a monthly expense of 400 euros top (accommodation + food ) ? (cooking myself)

 

Chiang Mai is a city that keeps coming in blogs or forums.

 

Should I go through airbnb for the first week ( visa requirement ) ?

 

About the visa, I saw that I could get a 60 days visa but I'm not sure if I'm not late for it, I tried calling them since the visa office opened in Paris but they don't like the phone, I only have online banking as well ( revolut, n26 and transferwise) which get me worry to get the proof of finance, they says it needs to be stamped by the bank. What do you think, should I try to get it before leaving ?

 

I don't have my flight yet, I'm planning on taking it a bit last minute or just before asking for the visa as it is a requirement.

 

I made my decision a bit last minute, just how I like it, so any tips about cities or what air company to take or where to buy it, ... is more than welcome.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Sebastien

 

 

[steven100]

forget Airbn…. fly to Chiang Mai …. rent a hotel room for a month … look around and find a nice room somewhere that suits, that way your not rushing into any place and you can take your time and choose.

[FritsSikkink]

To work here you need a work permit and you don't get one on a tourist visa.

[Max69xl]

I don't think €400/month will be enough for accommodation and food, and you can't cook in a hotel room. 

[Pravda]

Nice idea 2 or 4 years ago

[Sebast]

16 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

To work here you need a work permit and you don't get one on a tourist visa.

 

I will be working on my project not even generating money anyways.

 

16 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

I don't think €400/month will be enough for accommodation and food, and you can't cook in a hotel room. 

My plan is to take those monthly flat that seems to be the cheapest from what I saw, not real ?

[moldresistant]

Wouldn't advise it anymore. Immigration is tightening up with their nonsense "discretions" that are impossible to predict. I'm on my last leg here too. Go to Vietnam or Laos instead.

[moldresistant]

2 minutes ago, Sebast said:

I will be working on my project not even generating money anyways.

 

My plan is to take those monthly flat that seems to be the cheapest from what I saw, not real ?

Well even working in your garden patch is considered "work" here so I wouldn't be too sure about that assumption. Sure you can do it, I do too, but is it legal? Probably not.

[Max69xl]

24 minutes ago, moldresistant said:

Well even working in your garden patch is considered "work" here so I wouldn't be too sure about that assumption. Sure you can do it, I do too, but is it legal? Probably not.

Working on a computer on a personal project isn't actually work. 

[emptypockets]

bringing a desktop computer through customs might be interesting.

[moldresistant]

17 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Working on a computer on a personal project isn't actually work. 

Not from what I read on this thread:

 

According to Thai labor law, the definition of work is "exerting effort" and "employing knowledge", "whether or not for wages or other benefits", and is based on the individual, not employment as in some other countries. ... It covers both employment and consulting.

Edited November 5, 2019 by moldresistant

[Happy Grumpy]

1 hour ago, FritsSikkink said:

To work here you need a work permit and you don't get one on a tourist visa.

He's not working here. He's working online. Fully legal to do on a Tourist Visa. As per the thousands of Co-Working spaces so people working online, while here can do so, and as per immigration officials. ????

 

 

1 hour ago, Max69xl said:

I don't think €400/month will be enough for accommodation and food, and you can't cook in a hotel room. 

 

100 euro a week. Not even close to enough to live any sort of life here. 

[dimitriv]

1 hour ago, Sebast said:

My plan is to take those monthly flat that seems to be the cheapest from what I saw, not real ?

 

400 Euro a month is not enough. You need an apartment (they call that condo in Thailand). It can be difficult to find something, especially in the high season. And in that season prices are also much higher. If you rent that for a month you will often have to pay electricity, water yourself. If I spend all my time at home with the airconditioning on the monthly bill for electricity is already 2500 Baht. Streetfood is cheap, but living for months on a 100 Baht daily budget for food sounds like a bad idea. Also in Thailand a cappuccino at the Starbucks costs 150 Baht. I would double the budget, 800 Euro a month is much more realistic. And even than you will have to be careful. 

 

And don't forget the costs for transportation. Rent outside the city center is cheaper, but costs for public transportation or renting a scooter can add up.

 

And don't get confused by all the fanatics who say you can't work in Thailand. Thailand has many laws, and everyone explains the laws in a different way. If someone asks something then you are just a tourist. And if someone asks what you do behind the computer then you are writing an email to your mother.  Never say that you work. Let them prove that you are working. You have nothing to fear if you work online for foreign clients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Edited November 5, 2019 by dimitriv

[tabarin]

Going to Thailand with 400 euro a month budget is pure insanity.

[rwdrwdrwd]

Thailand is not a good plan at present on your budget, and with your visa plans. The baht is very strong, you'd essentially have enough money for rent and electric and nothing else. Also they are really cracking down on usage of tourist visas for long term stays, you'll struggle to drag it out beyond 6 months max, and you would have to travel out of the country at least once.

I suspect the posts you are reading are from a couple of years back when the baht was weaker and visas were easier.

Go to Bali - much cheaper right now, and an enormous digital nomad community!

Edited November 5, 2019 by rwdrwdrwd

[Max69xl]

1 hour ago, moldresistant said:

Not from what I read on this thread:

 

According to Thai labor law, the definition of work is "exerting effort" and "employing knowledge", "whether or not for wages or other benefits", and is based on the individual, not employment as in some other countries. ... It covers both employment and consulting.

He won't work for anyone in Thailand,and won't make any money, and there's no benefits what so ever. 

[dimitriv]

8 minutes ago, rwdrwdrwd said:

Go to Bali - much cheaper right now, and an enormous digital nomad community!

 

I have been there only once. But also there you will not survive with E 400 a month.

 

If I had to choose now I would probably try Da Nang (Vietnam).  Nightlife is less. But if you want to concentrate on work and you are on a budget that shouldn't be a problem.

 

 

[Max69xl]

25 minutes ago, tabarin said:

Going to Thailand with 400 euro a month budget is pure insanity.

This guy hasn't got a clue about Thailand. 

[Max69xl]

1 hour ago, emptypockets said:

bringing a desktop computer through customs might be interesting.

I brought 2 Dell desktops and 1 laptop,1 Dvd-player,2 routers, speakers + other accessories through customs. I had 80+ kg in 4 big bags. No problem at all. 

[Pravda]

As others have said, surviving on 400 euros a month is not possible. 

 

I am a well known cheap Charlie on this forum and I was spending over $1000 (Canadian) a month living rent free with wife. No alcohol and no women in that budget. The wife would have kicked me out. 

 

 

[mockingbird]

OP,  I assume you mean that you're a software developer in France.  No disrespect,  but if you only have €400 per month to spend from your job,  then you'd be better advised staying at home.

The primary benefit for digital nomads is to be able to earn a western salary while living in a cheaper country, but you'll be on skid row in Thailand with such little money.

 

Even something as small as extending your tourist visa (1900 baht) will put a significant dent into your monthly. 

 

 

[donnacha]

The people saying that you need a work permit to work on personal project know that is not true. They are trolling. You will have no problems.

You do not need to show proof of anything for a 60-day tourist visa BUT you probably don't need a visa anyway. Just arrive without a visa and you will receive 30 days. Then you can extend it for another 30 days by visiting the immigration office in the city. That will give you 60 days in total. That will take you into January anyway, you should avoid being in Chiang Mai during the first 5 months of the year when the air pollution is particularly dangerous.

€400 per month is not enough. You might not realize that Thailand is more expensive than France for many basic things such as groceries and, especially, alcohol. You are also arriving during the high season, so, cheap accommodation may not be so easy to find. Simply extending your stay by 30 days costs around €60.

To have a positive first experience of Thailand, you need at least twice that amount, probably 30,000 baht would be about right. That is currently around €900 but the baht could well continue rising against the Euro. Count on at least 10K going towards accommodation. I recently paid 12K per month (including water and electricity) at House of Siam.

I probably spent around 200 baht per day on food from the nearby Thanin market, so, that would be another 6K per month simply on food. Think about that: I spent almost half your proposed budget on market food! Not western food, not junk food, not alcohol, not restaurants of any kind, just regular, traditional, cheap Thai food and fruit, sold from market stalls.

Bringing a desktop computer and monitor through customs might be no problem, but there is always a possibility that you will be asked to pay an importation tax, based on their valuation of its value. Your choice will be to pay it, or to abandon your equipment.

Really, this is the ideal use case for a laptop. By standard international convention, laptops are ignored by airport customs. Also, one of the nice things about being a digital nomad in Chiang Mai is being able to grab your laptop and spend the day working in nice cafes.

Based on your budget, my guess is that you are not an experienced developer, possibly young, possibly living rent-free with parents. I would recommend spending your €400 on a week long vacation in Spain or Greece, blow off some steam, then return home and keep learning to code.

If you have a talent for coding, you will very quickly reach the level at which it is easy to make €400 per day freelancing. That is the point at which being a digital nomad is fun, allowing you to spend a couple of days per week on client work and the rest of your time on your own stuff. 

The strange thing about "cheap" countries is that we end up spending so much more money than we do in our own "expensive" countries.

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2019 by donnacha

[emptypockets]

25 minutes ago, donnacha said:

The people saying that you need a work permit to work on personal project know that is not true. They are trolling. You will have no problems.

You do not need to show proof of anything for a 60-day tourist visa BUT you probably don't need a visa anyway. Just arrive without a visa and you will receive 30 days. Then you can extend it for another 30 days by visiting the immigration office in the city. That will give you 60 days in total. That will take you into January anyway, you should avoid being in Chiang Mai during the first 5 months of the year when the air pollution is particularly dangerous.

€400 per month is not enough. You might not realize that Thailand is more expensive than France for many basic things such as groceries and, especially, alcohol. You are also arriving during the high season, so, cheap accommodation may not be so easy to find. Simply extending your stay by 30 days costs around €60.

To have a positive first experience of Thailand, you need at least twice that amount, probably 30,000 baht would be about right. That is currently around €900 but the baht could well continue rising against the Euro. Count on at least 10K going towards accommodation. I recently paid 12K per month (including water and electricity) at House of Siam.

I probably spent around 200 baht per day on food from the nearby Thanin market, so, that would be another 6K per month simply on food. Think about that: I spent almost half your proposed budget on market food! Not western food, not junk food, not alcohol, just regular, traditional, cheap Thai food and fruit.

Bringing a desktop computer and monitor through customs might be no problem, but there is always a possibility that you will be asked to pay an importation tax, based on their valuation of its value. Your choice will be to pay it, or to abandon your equipment.

Really, this is the ideal use case for a laptop. By standard international convention, laptops are ignored by airport customs. Also, one of the nice things about being a digital nomad in Chiang Mai is being able to grab your laptop and spend the day working in nice cafes.

Based on your budget, my guess is that you are not an experienced developer, possibly young, possibly living rent-free with parents. I would recommend spending your €400 on a week long vacation in Spain or Greece, blow off some steam, then return home and keep learning to code.

If you have a talent for coding, you will very quickly reach the level at which it is easy to make €400 per day freelancing. That is the point at which being a digital nomad is fun, allowing you to spend a couple of days per week on client work and the rest of your time on your own stuff. 

The strange thing about "cheap" countries is that we end up spending so much more money than we do in our own "expensive" countries.

 

 

 

Why bother taking your gear halfway round the world when you could work at home? 

[glegolo]

3 hours ago, tabarin said:

Going to Thailand with 400 euro a month budget is pure insanity.

Yes it is, and note also that Thailand do NOT want THAT kind of people coming here. You are welcome because of your money NOT because you are you and your good looks...

 

glegolo

[emptypockets]

2 hours ago, Max69xl said:

I brought 2 Dell desktops and 1 laptop,1 Dvd-player,2 routers, speakers + other accessories through customs. I had 80+ kg in 4 big bags. No problem at all. 

Good for you. I also had no problems a couple of years ago. See how you go with the new xray machines at Swampy.

[donnacha]

8 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

Why bother taking your gear halfway round the world when you could work at home?

Well, why not see the world?

When you first make the break from full-time employment and realize it is possible to make a good living from just one day of work per week, and that you do can do that one day of work anywhere, it opens up a lot of possibilities.

I appreciate the many good things about the British Isles but only a fool would stay there during the winter if he did not absolutely have to.

Have said that, I firmly believe that trying to travel on the cheap defeats the whole purpose. Traveling in Asia is only really worth it if you have the money to do it properly and not worry about what you're spending.

 

 

[wisperone]

Don't forget your good travel insurance policy.  Lordy, Lordy, Lordy....I feel a GFM in the future.

 

Seriously...don't travel without a comprehensive policy.

[Tayaout]

400 euro it too little probably anywhere in the world. That's about minimum wage for Thai and they don't live alone. They also only eat Thai food, know how to get good deal and don't need to travel to renew their visa. I think you need at least 800 euro and it doesn't incluse travel and emergency. You should also check Cambodia or Vietnam as a cheaper option. You can't stay long term on tourist visa anymore in Thailand. Probably 6 month max if you know what you are doing. 

[baansgr]

Thailand is cheap but 13,000 a month is pushing it...

[G950]

4 hours ago, emptypockets said:

Good for you. I also had no problems a couple of years ago. See how you go with the new xray machines at Swampy.

Yes, I believe the Xray machines are about to be turned on at BKK by Xmas, if they haven't already been activated. Already had me rethink my plans too as I bring a ton of stuff each time.........