Digital nomad, Thailand ?

[Dexxter]

19 hours ago, moldresistant said:

According to Thai labor law, the definition of work is "exerting effort" and "employing knowledge", "whether or not for wages or other benefits"

So if I exert myself and get out of bed in the morning and employ my knowledge of where to get breakfast, I am breaking the law because I receive a benefit in the form of nourishment? ????

[Tayaout]

1 hour ago, Parsve said:

Where to live, your choice, but as every where else, internet connection is better in citys than in the rural areas, and you will neve find a place here that has better internet connection than France. You have to understand that Thailand still is recon as a undevelopment country, even if that could be hard to understand if you are living in a big city.

I agree with most of what you said except internet connection. Thailand has gigabit fiber internet nearly everywhere even in remote area: https://www.3bb.co.th/3bb/product/internet_package

 

I live in a rural area 3h from Bangkok and I have nothing to complain about. My internet is much faster and stable than my sister living in Normandy. 

 

The issue I experienced was with shared WiFi connection in condo building or hotel because they pay for the cheapest package and have too many clients. 

[Number 6]

I think even GH now must be 400b per night. Maybe 8k per month.

 

Food 100b per day including water. Pretty much only Thai food and instant coffee.

 

Game over already.

[balo]

Nothing heard from the OP , I hope he was serious ? 

Anyway, I have lived and worked as a digital nomad since 2010, and right now I am back in Europe.
For 6 months there should be no problems to work on your laptop on tourist visas in Thailand, then you need to cross the border and you can live for another 6 months in Cambodia, Vietnam or Laos.

When it comes to the budget, you need at least €700-800 or 25000 baht to be able to live here, if you can find a cheap condo to rent (7000-9000 thb).  €400 you can forget. 
  

Edited November 6, 2019 by balo

[dimitriv]

1 hour ago, Tayaout said:

I agree with most of what you said except internet connection. Thailand has gigabit fiber internet nearly everywhere even in remote area: https://www.3bb.co.th/3bb/product/internet_package

 

I live in a rural area 3h from Bangkok and I have nothing to complain about. My internet is much faster and stable than my sister living in Normandy. 

 

The issue I experienced was with shared WiFi connection in condo building or hotel because they pay for the cheapest package and have too many clients. 

 

I live in Bangkok, not far from the centre. All I can get in my condo building (which is only a couple of years old) is a 50 Mbits connection which disconnects often, gives a lot of timeouts and never gave me the speed they advertised with. Overall it is a bad experience. If I have to upload some big files I often wait for that till I am in the Starbucks where I can use good internet.

 

It is for sure not so that you can say that "internet" is always good in Thailand. It is more a matter of being lucky or not.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2019 by dimitriv

[jackdd]

14 minutes ago, dimitriv said:

I live in Bangkok, not far from the centre. All I can get in my condo building (which is only a couple of years old) is a 50 Mbits connection which disconnects often, gives a lot of timeouts and never gave me the speed they advertised with. Overall it is a bad experience. If I have to upload some big files I often wait for that till I am in the Starbucks where I can use good internet.

 

It is for sure not so that you can say that "internet" is always good in Thailand. It is more a matter of being lucky or not.

The situation in your condo is like this because the developer was too cheap to invest a few hundred baht more per condo to have the building equipped with fibre when they built it, or they just didn't care.

And now the owners are too cheap to do this investment or just don't care as well. So for this you can't blame the telcos.

If you live in a house (or a condo where the owners care about their internet) you can usually get gigabit internet, try getting this in Europe ????

[dimitriv]

20 minutes ago, jackdd said:

The situation in your condo is like this because the developer was too cheap to invest a few hundred baht more per condo to have the building equipped with fibre when they built it, or they just didn't care.

And now the owners are too cheap to do this investment or just don't care as well. So for this you can't blame the telcos.

If you live in a house (or a condo where the owners care about their internet) you can usually get gigabit internet, try getting this in Europe ????

 

For me it doesn't really matter who is to blame, there is nothing I can do to change it. Just wanted to say that you cannot say that internet is always good in Thailand.

 

And where I come from, NL, I can get 500 Mbit without problems. And the telco is responsible for the connection till behind my front door. The owners of the building have no involvement with this. It's the telco who is responsible.

 

I was a little bit surprised about this in Thailand. The telco sells a package, and if it doesn't work they can blame something else and they are not responsible.

 

I remember even in Spain the telco installed a new glassfibre wire from the street till my apartment at the seventh floor without even asking or mentioning that it was a problem. The costs of the work was included in the E40 monthly subscription.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2019 by dimitriv

[khunPer]

23 hours ago, Sebast said:

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, officially you cannot work in Thailand without a work permit; however numerous digital nomads seem to do it – must be for foreign customers only, no Thais involved – but do "under the radar".

Your €400 – equivalent to aprox. 13,000 baht – a month budget seems to be too tight. You shall count up to 10,000 baht a month for an acceptable accommodation with wi-fi access, and at least 200 baht a day for food, i.e. 6,000 baht a month. You'll also need money for laundry, and other needed stuff. I would think €600 is minimum.

 

I've tried to stay in a 6,500 baht a month bungalow, fan only, Internet access extra, electricity about 400 baht on top. I can live on a small budget, so I counted 200 baht a day for food – including instant coffee and drinking water – and being very active with projects, so I was not in need to seek company outside from other foreigners in a pub, or coffee-shop, or... I used about 1,000 baht extra for laundry etc. – i.e. a total around 14,000 baht a month. That was more than a decade ago, but might still be doable, or almost doable; however I had enough funds, so I could afford to head out for some recreation whenever needed. I was happy, and had a feeling of living in something close to "paradise" – it was, and still is, on an island, and my rented bungalow was 100 meters walk from a Bounty-style coconut-palm paradise-beach – yes, I could live on that tight budget, but I might not have been mentally strong enough without the bit extra for something else.

 

Staying more than 6 month might also be a problem, even when doing so-called visa runs (travel out of Thailand, and back in).

 

Successfully digital nomads are often making enough money for officially living from their savings, and can afford to stay on an Thai Elite Card Visa. You might reconsider, and wait with Thailand until your project pays better off...????

 

[jackdd]

33 minutes ago, dimitriv said:

And where I come from, NL, I can get 500 Mbit without problems. And the telco is responsible for the connection till behind my front door. The owners of the building have no involvement with this. It's the telco who is responsible.

So let's say i rent an apartment in the Netherlands which doesn't have a fibre line already, but decide to order one. You say the telco just comes with an excavator, digs up the sidewalk, driveway and front yard of the building, throws a cable in, closes everything, drills a wall in the house, maybe through my neighbours apartment as well, and then i have fibre. All this doesn't require approval from the house owner and the telco also pays this out of his own pocket? Somehow i highly doubt this.

 

33 minutes ago, dimitriv said:

For me it doesn't really matter who is to blame, there is nothing I can do to change it.

You could move to another place which is willing to pay for and allows the telcos to install a fibre line.

Edited November 6, 2019 by jackdd

[LivinLOS]

1 hour ago, jackdd said:

The situation in your condo is like this because the developer was too cheap to invest a few hundred baht more per condo to have the building equipped with fibre when they built it, or they just didn't care.

And now the owners are too cheap to do this investment or just don't care as well. So for this you can't blame the telcos.

If you live in a house (or a condo where the owners care about their internet) you can usually get gigabit internet, try getting this in Europe ????

Please post a speed test of your gigabit internet to an international server.. 

[Myran]

1 hour ago, dimitriv said:

 

For me it doesn't really matter who is to blame, there is nothing I can do to change it. Just wanted to say that you cannot say that internet is always good in Thailand.

 

And where I come from, NL, I can get 500 Mbit without problems. And the telco is responsible for the connection till behind my front door. The owners of the building have no involvement with this. It's the telco who is responsible.

 

I was a little bit surprised about this in Thailand. The telco sells a package, and if it doesn't work they can blame something else and they are not responsible.

 

I remember even in Spain the telco installed a new glassfibre wire from the street till my apartment at the seventh floor without even asking or mentioning that it was a problem. The costs of the work was included in the E40 monthly subscription.

 

 

No one has claimed that internet is always good in Thailand, so I'm not sure who you're arguing against.

 

You, on the other hand, claimed that "and you will neve find a place here that has better internet connection than France", which is categorically wrong. There are extremely fast fiber connections in Thailand which can very much rival what we get in Europe. Your badly wired condo is hardly representative of the entire country.

[jackdd]

12 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

Please post a speed test of your gigabit internet to an international server.. 

I only have 300/300, but here is a speedtest to an international server:

As we can see i do get about the promised speed.

Obviously i don't get the 300/300 to Europe or America, but when i'm in Europe i also don't get my max speed when accessing a server in Asia.

[dimitriv]

13 minutes ago, Myran said:

You, on the other hand, claimed that "and you will neve find a place here that has better internet connection than France", which is categorically wrong. 

 

Mayb eyou are confusing me for someone else?  I never tried internet in France. I don't like France very much. 

[dimitriv]

1 hour ago, jackdd said:

So let's say i rent an apartment in the Netherlands which doesn't have a fibre line already, but decide to order one. You say the telco just comes with an excavator, digs up the sidewalk, driveway and front yard of the building, throws a cable in, closes everything, drills a wall in the house, maybe through my neighbours apartment as well, and then i have fibre. All this doesn't require approval from the house owner and the telco also pays this out of his own pocket? Somehow i highly doubt this.

 

I get 500 Mbit in NL without fibre. But I know in Spain they do. I had an apartment there for some time, and without asking they installed fibre from the street to my apartment at the 7th floor. And all that for a E40 a month subscription.

 

This is not so bad as it seems. usually there are already pipes/connections from a central place on the ground floor to each apartment. It is just a mater of bringing in a new line. Usually there is already phone/ tv cable. No drilling required.

 

The problem in my condo is that my internet is <deleted>. AIS sold me a package. And when it doesn't work they refuse to take responsibility. And this is very different than all countries I have ever lived in. There you buy a package, and the telco is responsible for what happens. They are responsibile for infrastructure till behind your door. If it doesn't work there is only 1 company who is to blame.

 

[randymarsh]

So is being a digital nomad legal now?  I just read the reddit post on page 1 but I hate reddit.

 

But am I safe to tell that to the Suvarnabhumi immigration guys next time they quiz me on having 7 back to back tourist visas?

[LivinLOS]

46 minutes ago, jackdd said:

I only have 300/300, but here is a speedtest to an international server:

As we can see i do get about the promised speed.

Obviously i don't get the 300/300 to Europe or America, but when i'm in Europe i also don't get my max speed when accessing a server in Asia.

I have tried many services.. True.. 3BB.. TOT.. No one had working gigabit.. 

To suggest you get gigabit 'everywhere even rural' is insane.. I know folks a few kms further out into the sticks past me who struggle to get 20 mbit adsl.. No fiber.. 

I know a guy in his 30 million baht villa, on a main road, 20kms from chiang mai international airport who cant get a phone line and has to use mobile internet. 

[tlandtday]

1 hour ago, LivinLOS said:

I have tried many services.. True.. 3BB.. TOT.. No one had working gigabit.. 

To suggest you get gigabit 'everywhere even rural' is insane.. I know folks a few kms further out into the sticks past me who struggle to get 20 mbit adsl.. No fiber.. 

I know a guy in his 30 million baht villa, on a main road, 20kms from chiang mai international airport who cant get a phone line and has to use mobile internet. 

Do your testing with testmy.net forget speedtest and any recommended by the providers lol.

[Pravda]

10 hours ago, Tayaout said:

No its for anyone with money (elite visa). 

 

I'm at the point in life where I could afford this visa, yet even with this visa I don't see myself living in Thailand if at least I don't have 5 million dollars in cash. This is to live comfortably on the same level as I live in Canada not to worry about Healthcare costs. 

 

I don't have 5 million and most likely never will. So I don't see myself living in Thailand past 65.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2019 by Pravda

[Sebast]

Thanks for all the info, I'll quite a few post saved up. 

 

There is a misunderstanding of my intention, I will be "working" on a project of mine, this has no connection to anyone, won't be earning money.   

It's like saying playing games is illegal because some people are playing professionally. 

I wanted to be close to a digital nomad community to get to know how everyone is living and what there are doing, giving myself ideas of what I could be doing.

My purpose is to make my money last longer. 

 

I'll raise up up my budget and won't stay that long, instead going without a visa and ask for an extension then go to Vietnam for 3 months maybe and ask for a tourist visa for Thailand if I like it, that would set me up for some time. 

 

Thanks for the warning about the air pollution, I might stay closer to Bangkok instead, or choose a smaller city that some people have suggested. 

 

The budget was including only accommodation and food ( being eggs, chicken, rice), I don't drink nor alcohol nor coffee. Working from home I would need something confortable so I would raise my budget for this reason alone following your advice. 

 

Thanks again everyone, I'll keep reading on if someone makes other suggestion.

[gk10002000]

On 11/5/2019 at 8:40 AM, dimitriv said:

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Regardless of Thai requirements, how about health insurance?  Travel or accident or motorbike insurance?  Supposedly need to show some car/motorbike insurance before being allowed to rent a motorbike.  And don't forget that most policies would really only pay if you were properly licensed in your home country to drive a motorbike as indicated on your home country driver license.    Or is the OP planning on or currently has none of those even in his home country?   No budget for going out and actually doing something?  Short time?  Long time?  Movie, some billiards, some disco or go go or drinks, or any sort of dating?  Do anything besides sitting in room? Go to a park, crocodile, Nong Nooch, or whatever. 

[gk10002000]

 

2 hours ago, Sebast said:

My purpose is to make my money last longer.

What money?  How are you even planning on paying for the initial trip?  Do you have some lump sum saved up and you are just spending it down?  Do you have any income from anything?  It doesn't sound like you are going to Thailand to do anything really related to Thailand!

[Sebast]

11 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

 

What money?  How are you even planning on paying for the initial trip?  Do you have some lump sum saved up and you are just spending it down?  Do you have any income from anything?  It doesn't sound like you are going to Thailand to do anything really related to Thailand!

I have money saved up. I'm going to Thailand because it is cheaper than Europe, money will last longer. I like to travel but not really be a tourist. I like learning languages and live like a local, doing hike the weekend, going out, and move somewhere else. 

 

 

[Tayaout]

8 hours ago, jackdd said:

I only have 300/300, but here is a speedtest to an international server:

As we can see i do get about the promised speed.

Obviously i don't get the 300/300 to Europe or America, but when i'm in Europe i also don't get my max speed when accessing a server in Asia.

I only pay for 100/100 and I even max it out on WiFi. 

 

Edited November 7, 2019 by Tayaout

[Tayaout]

6 hours ago, tlandtday said:

Do your testing with testmy.net forget speedtest and any recommended by the providers lol.

I did and it's still pretty good considering that the test server is on the other side of the planet. Don't forget I live in the middle of nowhere. 

 

[Tayaout]

6 hours ago, Sebast said:

I'll raise up up my budget and won't stay that long, instead going without a visa and ask for an extension then go to Vietnam for 3 months maybe and ask for a tourist visa for Thailand if I like it, that would set me up for some time. 

It might be difficult to get a tourist visa in some embassy near Thailand if you already have a visa exempt + extension. You should come with a tourist visa from France that you can also extend. If you are refused a tourist visa later you can still come back via a friendly land border (not Poipet) up to 2 times per calendar year and extend those as well. Be warned with this pattern you might get denied entry if you try flying to Bangkok. 

 

If you have money saved then you will be fine. You will spend a lot more than expected. To live on a shoestring you need to know what you are doing or having local contact to help you. For example the cheapest rental are not usually advertised in English and their owner only speak Thai. 

[LivinLOS]

8 hours ago, Sebast said:

I have money saved up. I'm going to Thailand because it is cheaper than Europe, money will last longer. I like to travel but not really be a tourist. I like learning languages and live like a local, doing hike the weekend, going out, and move somewhere else. 

 

 

To be honest I dont find Thailand cheaper than europe for the way I live.. 

 

Add in visa issues, visa runs, health cover (or hospital bills), the noobie tax, etc etc and your unlikely to save money, doubly so as you may well be able to obtain benefits and rent assistance at home in europe. 

[LivinLOS]

5 hours ago, Tayaout said:

I did and it's still pretty good considering that the test server is on the other side of the planet. Don't forget I live in the middle of nowhere. 

 

so 1/20th of the gigabit I was disputing. 

[Tayaout]

8 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

so 1/20th of the gigabit I was disputing. 

I only pay for 100/100. I used this site from a German datacenter and it wasn't much better. However since my server are in Singapore and most of the other usage is from YouTube and torrent, I probably never connect to a server in Dallas and my connection is always super fast.