How can someone run a YouTube-based business full time while living in Thailand?

[Omenow]

hello 

I follow two people on YouTube who live in Thailand. One channel is run by a French Guy and the channel is called Sabri Thai, who said he used to work for an international company with a Non-B visa. Now he says he is independent and runs a service for expats. The other is run by a Russian male and the channel is Mickey Stotch, who runs a food-related channel and films street food all over Thailand. He also promotes and sells his own spicy sauce through the channel. Both stay in the country long term and run business activity online.

The goal here is not to focus on these individuals but to understand how someone in a similar situation can live in Thailand legally and operate a YouTube-based business. No marriage, no retirement, no tourist border run.

For anyone who wants to suggest contacting them directly, I already did. I left public questions and sent emails to both, but received no reply. Either they did not see the messages or chose not to respond. That part is already done, so I am turning to this forum to ask instead. Neither of them seems to be in the DTV program. Mickey has stayed in Thailand for a long time, even before the DTV existed. Sabri is French, and there is no company registered under his name in the French business registry, which is why I brought this up.

What are the legal options for someone who wants to live in Thailand full time and run a business online like this (other than the DTV ) ?

Thank you

[RAZZELL]

Keis 1 is an Aussie.

 

 

 

Apparently he set up a business and has a WP for Thailand.

 

I imagine the vast majority do it "under the radar" - which is ok...until it isn't 

[Omenow]

On 7/4/2025 at 9:09 PM, RAZZELL said:

Keis 1 is an Aussie.

 

 

 

Apparently he set up a business and has a WP for Thailand.

 

I imagine the vast majority do it "under the radar" - which is ok...until it isn't 

Yes. I have been following both of them closely. As I mentioned, the French one had a Non B visa while working for an international company in Bangkok. He started his YouTube channel during that time. Around a year ago, he left the job and became a full-time YouTuber.

My real question is what kind of visa allows him to stay in Thailand and continue this activity, apart from the DTV. That is what I am trying to understand.

The Russian channel also looks like a similar case. I am trying to understand if there is a legal setup that allows this, which I may not know about.

[Lorry]

3 hours ago, Omenow said:

No marriage, no retirement, no tourist border run

How would you know? They are under no obligation to tell you. 

They may use a business visa, a LTR, Elite.

Most probably "under the radar" - and Thailand is smart enough not to go after people who produce free commercials for Thailand. 

Once it's not 100% propaganda for Thailand,  they kick you out (remember the Chinese girl at Nana?)

[thai006]

that guy sabri thai should be kicked out of Thailand 

[KhunLA]

You need a business visa, and a work permit.   Just as important, you need a monetized YT channel.   Which doesn't happen till you have 1000 subscribers.

 

You could be incognito, but would need to qualify for visa.  Need to be 50 yrs old, with some type of income, for visa for retirement.   Guessing you are not 50 yrs old.

 

LTR VISA & ELITE VISA which takes more money than most have or want to spend.

[farang51]

2 hours ago, Omenow said:

My real question is what kind of visa allows him to stay in Thailand and continue this activity, apart from the DTV. That is what I am trying to understand.

Why does it have to be apart from the DTV? That one seems to be perfect for living in Thailand legally and operate a YouTube-based business.

[Celsius]

Whatever the case its a shifty life.

 

Imagine having to wake up every day to think of another stupid topic to "engage" your audience.

 

Then you have to edit your videos, spend some money on ads to promote those videos etc etc....

 

Having a dropshipping store is so much easier as you literally make money while you sleep. The only thing you have to deal is higher than average refunds.

[Omenow]

43 minutes ago, thai006 said:

that guy sabri thai should be kicked out of Thailand 

@thai006,What did he do? He seems like a decent guy and appears to be doing everything legit. Is there something specific he’s done that made you feel he should be kicked out?

[ukrules]

7 minutes ago, Celsius said:

Imagine having to wake up every day to think of another stupid topic to "engage" your audience.

 

Then you have to edit your videos, spend some money on ads to promote those videos etc etc....

 

I think some of them do make a proper business out of it - one with multiple employees and they don't do all the editing, filming themselves, etc.

But we're definitely talking about the larger Youtubers with a big following - some of them have a really massive following, I saw one dude with more than 500,000 people following his channel - he went unusually silent over the last year or so though.

[Omenow]

29 minutes ago, farang51 said:

Why does it have to be apart from the DTV? That one seems to be perfect for living in Thailand legally and operate a YouTube-based business.

@farang51 I asked because the guys I mentioned, like Sabri Thai, don’t seem to be using the DTV , so I was just curious if there are other legal ways to live in Thailand full time with a monetized YouTube channel. If someone has that kind of channel, what visa would they need to apply for to stay here legally? I haven’t seen a clear option for that, but i see some people manage it and that led me to ask.

[Omenow]

48 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

ou need a business visa, and a work permit.   Just as important, you need a monetized YT channel.   Which doesn't happen till you have 1000 subscribers.

 

You could be incognito, but would need to qualify for visa.  Need to be 50 yrs old, with some type of income, for visa for retirement.   Guessing you are not 50 yrs old.

 

LTR VISA & ELITE VISA which takes more money than most have or want to spend.

@KhunLA,  thanks alot. But, Just to clarify, let’s say someone already has a monetized YouTube channel. Can that be used in any way to apply for a visa and stay in Thailand legally?

That’s really what I was getting at. I know some of these guys may have had a Non-B visa before, but that would eventually expire. If they have since gone full time on Youtube, I assume they are now using that income to qualify for some kind of visa. I was curious if there’s a known legal way to do that, and what type of visa a monetized YouTube channel could qualify someone for.

[Hummin]

4 minutes ago, ukrules said:

 

I think some of them do make a proper business out of it - one with multiple employees and they don't do all the editing, filming themselves, etc.

But we're definitely talking about the larger Youtubers with a big following - some of them have a really massive following, I saw one dude with more than 500,000 people following his channel - he went unusually silent over the last year or so though.

Food and travel channels do have high cpm. Cpm is pay pr 1000 views ranging from 2,50 to 10 usd for those categories. Travel have the highest pay offs.

 

The hardest is to build a channel with enough viewers and get starting. Most spend years to gain the numbers needed both in real viewers and numbers of views pr video 

 

 

 

 

[Hummin]

DTV Destination Thailand Visa 

 

But most I guess are here on Retirement, marriage or other visas.

 

What is your situation? 

[RAZZELL]

There are a number of vloggers who have then started other businesses such as Mark Wiens and Jack Brown.

 

 

[farang51]

34 minutes ago, Omenow said:

@farang51 I asked because the guys I mentioned, like Sabri Thai, don’t seem to be using the DTV , so I was just curious if there are other legal ways to live in Thailand full time with a monetized YouTube channel. If someone has that kind of channel, what visa would they need to apply for to stay here legally? I haven’t seen a clear option for that, but i see some people manage it and that led me to ask.

Why does it matter what they are doing? If you want to monetize a Youtube channel, you can do it with a DTV if you can meet the requirements, that is, money in the bank, a registered company, and a portfolio of some kind.

[Maxbkkcm]

1 hour ago, thai006 said:

that guy sabri thai should be kicked out of Thailand 

Sabri is a great guy. Super honest and full of good tips. Hes the best man

[Celsius]

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

 

I think some of them do make a proper business out of it - one with multiple employees and they don't do all the editing, filming themselves, etc.

 

 

Those are million subs and up. Now one in Thailand has that subscriber base and most are scraping the barrel. 

 

Well...maybe that retired working for you guy as he gets around 

[ukrules]

4 minutes ago, Celsius said:

Well...maybe that retired working for you guy as he gets around 

 

Yes, that's the guy I was referring to.

[lamyai3]

25 minutes ago, Celsius said:

Well...maybe that retired working for you guy as he gets around 

 

He's been here two or three decades though and made his money through buying land and property development on Samui. So I guess the youtube thing is more a hobby, building on his earlier background in the film business. 

[blaze master]

Click like and sub to my comment.

[KhunLA]

On 7/5/2025 at 1:59 AM, Omenow said:

@KhunLA,  thanks alot. But, Just to clarify, let’s say someone already has a monetized YouTube channel. Can that be used in any way to apply for a visa and stay in Thailand legally?

That’s really what I was getting at. I know some of these guys may have had a Non-B visa before, but that would eventually expire. If they have since gone full time on Youtube, I assume they are now using that income to qualify for some kind of visa. I was curious if there’s a known legal way to do that, and what type of visa a monetized YouTube channel could qualify someone for.

Ms Googlw says you can get business visa & work permit using YT as your business, as long as you generate enough income to support yourself in TH.   What they consider that amount is, I'm not sure.

 

Visa for marriage is ฿40k a month, retirement ฿65k a month.  I don't think some teachers make much more than ฿40k a month.

 

My YT channel can be monetized, and YT informed of such.  Have the subscriber numbers, but not really the constant views or hrs of, to make barely the minimum.  so I don't bother.  Only 1 vid generated high views.  Although I do barely make 100 hrs a month of viewing, since that one dropped off.  

 

Along with, I just don't want to work and need to make new content, as the channel is really just for me.   No desire to attract the attention of any taxman either, since not needing the money.

 

My highest views, so nothing special, except the one.  And the rest drop off fast.  No target audience, as I'm all over the place, food, travel, drones, birds.  Channel would only generate $100-$200 a month, by my calculation.

 

[save the frogs]

18 hours ago, thai006 said:

that guy sabri thai should be kicked out of Thailand 

 

why?

[Karlik Pu]

7 hours ago, thai006 said:

that guy sabri thai should be kicked out of Thailand 

And ”russki ” male should be sent to Ukraine front to fight for kremlin thugs there 555

[brewsterbudgen]

Is there aa difference between running a YouTube business/channel, and being an influencer focusing on other social media like Facebook and TikTok?  Are the latter monetised in the same way as YouTube?

[raz0r21]

This is a very interesting topic. I have noticed many YouTubers that I have watched during the years that suddenly just dissappear, most probably because their luck ran out with long term stays or for economical reasons. With the DTV its much easier so now theres more channels than ever. But making it in the YouTube space in 2025 must be really tough, especially when most of the Thailand topics are covered already.

 

My guess concerning Mickey is that he has a company here with employees. It seems to be a bigger operation at least, with all the different products. And he genuinely seems to love Thailand so I am sure he would want to do everything by the book. 

[save the frogs]

How about making a Youtube channel unrelated to Thailand so you don't get on the radar of authorities? 

 

 

[Srikcir]

I don't know his business/visa details but I've followed YouTuber Sanctioned Ivan who not long ago left Russia for Pattaya. Currently has about 80 thousand subscribers.

email: sanctionedadverts[at]gmail.com

[raz0r21]

Its no secret you can get a business visa through an agent, even without having a "proper" company with thai employees etc. The price is around 90k to 100k baht. With yearly renewals (not sure about the cost). However, these shady arrangements have gotten much more difficult after the recent crackdown. Some YouTubers might still be on those visas though.

 

 

[CharlieH]

Do not put clickable links please.