Looks like the end of DTV for many glad I stuck to extension of stay ( retirement ) no doubt that will soon be changed I get the feeling Farangs no longer welcome in the land of smiles

6 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

Looks like the end of DTV for many glad I stuck to extension of stay ( retirement ) no doubt that will soon be changed I get the feeling Farangs no longer welcome in the land of smiles

Chalk and cheese....................obviously, you can't work on a retirement extension.

Personally, I don't feel any less welcome than I did 20 years go.

2 hours ago, VBF said:

I'm surprised the proof of permanent residency is causing concern.

This is even required for an SETV let alone a DTV.

Last SETV I got was in 2023 and I kept notes for when I needed to apply again. From those notes I have:

"Applicant is required to upload document that can verify his/her current residency."

For which I supplied a document I named "DOWNLOADED Council Tax Bill 2022-2023" PDF

A criminal record check might be more of a challenge of course. For those in UK, this might help https://www.gov.uk/request-copy-criminal-record

You were asked asked for Proof of Addess not proof of "Permanent Residency" which is the right to live in a country without a Visa.

You don't need PR to get an SETV as you can go to Laos, Vietnam etc... stay in a hotel for a few days & get an SETV Or a Non-IMM O Visa & Prior to this change you could also have gotten a DTV there so it's this change that has caught people as now they have to go back to their home country to apply.

The change to the DTV requirements brings it more in line with the Non-IMM OA visa & means that you can only apply for one in a country where you have the legal right to live Either by virtue of Citizenship or because you've somehow gotten Permanent Residency Status (E.g, By working in a country for a few years & going through the PR process).

Edited Friday at 11:47 AM2 days by SamSpade

24 minutes ago, SamSpade said:

You were asked asked for Proof of Addess not proof of "Permanent Residency" which is the right to live in a country without a Visa.

You don't need PR to get an SETV as you can go to Laos, Vietnam etc... stay in a hotel for a few days & get an SETV Or a Non-IMM O Visa & Prior to this change you could also have gotten a DTV there so it's this change that has caught people as now they have to go back to their home country to apply.

The change to the DTV requirements brings it more in line with the Non-IMM OA visa & means that you can only apply for one in a country where you have the legal right to live Either by virtue of Citizenship or because you've somehow gotten Permanent Residency Status (E.g, By working in a country for a few years & going through the PR process).

Hmmm...

As I said I was asked for:

"Applicant is required to upload document that can verify his/her current residency." which aligns with your term "Proof of Address" - so for that I used my Council Tax bill as I mentioned.

I was also asked for "Confirmation of legal residence - I used my passport

What you're describing as "Permanent Residency" is also surely confirmed by my passport in which my nationality is "British Citizen" This (obviously) gives me the automatic right to live in in Britain without a Visa.

I think perhaps the terms Permanent Residency and "Legal Residence" are getting conflated.

So as I said earlier "I'm surprised the proof of permanent residency is causing concern."

Edited Friday at 12:07 PM2 days by VBF

6 minutes ago, VBF said:

Hmmm...

As I said I was asked for:

"Applicant is required to upload document that can verify his/her current residency." which aligns with your term "Proof of Address" - so for that I used my Council Tax bill as I mentioned.

I was also asked for "Confirmation of legal residence - I used my passport

What you're describing as "Permanent Residency" is also surely confirmed by my passport in which my nationality is "British Citizen" This (obviously) gives me the automatic right to live in in Britain without a Visa.

I think perhaps the terms Permanent Residency and "Legal Residence" are getting conflated.

So as I said earlier "I'm surprised the proof of permanent residency is causing concern."

All of that is true for a Brit living in the UK & applying for a Visa from the UK Embassy, but that doesn't mean you have to have PR status to apply for an SETV or a Non-IMM O, there are countless people who got their's from a country where they were just there on a short break to get the Visa.

I got my Non-IMM O on a 4 day trip to Penang, when I was living/working in Singapore, using my Singapore address, I could have applied in Singapore as I was on a 3 year Employment pass (You have to have a long term visa to apply for any Thai Visas in Singapore) but chose Penang as it was quicker/easier.

This was the same with DTVs (Am sure there are countless reports on here, Facebook, Reddit etc... of people going to Vietnam/Laos etc... to get their's) but this recent change has put a stop to that & you can now only apply from a country where you have the legal right to live & as you have to apply in-country this means you have to physically be there.

So if you're like me and the only country you have "Permanent Residency" rights is the UK, you would have to go back to the UK to apply for one - I hope you can see that this is why some people who maybe were "Saving Up" to get the DTV are concerned as they now need to plan for an unscheduled trip back to their home countries to get it.

Edited Friday at 12:28 PM2 days by SamSpade

15 hours ago, SamSpade said:

All of that is true for a Brit living in the UK & applying for a Visa from the UK Embassy, but that doesn't mean you have to have PR status to apply for an SETV or a Non-IMM O, there are countless people who got their's from a country where they were just there on a short break to get the Visa.

I got my Non-IMM O on a 4 day trip to Penang, when I was living/working in Singapore, using my Singapore address, I could have applied in Singapore as I was on a 3 year Employment pass (You have to have a long term visa to apply for any Thai Visas in Singapore) but chose Penang as it was quicker/easier.

This was the same with DTVs (Am sure there are countless reports on here, Facebook, Reddit etc... of people going to Vietnam/Laos etc... to get their's) but this recent change has put a stop to that & you can now only apply from a country where you have the legal right to live & as you have to apply in-country this means you have to physically be there.

So if you're like me and the only country you have "Permanent Residency" rights is the UK, you would have to go back to the UK to apply for one - I hope you can see that this is why some people who maybe were "Saving Up" to get the DTV are concerned as they now need to plan for an unscheduled trip back to their home countries to get it.

Slightly off topic but, as a comparison, Thais have can only apply for, say, a Schengen visa from their own country.

On 8/28/2026 at 12:04 AM, Chalky0w said:

I’m on a DTV and think this is a good move.

I would like to be able to get another when mine expires (few years yet) so don’t like that it has a bad reputation.

I’d go further and say financial requirements should be proven income the same as retirement extension i.e. equivalent to 65k baht per month if remote worker or 4mil in the bank for soft power (it’s a 5 year visa so scale up the 800k for retirement extensions which last a year).

That's right. Advocate for making it harder to live in this corrupt, moronic, paradise. Good advice....not!