My family is moving to Chiang Mai in August and will remain there for six months. So we need to get visas for that time. We are planning to check out future business opportunities there, and so we don't really want to work while there for these six months. We are open to studying Thai but, do not want to invest too much time doing that as we have other things we need to get done. Do you have suggestions about how to get visas. My oldest son is 6 and will attend an international school in Thailand. I heard it was possible to get a caretaker visa. But can my husband and I both get a visa to do this? What about my other two children who are too young to attend school? I don't think we want to do visa runs unless it is inexpensive as there are five of us to fly out of the country which could get costly. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks.

If your oldest son is going to school he can get an ED-visa and one of the parents can be a dependend, but must have 500,000 baht in a bankaccount in Thailand for an extension of stay, which will give both a permission to stay for 1 year.

Since you plan to stay reletively short, 6 months, it might be best to just get a double entry tourist visa for all of you. A tourist visa gives you an entry of 60 days and you can extend this by an additional 30 day at immigration in Thailand. Thaen you have to leave the country and can return on your second entry on your tourist visa, again for 60 days plus a 30 day extension. Giving you 179 days in Thailand (The last day of the first entry and the first day of the second entry will be the same day if you return the same day to Thailand).

Alternatively, try to get a multiple non-B visa with company papers and the rest a non-O visa (multiple entry), that gives you unlimeted entries of 90 days into Thailand during one year. But might be difficult to get, also depending on where you will apply for the visa.

Remember, too, that there's no overstay fine for the children, so you could do a visa run for the adults to get the second entry valid, but no necessity of taking the children with you. Two adults, trip to the border to get the second entry on the double entry tourist visa, and voila - six months for the family.

I would suggest a 3 entry tourist visa for the adults because that would give you another 60 days just encase you have a change in plans.

If you have already decided on an international school you might be able to get some documentation from them ahead of time and get an non immigrant O (or ED for child) visas so that the child and the parent getting the extension person that will get the extension will already have the non immigrant visas required to get the extension. Dependent on where you are and the Thai consulate used you might even be able to get a multiple entry non O for the other parent.