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Wanting to stay in Thailand long term

Featured Replies

Hi,

I apologize in advance for the noobish question, but honestly I find the visa rules quite confusing and still don't understand exactly how it works even after reading tons of info on this site. Here is my situation:

I am an American citizen with an internet business who would like to stay in Thailand long-term. How feasible is the one year education visa for studying Thai? If I stay on a tourist visa, am I understanding correctly that I will have to leave the country every two weeks? I am just confused with the 90 day/multiple entry / 60 days etc.

Also, assuming I would have to do these visa runs every 2 weeks, where would the most convenient location in Thailand be other than BKK? I like Samui but if I had to leave every two weeks it would cost a fortune. Would Chiang Mai or one of the Isan towns close to Laos be best (would like to get best bang for the buck in terms of expenses). From what I have gathered from this site, if you keep using the same overland port of entry, they will eventually deny you. Is that correct?

I love Thailand but the visa regulations are not very conducive to long term stays it seems. I am going to Cambodia to check things out since I hear that visas are no problem there. The only thing is I need fast reliable internet to keep my work afloat and I know Cambodia is far behind Thailand in that respect. I also feel very comfortable in Thailand; not sure how I will like Cambo. Thanks in advance!

How old are you? If over 50 there are other solutions.

For now, I would apply for a double or triple entry tourist visa in the US. Each entry gives you 60 days and can be extended by another 30 days for 1,900 baht. That would give you almost 6 month or 9 months to see if you really like Thailand, where you would like to stay and possibly what you want to study. It doesn't have to be Thai language.

How old are you? If over 50 there are other solutions.

For now, I would apply for a double or triple entry tourist visa in the US. Each entry gives you 60 days and can be extended by another 30 days for 1,900 baht. That would give you almost 6 month or 9 months to see if you really like Thailand, where you would like to stay and possibly what you want to study. It doesn't have to be Thai language.

And you (OP) don't have to do a border run every two weeks. Where did you get that idea?

If you entered the country by land without a visa you'd get 15 days stay, but even just flying in without a visa you'd have 30 days. With a visa, even longer.

Edited by Suradit69

  • Author

How old are you? If over 50 there are other solutions.

For now, I would apply for a double or triple entry tourist visa in the US. Each entry gives you 60 days and can be extended by another 30 days for 1,900 baht. That would give you almost 6 month or 9 months to see if you really like Thailand, where you would like to stay and possibly what you want to study. It doesn't have to be Thai language.

How old are you? If over 50 there are other solutions.

For now, I would apply for a double or triple entry tourist visa in the US. Each entry gives you 60 days and can be extended by another 30 days for 1,900 baht. That would give you almost 6 month or 9 months to see if you really like Thailand, where you would like to stay and possibly what you want to study. It doesn't have to be Thai language.

And you (OP) don't have to do a border run every two weeks. Where did you get that idea?

If you entered the country by land without a visa you'd get 15 days stay, but even just flying in without a visa you'd have 30 days. With a visa, even longer.

I am 38. But I understand you can get a retirement visa if you can show an account with 400,000 Baht? I might be able to do that, but I would have to tap into it once here.

I read about the border runs and just assumed that that was what everbody had to do if staying long term on a toursit visa.

I am in Thailand (Samui) right now but am leaving for Cambo tomorrow before returning to the US. Let me make sure I understand correctly. When I am ready to return to Thailand, I can apply for a mutliple entry tourist visa through the Thai consulate in the US which will enable me to stay up to 9 months by doing border runs every 90 days? At the end of that 9 months I can then get an education visa (Thai language seems to be the logical choice) to stay another year?

What if I wanted to stay, say, 5 years? Is that feasible on a non-immigrant visa? Thank you so much for the help in navigating this.

Edited by sbmohr75

You can only get retirment visa if ypu are 50+ years and it is 800K

400K is what you need if you are married to a Thai and apply to a visa extension based on marriage.

Border runs are for people with "normal" tourist Visa who want to get an extension for that one. Land borders will give you 15 more days, airports 30 more days.

With an ED visa, you don't need to do border runs, just 90 days adress reporting and ED visa can be prolonged year after year, as long as your school gives you the right paperwork

Sent from my HTC One XL using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You don't have to study Thai. Given the fact that you already know a lot about computers, a course in media studies might suit you quite well.

  • Author

You can only get retirment visa if ypu are 50+ years and it is 800K

400K is what you need if you are married to a Thai and apply to a visa extension based on marriage.

Border runs are for people with "normal" tourist Visa who want to get an extension for that one. Land borders will give you 15 more days, airports 30 more days.

With an ED visa, you don't need to do border runs, just 90 days adress reporting and ED visa can be prolonged year after year, as long as your school gives you the right paperwork

Sent from my HTC One XL using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You don't have to study Thai. Given the fact that you already know a lot about computers, a course in media studies might suit you quite well.

So with a tourist visa, I am looking at the border runs every 2 weeks, after my multiple entries are used up. Is it true that doing border runs through the same entry port will eventually result in your visa being denied (even if a service is used)? Where would the best place to live be based on cost and convenience of border runs ( I take it that Samui would not be one of them)?

How risky is just overstaying and paying the 20,000 baht fine when you leave? I mean, is it common to encounter the police outsied of BKK?

Not having to study Thai has been mentioned twice now. Is another course of study more advantageous for visa purposes (length of the course)? Otherwise I would like to learn Thai as I think it would come in very handy living in Thailand.

Edited by sbmohr75

If you come without a visa, you will get a "visa exempt entry" that is valid for 30 days. After that you can leave and re-nter Thailand either by land or air. When you re-enter you will get anither visa exempt entry, 15 days by land, 30 by air. Although there is no offical number of times that you can enter, it has been reported that some border checkpoints are counting and limitimg the number of times that you can renter since they assume that you are working which is illegal on this type of entry.

You should get a triple entry tourist visa just before you leave for Thailand. If used correctly you can get almost 270 days in Thailand with two border runs and three 30 day extensions. You can attend school on a Tourist visa, you do not have to have an ED visa. You can find a school that you like and when you have used up the visa entries you can either apply for and ED visa or another tourist visa in a neighboring country. Curently you can only get a double entry. You can get the visa in the US via courier service. The consulate in Portland has been very friendly and efficient in the past. Here's their info: Visa application porcedures, Portland Oregon.doc

You can apply for three "Tourist Visas" from the Thai consulate in Portland Oregon. http://www.thai-or.com

Don't confuse a "Visa on Arrival" with a "Tourist Visa." When an American enters Thailand by an airport, say Bangkok,... you get what is called a "Visa On Arrival." This is a rubber stamp put in your passport and is good for 30 days. (your passport is stamped by the immigration officials at the airport.) If you enter Thailand by road....you get a Visa on Arrival good for only 15 days. Same procedure via a rubber stamp placed in your passport. This VOA is good for only 30 days but I am not sure if it can be extended or not.

You can get three "Tourist visas" from the Portland Oregon Thai consulate. They cost $40 a piece. The consulate either will rubber stamp your passport three times on different pages or will physically place three Visa stamps (similar to a large postage stamp) on three different pages in your passport. You then have 90 days from the issue date by the Thai consulate to get to Thailand. The first tourist visa must be used/activated starting 90 days from the issue date which will be noted on your passport by the Thai Consulate in Portland.

When you get to bangkok airport, thai officials will stamp the date you entered thailand. Your first tourist visa is now activated for 60 days. You can extend EACH tourist visa for an additional 30 days by going to the closest immigration office (check which offices do this before you go to a particular office as they ALL may not do this service.) paying 1900 Baht and completing the proper form. (form #7 I think.) Go to the thai immigration website to find this form. This will give you a total of 90 days in thailand for each Tourist Visa (TV.)

To activate the second "Tourist Visa," you physically have to leave the country. This is referred to as a "Visa Run." Then when you come back into thailand during the visa run, they will activate your second tourist visa. Then you can extend the second visa for an additional 30 days using the same procedure described for the first Tourist Visa. And then the same is applied to the third TV. for the third Tourist Visa. So you can stay for 270 days legally.

Hope this gives you a better understanding of the system. Any questions. PM me.

  • Author

If you come without a visa, you will get a "visa exempt entry" that is valid for 30 days. After that you can leave and re-nter Thailand either by land or air. When you re-enter you will get anither visa exempt entry, 15 days by land, 30 by air. Although there is no offical number of times that you can enter, it has been reported that some border checkpoints are counting and limitimg the number of times that you can renter since they assume that you are working which is illegal on this type of entry.

You should get a triple entry tourist visa just before you leave for Thailand. If used correctly you can get almost 270 days in Thailand with two border runs and three 30 day extensions. You can attend school on a Tourist visa, you do not have to have an ED visa. You can find a school that you like and when you have used up the visa entries you can either apply for and ED visa or another tourist visa in a neighboring country. Curently you can only get a double entry. You can get the visa in the US via courier service. The consulate in Portland has been very friendly and efficient in the past. Here's their info: attachicon.gif.pagespeed.ce.eFBhf2OPKe.gVisa application porcedures, Portland Oregon.doc

You can apply for three "Tourist Visas" from the Thai consulate in Portland Oregon. http://www.thai-or.com

Don't confuse a "Visa on Arrival" with a "Tourist Visa." When an American enters Thailand by an airport, say Bangkok,... you get what is called a "Visa On Arrival." This is a rubber stamp put in your passport and is good for 30 days. (your passport is stamped by the immigration officials at the airport.) If you enter Thailand by road....you get a Visa on Arrival good for only 15 days. Same procedure via a rubber stamp placed in your passport. This VOA is good for only 30 days but I am not sure if it can be extended or not.

You can get three "Tourist visas" from the Portland Oregon Thai consulate. They cost $40 a piece. The consulate either will rubber stamp your passport three times on different pages or will physically place three Visa stamps (similar to a large postage stamp) on three different pages in your passport. You then have 90 days from the issue date by the Thai consulate to get to Thailand. The first tourist visa must be used/activated starting 90 days from the issue date which will be noted on your passport by the Thai Consulate in Portland.

When you get to bangkok airport, thai officials will stamp the date you entered thailand. Your first tourist visa is now activated for 60 days. You can extend EACH tourist visa for an additional 30 days by going to the closest immigration office (check which offices do this before you go to a particular office as they ALL may not do this service.) paying 1900 Baht and completing the proper form. (form #7 I think.) Go to the thai immigration website to find this form. This will give you a total of 90 days in thailand for each Tourist Visa (TV.)

To activate the second "Tourist Visa," you physically have to leave the country. This is referred to as a "Visa Run." Then when you come back into thailand during the visa run, they will activate your second tourist visa. Then you can extend the second visa for an additional 30 days using the same procedure described for the first Tourist Visa. And then the same is applied to the third TV. for the third Tourist Visa. So you can stay for 270 days legally.

Hope this gives you a better understanding of the system. Any questions. PM me.

Thank you so much. That really does clear it up. I understand now.

Americans do not get visa on arrival - they get a visa exempt stamp - completely different things. And visa exempt can not be extended. The best that could be obtained would be 7 days to leave for a disapproved application for extension.

I would get the multiple entry non-ed visa. Visa runs every 90 days from the date of last entry into thailand.

You can get up to 15 months if you do your last visa run shortly before the visa expires. Dont over-think it.

"...the 2nd best time to plant a tree is today." Sent from ThaiVisa app (Galaxy Note 2).

You can apply for three "Tourist Visas" from the Thai consulate in Portland Oregon. http://www.thai-or.com

Don't confuse a "Visa on Arrival" with a "Tourist Visa." When an American enters Thailand by an airport, say Bangkok,... you get what is called a "Visa On Arrival." This is a rubber stamp put in your passport and is good for 30 days. (your passport is stamped by the immigration officials at the airport.) If you enter Thailand by road....you get a Visa on Arrival good for only 15 days. Same procedure via a rubber stamp placed in your passport. This VOA is good for only 30 days but I am not sure if it can be extended or not.

You can get three "Tourist visas" from the Portland Oregon Thai consulate. They cost $40 a piece. The consulate either will rubber stamp your passport three times on different pages or will physically place three Visa stamps (similar to a large postage stamp) on three different pages in your passport. You then have 90 days from the issue date by the Thai consulate to get to Thailand. The first tourist visa must be used/activated starting 90 days from the issue date which will be noted on your passport by the Thai Consulate in Portland.

When you get to bangkok airport, thai officials will stamp the date you entered thailand. Your first tourist visa is now activated for 60 days. You can extend EACH tourist visa for an additional 30 days by going to the closest immigration office (check which offices do this before you go to a particular office as they ALL may not do this service.) paying 1900 Baht and completing the proper form. (form #7 I think.) Go to the thai immigration website to find this form. This will give you a total of 90 days in thailand for each Tourist Visa (TV.)

To activate the second "Tourist Visa," you physically have to leave the country. This is referred to as a "Visa Run." Then when you come back into thailand during the visa run, they will activate your second tourist visa. Then you can extend the second visa for an additional 30 days using the same procedure described for the first Tourist Visa. And then the same is applied to the third TV. for the third Tourist Visa. So you can stay for 270 days legally.

Hope this gives you a better understanding of the system. Any questions. PM me.

They do not stamp three separate visas into your passport. They put one stamp or sticker that says that 1, 2, or 3 entries are allowed.

You would use first 60 day entry on arrival here then extend it for 30 days at immigration after that you make a border run to use 2nd entry then extend it for 30 days then just before visa expires (use before date) make the 3rd entry and extend it for day giving almost 9 months without need to get a new visa.

After this you can get a 2 entry visa in Laos that would give you another 6 months.

Do not get your visa until just before your departure date because the 6 month validity starts on date of issue.

Edited by ubonjoe

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