Hello,

Me and my boyfriend want to go to Thailand - probably for 6-12mc or longer. We are software engineers working remotely so we just thought that it would be nice to work from Thailand beach

I know that there is a possibility to obtain 2mc tourist visa and do border run but I am curious if there is a possibility to make our stay more legal so we don't need to cross border so often. We were thinking about attending Thai course and get ED visa but maybe there is another one which will suit us?

We don't want to work for Thai employer but we will work remotely for another country.

Thailand doesn't really cater for long term, young people, but a good start would be a multi entry tourit visa ( metv) from your home country, this would give you on each entry a 60 day permission to stay stamp, this could be extended at local immigration for 30 days at a cost of 1,900 baht ( if required), if an entry is made just prior to the expiry date of the visa that was issued in your home country, this again would give you a 60 day permission to stay stamp, which again could be extended by 30 days, giving you almost 9 months in Thailand, if you then did a visa run to a nearby country and obtain a single entry tourist visa ( setv) which as before could be extended by 30 days.

obtain the visa as close to arriving in Thailand as you can to get maximum length of usage as possible.

technically you would require a work permit to work in Thailand, so i suggest you do not mention that you are working here, and that you are just a tourist

have a good trip

Thailand Elite visa if you want the least hassle.

Thailand is trying to deter people like you from coming here long term and working remotely.

Tourists in their eyes are just that,the METV is designed that you show enough funds for the duration of your stay and aren't here to work,remotely or not.

In the eyes of the current regime tourists only holiday for a few weeks a year at most,not months and months.

Edited January 30, 201610 yr by stoneyboy

Steve 187 is correct. Where would you be applying for the METV. Some consulates require proof of employment. Most require minimum funds in a bank account for 6 months.

Thailand is trying to deter people like you from coming here long term and working remotely.

Interesting! Do you have any concrete evidence of this or is your opinion based on observing changes to visas etc?

I tend to agree with you, but feel that this is not really official policy, just the usual random policy of Thai Government officials.

Actually one individual in Thai Immigration is on record as saying that it is ok for remote workers to stay in Thailand on tourist visas.

What is the value of remote workers to Thailand? In 2012, the top spending tourists visiting Thailand spent around 60,000 baht per visit. My guess is that many remote workers would probably be spending this each month. This amount is also the monthly income required for retirees.

Do the sums! On average, one remote worker (or retiree) is worth 12 high-spending tourists. This means that Thailands entire tourist income from the projected 30 million tourists in 2016 could be replaced by just 2.5 million remote workers living in Thailand.

Remote workers (and retirees) integrate better into Thailand's economy, spreading their money around more. The money they spend stays in the Thai economy. They cause considerably less environmental damage. There are probably many other benefits that I haven't thought of.

Given the current economic climate in Thailand and it's future prospects, I would have thought it makes far more sense to encourage remote workers?

Edited January 30, 201610 yr by mngmn

Thailand Elite visa if you want the least hassle.

Thailand is trying to deter people like you from coming here long term and working remotely.

Tourists in their eyes are just that,the METV is designed that you show enough funds for the duration of your stay and aren't here to work,remotely or not.

In the eyes of the current regime tourists only holiday for a few weeks a year at most,not months and months.

If that was correct one would imagine that there would be a limit on back to back tourist visas. There is not. Nor is there a rule along the lines ......can only spend certain number of days in los in a given calender year using tourist visa.........

Easy rules to introduce if they wanted to achieve what you imagine they do

Thailand Elite visa if you want the least hassle.

Thailand is trying to deter people like you from coming here long term and working remotely.

Tourists in their eyes are just that,the METV is designed that you show enough funds for the duration of your stay and aren't here to work,remotely or not.

In the eyes of the current regime tourists only holiday for a few weeks a year at most,not months and months.

If that was correct one would imagine that there would be a limit on back to back tourist visas. There is not. Nor is there a rule along the lines ......can only spend certain number of days in los in a given calender year using tourist visa.........

Easy rules to introduce if they wanted to achieve what you imagine they do

Indeed,so the scraping of double and triple entry tourist visas was for which purpose exactly,purely financial gain ?

Encourage people to obtain the METV at their home embassy or consulate whereby you have to show employment status and proof of funds is hardly inviting people here long term to work remotely is it.

Also why are they introducing new rules for overstayers,people who they usually expect of working here illegally.

The problem as always is what do the powers that be here class as working remotely,how do you explain to an immigration officer that you don't work here but stay here long term apart from some online activities,what you and I perceive as one thing is usually interpreted quite differently here.

I am under no illusion that staying here long term and working remotely is difficult as the Thai immigration rules are very lenient for many western countries,but if they are so welcoming why all the changes of late and why not offer a visa for these hoards of remote workers that you talk of ?

Many countries offer either single or multiple entries. Most in fact. Thai may be just streamlining their rules. Not all consulates are insisting on proof of job. AU for one. Also you can obtain a metv in Australia even if not a national or resident. As for providing a tourist visa for people to stay here long term. They do. You could stay here LONG term on METV setv some stamps. As for DN working illegally or accepted this has been discussed so many times it's irrelevant. Fact is its not policed.

Many people in modern world do not follow the path of my generation . Some work for few years and spend year or more in cheaper countries.

There are many other groups. I for one could of retired at 45. Los also offers elite visa. I don't see evidence of them not wanting people here long term.

Me and my boyfriend want to go to Thailand - probably for 6-12mc or longer.

Coming on a single entry tourist visa, extending it and then getting another in a neighboring country and extending that would net you around 60+30+60+30 days or approximately 6 months. Not all that difficult to repeat that another one or two times.

An ed visa and extensions are probably more hassle than you really want to deal with. If you really want to study Thai or something else you can do that on a tourist visa.

If you have Baht 500,000 burning a hole in your pocket, you could go the Thai Elite visa route, but for 6 months to a year that would be rather pricey.

Legally you would be working in Thailand without a work permit although if you just appear to be using your laptop like plenty of others do to check email and surf the web, it's doubtful anyone would make an issue of it. As others have said, it would be best not to mention "work" to anyone and if asked by immigrations about your source of money to keep you afloat in Thailand, better to mention that you're living off savings.

The tourist visa is probably the best option and maybe after 3 months or 6 months you might decide to switch to one of the other countries nearby.

Edited January 30, 201610 yr by Suradit69

The short and not so sweet answer, if you`re working in Thailand with no permits then you cannot make your stay legal.

Just get a Multi Entry Tourist visa and come here, if you like it and you want to stay then I am sure there are plenty of options if you have some income.

I did the same thing almost 14 years ago and I am still here.

Thailand is trying to deter people like you from coming here long term and working remotely.

Interesting! Do you have any concrete evidence of this or is your opinion based on observing changes to visas etc?

I tend to agree with you, but feel that this is not really official policy, just the usual random policy of Thai Government officials.

Actually one individual in Thai Immigration is on record as saying that it is ok for remote workers to stay in Thailand on tourist visas.

What is the value of remote workers to Thailand? In 2012, the top spending tourists visiting Thailand spent around 60,000 baht per visit. My guess is that many remote workers would probably be spending this each month. This amount is also the monthly income required for retirees.

Do the sums! On average, one remote worker (or retiree) is worth 12 high-spending tourists. This means that Thailands entire tourist income from the projected 30 million tourists in 2016 could be replaced by just 2.5 million remote workers living in Thailand.

Remote workers (and retirees) integrate better into Thailand's economy, spreading their money around more. The money they spend stays in the Thai economy. They cause considerably less environmental damage. There are probably many other benefits that I haven't thought of.

Given the current economic climate in Thailand and it's future prospects, I would have thought it makes far more sense to encourage remote workers?

Top spending tourists spend around 60,000 baht ?

Where do you get this information from.

I think you need to multiply that by three for an average family holiday and by an order of magnitude for the more wealthy tourists.

Most of the posts i have seen seem to indicate digital nomads live in what could be generously called poor living conditions and just scrape by. Comparing them to top spending tourists is simply ludicrous as is the rest of your post.

Thailand is trying to deter people like you from coming here long term and working remotely.

Interesting! Do you have any concrete evidence of this or is your opinion based on observing changes to visas etc?

I tend to agree with you, but feel that this is not really official policy, just the usual random policy of Thai Government officials.

Actually one individual in Thai Immigration is on record as saying that it is ok for remote workers to stay in Thailand on tourist visas.

What is the value of remote workers to Thailand? In 2012, the top spending tourists visiting Thailand spent around 60,000 baht per visit. My guess is that many remote workers would probably be spending this each month. This amount is also the monthly income required for retirees.

Do the sums! On average, one remote worker (or retiree) is worth 12 high-spending tourists. This means that Thailands entire tourist income from the projected 30 million tourists in 2016 could be replaced by just 2.5 million remote workers living in Thailand.

Remote workers (and retirees) integrate better into Thailand's economy, spreading their money around more. The money they spend stays in the Thai economy. They cause considerably less environmental damage. There are probably many other benefits that I haven't thought of.

Given the current economic climate in Thailand and it's future prospects, I would have thought it makes far more sense to encourage remote workers?

Top spending tourists spend around 60,000 baht ?

Where do you get this information from.

I think you need to multiply that by three for an average family holiday and by an order of magnitude for the more wealthy tourists.

Most of the posts i have seen seem to indicate digital nomads live in what could be generously called poor living conditions and just scrape by. Comparing them to top spending tourists is simply ludicrous as is the rest of your post.

Information is widely available on the internet. Start maybe with TATs web site?

Find the average spend by taking total tourist income and dividing by number of tourists. Yes, I understand that some world spend far more (and some far less). That's why it's called an average.

Yes a family of three, would spend more but then they would be counted as three tourists, wouldn't they?

Can't comment on remote workers income but many I know rent condos and live a pretty good life. Hard to do on less than 60k? For retirees 65k month/800k/year is mandatory for the visa.

The (much hatred) "digital nomads" are only one category of remote worker.

Edited January 30, 201610 yr by mngmn

mngmn

"The (much hatred) "digital nomads" are only one category of remote worker"

​What other categories of "remote worker" should we be aware of and are they working legally ?

mngmn

"The (much hatred) "digital nomads" are only one category of remote worker"

​What other categories of "remote worker" should we be aware of and are they working legally ?

Have a friend who works remotely for an Australian Government department but lives in the US. They are a full employee and receive a monthly salary.

The fact that they would probably be illegal in Thailand is exactly my point. If they lived here, they definitely would not take any jobs away from Thais but would contribute to the economy.

mngmn

"The (much hatred) "digital nomads" are only one category of remote worker"

​What other categories of "remote worker" should we be aware of and are they working legally ?

Have a friend who works remotely for an Australian Government department but lives in the US. They are a full employee and receive a monthly salary.

The fact that they would probably be illegal in Thailand is exactly my point. If they lived here, they definitely would not take any jobs away from Thais but would contribute to the economy.

If your friend works for a government agency and receives a salary the friend is also paying tax, something DN's attempt to avoid.

The Economic "argument" is very weak, neither the Thai or the American economy would collapse if DN's were banned !

Edited January 30, 201610 yr by sunnyjim5

wow thank you for responses

Our main problem is that we would like to have work permit or something that would make our stay more legally but it's impossible without having job in Thailand that's why I asked which visa would suit us.

wow thank you for responses

Our main problem is that we would like to have work permit or something that would make our stay more legally but it's impossible without having job in Thailand that's why I asked which visa would suit us.

Work permits are linked to specific jobs associated with a Thai employer or Thai company.

In the absence of jobs/employment you only option is to obtain a single or multiple entry tourist visa(s) before arriving.

Have a friend who works remotely for an Australian Government department but lives in the US. They are a full employee and receive a monthly salary.

The fact that they would probably be illegal in Thailand is exactly my point. If they lived here, they definitely would not take any jobs away from Thais but would contribute to the economy.

Why do you refer to your friend in the plural "they"? I find it rather confusing.

Have a friend who works remotely for an Australian Government department but lives in the US. They are a full employee and receive a monthly salary.

The fact that they would probably be illegal in Thailand is exactly my point. If they lived here, they definitely would not take any jobs away from Thais but would contribute to the economy.

Why do you refer to your friend in the plural "they"? I find it rather confusing.

If they are working for a Government then, like an Embassy, it may well be considered sovereign part of the country i.e. Australia. Hence if it is Australian and NOT Thailand they could be paying tax in Australia and nothing in Thailand.

A inflammatory post has been removed.

Thailand is trying to deter people like you from coming here long term and working remotely.

Interesting! Do you have any concrete evidence of this or is your opinion based on observing changes to visas etc?

I tend to agree with you, but feel that this is not really official policy, just the usual random policy of Thai Government officials.

Actually one individual in Thai Immigration is on record as saying that it is ok for remote workers to stay in Thailand on tourist visas.

What is the value of remote workers to Thailand? In 2012, the top spending tourists visiting Thailand spent around 60,000 baht per visit. My guess is that many remote workers would probably be spending this each month. This amount is also the monthly income required for retirees.

Do the sums! On average, one remote worker (or retiree) is worth 12 high-spending tourists. This means that Thailands entire tourist income from the projected 30 million tourists in 2016 could be replaced by just 2.5 million remote workers living in Thailand.

Remote workers (and retirees) integrate better into Thailand's economy, spreading their money around more. The money they spend stays in the Thai economy. They cause considerably less environmental damage. There are probably many other benefits that I haven't thought of.

Given the current economic climate in Thailand and it's future prospects, I would have thought it makes far more sense to encourage remote workers?

Top spending tourists spend around 60,000 baht ?

Where do you get this information from.

I think you need to multiply that by three for an average family holiday and by an order of magnitude for the more wealthy tourists.

Most of the posts i have seen seem to indicate digital nomads live in what could be generously called poor living conditions and just scrape by. Comparing them to top spending tourists is simply ludicrous as is the rest of your post.

Most retirees are bringing their incomes over from abroad, taking nothing out of Thailand. I guess on average retirees spend 50000 baht a month, or it averages out that way some spending less some spending more. 600000 baht a year, 6 million baht in 10 years. 1000 retirees that`s 6000 million baht every 10 years that doesn`t include the money they have in Thai banks. My Thai neighbour spends 12000 baht a month that includes himself, wife and 2 children and no savings in a bank. Being Thai citizens they are entitled to free health care, free schooling for their kids and the over 60s receive a small government allowance of 600 baht a month. As a Farlang I get nothing back for living in Thailand

So don`t kid yourselves, long stay retirees contribute a lot to the economy and are more of an asset to Thailand then most people think. The ones that are in Thailand staying too long when they shouldn`t be here are the people Thailand is filtering out.

mngmn

"The (much hatred) "digital nomads" are only one category of remote worker"

​What other categories of "remote worker" should we be aware of and are they working legally ?

Have a friend who works remotely for an Australian Government department but lives in the US. They are a full employee and receive a monthly salary.

The fact that they would probably be illegal in Thailand is exactly my point. If they lived here, they definitely would not take any jobs away from Thais but would contribute to the economy.

If your friend works for a government agency and receives a salary the friend is also paying tax, something DN's attempt to avoid.

The Economic "argument" is very weak, neither the Thai or the American economy would collapse if DN's were banned !

But what if Thailand actively encouraged remote workers? The income they remitted to Thailand would be taxable and they would inject funds into the economy without taking jobs away from Thais.

Agree the US economy will do busy fine without remote workers!

Thailand is trying to deter people like you from coming here long term and working remotely.

Interesting! Do you have any concrete evidence of this or is your opinion based on observing changes to visas etc?

I tend to agree with you, but feel that this is not really official policy, just the usual random policy of Thai Government officials.

Actually one individual in Thai Immigration is on record as saying that it is ok for remote workers to stay in Thailand on tourist visas.

What is the value of remote workers to Thailand? In 2012, the top spending tourists visiting Thailand spent around 60,000 baht per visit. My guess is that many remote workers would probably be spending this each month. This amount is also the monthly income required for retirees.

Do the sums! On average, one remote worker (or retiree) is worth 12 high-spending tourists. This means that Thailands entire tourist income from the projected 30 million tourists in 2016 could be replaced by just 2.5 million remote workers living in Thailand.

Remote workers (and retirees) integrate better into Thailand's economy, spreading their money around more. The money they spend stays in the Thai economy. They cause considerably less environmental damage. There are probably many other benefits that I haven't thought of.

Given the current economic climate in Thailand and it's future prospects, I would have thought it makes far more sense to encourage remote workers?

---------------------------------------

This point has been done over many times.

It is NOT legal for you to work on a tourist visa....never has been and nor likely to ever be legal.

In order to work legally in Thailand you need a work permit.

You can only get that work permit if you are hired by a Thai company as an employee of that company and the company sponsors you for a work permit.

Now it is true that if you stay "under the radar" you can often work, but not legally , in Thailand as the labor people do not monitor that.

But no matter what some people want to believe it is still NOT legal to work without a work permit.

Given the current economic climate in Thailand and it's future prospects, I would have thought it makes far more sense to encourage remote workers?

Yes it would be, some people have been trying to get that point through to people in the government for years.

But so far, no response from the Thai government.

Laws, are made, they don't always make sense

In fact, in my 70 years on this earth, I have found that MANY laws passed by so-called intelligent government officials actually don't make much sense.

And not only in Thailand.

Thailand Elite visa if you want the least hassle.

Thailand is trying to deter people like you from coming here long term and working remotely.

Tourists in their eyes are just that,the METV is designed that you show enough funds for the duration of your stay and aren't here to work,remotely or not.

In the eyes of the current regime tourists only holiday for a few weeks a year at most,not months and months.

If that was correct one would imagine that there would be a limit on back to back tourist visas. There is not. Nor is there a rule along the lines ......can only spend certain number of days in los in a given calender year using tourist visa.........

Easy rules to introduce if they wanted to achieve what you imagine they do

Indeed,so the scraping of double and triple entry tourist visas was for which purpose exactly,purely financial gain ?

Encourage people to obtain the METV at their home embassy or consulate whereby you have to show employment status and proof of funds is hardly inviting people here long term to work remotely is it.

Also why are they introducing new rules for overstayers,people who they usually expect of working here illegally.

The problem as always is what do the powers that be here class as working remotely,how do you explain to an immigration officer that you don't work here but stay here long term apart from some online activities,what you and I perceive as one thing is usually interpreted quite differently here.

I am under no illusion that staying here long term and working remotely is difficult as the Thai immigration rules are very lenient for many western countries,but if they are so welcoming why all the changes of late and why not offer a visa for these hoards of remote workers that you talk of ?

Actually Canada and Australia aren't requiring the proof of employment, it isn't listed on their requirements, and just recently there are reports on Thaivisa of the US not requiring it either.

Also Australia has given METVs to several other nationalities, so there's no need to go home to one's home consulate.

The red tape seems to be fizzling out as they realise how silly it is.

Also I've read on here many members have explained to IOs that they work online and have been told 'no problem for you'.

Your initial post 'Thailand is trying to deter people like you coming here and working remotely' is a bit too strongly worded. If you look at the overstay video and other statements those changes are aimed at people working here in a physical, and very criminal sense - things like ATM skimming, setting up gambling dens, etc.

There's never been a clear statement that the authorities are out to get a bunch of bloggers and programmers. If so they need only walk into any of the co-working spaces in Chiang Mai or look at the public Facebook groups with 8000 digital nomads in.

As the METV option has only been in existence since November 2015, it is speculation that one can obtain a succession of such visas for long-term stay. Each Visa application form requires that you declare the true and compete purpose of your visit and ALL visas are issued at the discretion of the Embassy/Consulate even if you meet all the stated requirements for that particular Embassy/Consulate.

This point has been done over many times.

It is NOT legal for you to work on a tourist visa....never has been and nor likely to ever be legal.

In order to work legally in Thailand you need a work permit.

You can only get that work permit if you are hired by a Thai company as an employee of that company and the company sponsors you for a work permit.

Now it is true that if you stay "under the radar" you can often work, but not legally , in Thailand as the labor people do not monitor that.

But no matter what some people want to believe it is still NOT legal to work without a work permit.

Given the current economic climate in Thailand and it's future prospects, I would have thought it makes far more sense to encourage remote workers?

Yes it would be, some people have been trying to get that point through to people in the government for years.

But so far, no response from the Thai government.

Laws, are made, they don't always make sense

In fact, in my 70 years on this earth, I have found that MANY laws passed by so-called intelligent government officials actually don't make much sense.

And not only in Thailand.

You mean the point has been debated many times, but there's never been any resolution or clarification as to whether remote work is classed as working in Thailand.

No one's disputing that it's illegal to work as a tour guide, bartender, etc. without a permit.

But it's not even possible to get a work permit to be an online freelancer working for offshore companies, and pay taxes, so that's where the debate starts - do the authorities really care about people doing that. And there's never been a statement saying they do care, and no one's ever been arrested for being a digital nomad since the advent of the internet.

In fact there have been statements saying they don't mind if people work online on a tourist visa:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/753621-digital-nomad-online-workers-permission/

Edited January 31, 201610 yr by jspill

In answer to the OP there are thousands of remote workers in Chiang Mai, they seem to prefer it there and have something of a community. Also it's one of the easiest places to get an Ed visa, you can even study hand to hand combat and get a 1 year visa, or volunteer there.

Check out cmlocals.com, chiangmaibuddy.com, or the Facebook group 'chiang mai digital nomads'.

It doesn't have a beach but domestic flights to a beach are cheap, and it does have large lakes to swim in, mountains to hike / cycle up, hot springs to bathe in, lots of nature basically.

Have a friend who works remotely for an Australian Government department but lives in the US. They are a full employee and receive a monthly salary.

The fact that they would probably be illegal in Thailand is exactly my point. If they lived here, they definitely would not take any jobs away from Thais but would contribute to the economy.

Why do you refer to your friend in the plural "they"? I find it rather confusing.

You might find this both interesting and educational:

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/he-or-she-versus-they

English is a fluid and adaptive language......

You're Welcome!!

Have a friend who works remotely for an Australian Government department but lives in the US. They are a full employee and receive a monthly salary.

The fact that they would probably be illegal in Thailand is exactly my point. If they lived here, they definitely would not take any jobs away from Thais but would contribute to the economy.

Why do you refer to your friend in the plural "they"? I find it rather confusing.

Protecting their privacy. Nothing sinister!