Living in Thailand for a year - Not in retirement age

[roadrunner21]

hey folks

 

First and foremost - Sorry if the exact same topic has been discussed recently. I searched the internet for several hours and it's pretty hard to understand which informations are up to date and which are not. So if there is an answer already which suits my case, just post the link and I will look into it!

 

I life in Switzerland and I'm currently 24 years old. I'm currently working as a freelancer in webdevelopment, earning about 4'300 euros per month if I work 100%. I also work in the music industry as producer, but I feel like I have to much distraction in Switzerland to really have time for it. That's why, several weeks ago, I came up with the idea to move to Thailand for about a year and rent a house somewhere, while still working as freelancer part time. Alternatively, I could work in Switzerland for a few months longer, save money and go to Thailand with my money put aside. 

 

However, as I started to get information about the visa process I got confused on how to handle it. I read about three types of 1 year visas. The retirement one, one for students and one for business. Since I'm 24, I can't take the retirement one and I'm unsure on how to handle the other two. I read it would be possible to visit a language school for a year and get the education visa this way. Also, a good friends brother-in-law (who is Thai), has a small food company in Thailand, maybe he could hire me on paper and I can get a business visa.

 

I also read about the multiple entry visa with border hopping, which would also be an option.

 

Anyway, I wanted to know if there is someone who is experienced and could tell me what's the easiest way to achieve what I want. I'd also be okay if it's "only" 6 months stay, a year long though would be the best.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

 

Edited August 25, 2017 by roadrunner21

[tonray]

You think as a 24 year old you will have fewer distractions in Thailand ?

 

Student Visa: need to enroll in MOE approved school and after  initial 90 days apply for extensions, proving attendance and maybe tested to see if you are learning anything.

 

Business Visa: not easy at all unless you want to set up legal company here, hire Thai employees, get audits, pay taxes, etc etc.

 

Hired by Thai friend on paper ? What would be his incentive to commit immigration fraud risking his entire company ?

 

Search on Elite Visa if you have the dough it's the legal way to go.

[Denim]

Yep.....elite visa is the way to go. Expensive but avoids a lot of hassles. Might not be worth it for a short stay but if you decide you like it and want to stay longer at least you will be covered.

 

Then again .....if you intend to work here there is the issue of the work permit.

[roadrunner21]

Haha, I had to giggle but yes, I do think I will have fewer distractions. Mainly because I don't have to work so much to actually pay for rent, food, etc. It's just way too expensive in Switzerland if I anyway just mainly want to stay at home and working on my music.

 

Getting hired by a Thai friend was just an idea, maybe it would have been the easiest way to get what I want. As I said, I don't know - I'm currently just playing with ideas I have.

 

Thanks for the recommendation for the elite visa! I just looked into it and it would have been perfect for 1 year. Paying 500k Baht for 5 years, from which I only need one, is a bit expensive though.

 

Quote

Then again .....if you intend to work here there is the issue of the work permit.

So you think it would be hard to still work as a freelancer for my swiss customers in Thailand? I thought maybe it's an advantage to get a business visa easier when working independently (and pay taxes of course), but if this is more complicated I would save money first and reconsider the elite visa. (or just chose another country)

Edited August 25, 2017 by roadrunner21

[tonray]

The best advice I can give is the following:

 

Do your digital nomad stuff in private and use Tourist Visas as follows:

 

Apply for METV : (multiple entry tourist Visa) in Switzerland. This will give you 9 months if used correctly with an extension

 

Make a border hop after that for a tourist Visa which will give you 60 days + 30 extension.

 

Total: 12 months

[darrendsd]

Who on earth would recommend a 5 year Elite visa costing 500,000 Baht for somebody who is only planning to stay a year?

 

OP if you are working from home then you will be fine as long as you keep quiet to people you meet about what you are doing

 

Get a METV from home, this gives you either a 8 or 9 month stay in total, you do need to leave every 90 days, you can use ThaiVisaService for this, less than a 12 hour return trip from BKK or fly somewhere nearby and come back, your choice

 

After your METV has expired you will need another visa, again you can use TVS for this, you can get a SETV which lasts a total of 90 days

 

If you;re still here you can do the above again or go on a border bounce which gives you a total of 60 days, all this should see you covered for a year

 

If after this you want to stay longer then come back to the boards for more advice

Edited August 25, 2017 by darrendsd

[swissie]

Too many distractions in Switzerland? Now you are between a rock and a hard place:

- Urban aerea in Thailand: Good internet connection but way too many distractions.
- Rural aerea in Thailand: Not good internet connection but not many distractions.

Or could it be, that you are a creative hard worker, but finding the "distractions" in Switzerland just to be too "expensive"?
Spill your guts!

You may want to try southern Portugal: Internet good, "distractions" not too many.
Cheers.

[roadrunner21]

Thank you so much @tonray and @darrendsd. This is exactly what I was looking for! I read about the METV, I just didn't know if it was the best solution for me. Definitely gonna look into that and follow your information provided! 

 

2 hours ago, swissie said:

Too many distractions in Switzerland? Now you are between a rock and a hard place:

- Urban aerea in Thailand: Good internet connection but way too many distractions.
- Rural aerea in Thailand: Not good internet connection but not many distractions.

Or could it be, that you are a creative hard worker, but finding the "distractions" in Switzerland just to be too "expensive"?
Spill your guts!

You may want to try southern Portugal: Internet good, "distractions" not too many.
Cheers.

Switzerland being to expensive for what I want to achieve is just another reason. With distraction I mainly mean friends which are visiting me on the most random times. I know a lot of people here and it's not unusual to have 4-5 people in my place every day. It's cool and I like to have people around, which is why I really don't want to refuse them. On the other hand it's not helping me with the music in any way and I think that a new place would not only help my focus (because I know im there for a reason) but also for inspiration. At the same time, I would spend like 1/4 of what I would have to spend in Switzerland. (= less work = more time)

 

There are several more reasons why I want to do this but I don't really want to go any further because it's not why I'm here. Don't wanna sound harsh because I'm really thankful for the help but my plan is fixed and I just wanted to know about the visa.

Thanks again for all the help!

Edited August 25, 2017 by roadrunner21

[gk10002000]

Not sure what you actually do with music.  Are you bringing instruments?  small electric organ?  Just doing things with your headphones on your head and on line?  Just going to Thailand because you think it is cheap is the wrong answer to your desires.  There are cheaper places in the world to hang your hat for a year and that have much simpler visa and stay requirements.  The METV, depending on your country has a lot of requirements on the application.  Things like income or cash in bank for 6 months previous, employer work verification or if self employed some other paperwork, then a few visa runs you have to do every 90 days.  It by design really is not intended as a stay in place longer term visa.

[steve187]

A METV will give you a 60 day permission to stay stamp on every entry but will require a border run every 60 days or every 90 days if you are getting 30 day extension at local immigration (1,900 baht), on your 60 day permission to stay stamp. 

[Goldbear]

Thailand is a great place but I think there will be way more social distractions than you realize. It can also be quite noisy if you are living in town and particularly with inexpensive accommodation (e.g., for doing music if you need quiet).

 

I met three German medical students, years ago, who had the idea of studying for their final medical school exams in Thailand. They thought it was better than sitting home in the cold winter in Germany. When I met them they had been there three or four months, were about a month away from the exams and were doing poorly on the practice exams. They were starting to freak out. The bottom line is that they couldn't study hard enough in Thailand with all of the distractions. 

 

Your situation is different of course but it's food for thought. 

 

Good luck! 

[stevenl]

Also do a search on digital nomads here on the forum.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, steve187 said:

A METV will give you a 60 day permission to stay stamp on every entry but will require a border run every 60 days or every 90 days if you are getting 30 day extension at local immigration (1,900 baht), on your 60 day permission to stay stamp. 

This is the best suggestion made in this topic.

Getting a multiple entry tourist visa if used correctly can allow a total stay of almost 9 month by doing an entry just be the visa expires (6 months from the date of issue) to get a 60 day entry and then extending it for 30 days.

[juice777]

Just get a METV then a single entry Visa in loas or somewhere.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[louse1953]

14 hours ago, roadrunner21 said:

Haha, I had to giggle but yes, I do think I will have fewer distractions. Mainly because I don't have to work so much to actually pay for rent, food, etc. It's just way too expensive in Switzerland if I anyway just mainly want to stay at home and working on my music.

 

Getting hired by a Thai friend was just an idea, maybe it would have been the easiest way to get what I want. As I said, I don't know - I'm currently just playing with ideas I have.

 

Thanks for the recommendation for the elite visa! I just looked into it and it would have been perfect for 1 year. Paying 500k Baht for 5 years, from which I only need one, is a bit expensive though.

 

So you think it would be hard to still work as a freelancer for my swiss customers in Thailand? I thought maybe it's an advantage to get a business visa easier when working independently (and pay taxes of course), but if this is more complicated I would save money first and reconsider the elite visa. (or just chose another country)

Cut your idea to 9 months and it is possible on tourist visa

[ubonjoe]

19 minutes ago, louse1953 said:

Cut your idea to 9 months and it is possible on tourist visa

Why?

After the METV he could go out and get a single entry tourist visa that would give another 90 days of total stay.

[khunPer]

15 hours ago, roadrunner21 said:

I life in Switzerland and I'm currently 24 years old. I'm currently working as a freelancer in webdevelopment, earning about 4'300 euros per month if I work 100%. I also work in the music industry as producer, but I feel like I have to much distraction in Switzerland to really have time for it.

With that level of income you shall look at Elite Visa where you can have both 5-years, 10-year and 20-year Visa for a cost of around 100,000 baht (ca. 2,500 €) a year. However, you may need to look for a remote up-hill spot far away from everything – wireless Internet is available from AIS – as you otherwise may get distracted too much (talk from experience)...

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

With that level of income you shall look at Elite Visa where you can have both 5-years, 10-year and 20-year Visa for a cost of around 100,000 baht (ca. 2,500 €) a year. However, you may need to look for a remote up-hill spot far away from everything – wireless Internet is available from AIS – as you otherwise may get distracted too much (talk from experience)...

Since the OP wants one year it would be ca 13,000 Euro per year.

[JackThompson]

16 hours ago, swissie said:

Too many distractions in Switzerland? Now you are between a rock and a hard place:

- Urban aerea in Thailand: Good internet connection but way too many distractions.
- Rural aerea in Thailand: Not good internet connection but not many distractions.

...

To a musician/producer, a "day job" is the primary distraction, and cutting down on overhead costs frees up time to work less, and do what one enjoys doing.  Just from cost-of-living savings alone, he could double his "recreational" time, and still have much more time to work on his passions.

[darrendsd]

2 hours ago, khunPer said:

With that level of income you shall look at Elite Visa where you can have both 5-years, 10-year and 20-year Visa for a cost of around 100,000 baht (ca. 2,500 €) a year. However, you may need to look for a remote up-hill spot far away from everything – wireless Internet is available from AIS – as you otherwise may get distracted too much (talk from experience)...

You're probably the 3rd or 4th person on this thread who has suggested the Elite Visa,

 

Why?

 

The OP plans to stay for a year, who in their right mind would pay 500,000 Baht for a 5 year visa (or more for the 10 or 20 year one) when they only plan to stay for a year and there are options available for him that will cost him around 20-30,000 in visas/travel expenses for a year

 

Some truley awful advice coming from some posters on this thread

 

 

[khunPer]

3 minutes ago, darrendsd said:

You're probably the 3rd or 4th person on this thread who has suggested the Elite Visa,

 

Why?

 

The OP plans to stay for a year, who in their right mind would pay 500,000 Baht for a 5 year visa (or more for the 10 or 20 year one) when they only plan to stay for a year and there are options available for him that will cost him around 20-30,000 in visas/travel expenses for a year

 

Some truley awful advice coming from some posters on this thread

 

 

Honestly, what are the alternatives, when disregarding education and work permit (Non-Im.B)..?

[Crisu]

Honestly, what are the alternatives, when disregarding education and work permit (Non-Im...?

 1. He can apply for a METV in CH before he enter TH which would give him nearly 9 months of stay in TH 

2. After the above 9 months he can travel to a neighbour country of TH and apply there for a SETV which would give him 3 more months of stay in TH.

 

Thats the way yu can have a cheap 1y stay in TH. No need for an expensive thai elite visa which he not need if only 1y of stay is requested.

 

Regarding the freelance work just be quiet about this and do not mention to someone you are working on internet ect.

"You came to TH to have a 1 year break from your hard+stressful work in CH before"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[darrendsd]

37 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Honestly, what are the alternatives, when disregarding education and work permit (Non-Im.B)..?

Plenty of alternatives which have already been advised on this thread

[khunPer]

15 minutes ago, Crisu said:

 1. He can apply for a METV in CH before he enter TH which would give him nearly 9 months of stay in TH 

2. After the above 9 months he can travel to a neighbour country of TH and apply there for a SETV which would give him 3 more months of stay in TH.

 

Thats the way yu can have a cheap 1y stay in TH. No need for an expensive thai elite visa which he not need if only 1y of stay is requested.

 

Regarding the freelance work just be quiet about this and do not mention to someone you are working on internet ect.

"You came to TH to have a 1 year break from your hard+stressful work in CH before"

Agree with the low profile, but with Multiple Entry Tourist Visa he will need to made both visa runs, and apply for extensions, and apply for a second Tourist Visa abroad, it's not a real one-year visa...

[darrendsd]

1 minute ago, khunPer said:

Agree with the low profile, but with Multiple Entry Tourist Visa he will need to made both visa runs, and apply for extensions, and apply for a second Tourist Visa abroad, it's not a real one-year visa...

No it's not but it covers him for a year which was what the OP was asking advice about

[khunPer]

10 minutes ago, darrendsd said:

12 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Agree with the low profile, but with Multiple Entry Tourist Visa he will need to made both visa runs, and apply for extensions, and apply for a second Tourist Visa abroad, it's not a real one-year visa...

No it's not but it covers him for a year which was what the OP was asking advice about

It covers, but it's still not a one-year visa. Both options got benefits and disadvantages – some would prefer the Elite option with no extensions and no visa runs, if they can afford it – and if the distractions should show to be that low, so OP wish to stay longer, the Elite-option has already covered that.

 

But it's great that OP got several options, and I presume that a smart young guy with a reasonable income, like OP, is able to read through the possibilities and make his own judgement; that's why I, and presumably others also, suggested OP to "look at" Elite Visa (mind you, it was not a recommendation, but a link to look at)...

[Crisu]

There is no "only 1y visa" that he can get with his profile!

 

Also thai elite is not a 1y visa. Its min. 5y what he dont need and dont need to pay. Why pay for 5y if only 1y is needed?

 

In my opinion its not such a big deal to make 4 trips (visa-runs) within a 1y stay in TH.

If he is in the area anyway he could look around singapore, hong-kong, laos, vietnam ect. all very close.

 

He better save the 500.000b for a 5y thai elite visa and spend this money instead to make some interesting holiday trips to the neigbour countries (=visa runs) during his 1y stay in TH.

He will even not need 500.000b for this 4 trips if he not indend to fly first class and stay only in 5 star hotels.

 

If he just stay 1y in TH only he will miss a lot of interesting places and who know when he will have the chance again to come to south east asia.

 

In germany there is one saying:

 

"Kill three flies with one flap"

 

Save money

Visa runs

Holiday

 

If he choose the combination METV+SETV

 

[duanebigsby]

Coming from a free health care country,  one of the things you are not taking into account expense wise is health insurance. 

I realize you are only 24, but motorbike accidents and such happen. Please add that to your budget.

[steve187]

3 hours ago, khunPer said:

Honestly, what are the alternatives, when disregarding education and work permit (Non-Im.B)..?

well covered here already

[MyFriend You]

23 hours ago, swissie said:

Too many distractions in Switzerland? Now you are between a rock and a hard place:

- Urban aerea in Thailand: Good internet connection but way too many distractions.
- Rural aerea in Thailand: Not good internet connection but not many distractions.

Or could it be, that you are a creative hard worker, but finding the "distractions" in Switzerland just to be too "expensive"?
Spill your guts!

You may want to try southern Portugal: Internet good, "distractions" not too many.
Cheers.

 Rural aerea in Thailand: Not good internet connection?????   I have  TOT 50 mpbs down/10 mbps up line for 2200 baht a year in what I consider a rural area of Chon Buri............but you're correct about not many distractions...........have to travel at least 30 minutes to Pattaya for that.