Living in Thailand for a year - Not in retirement age

[fordguy61mi]

Manipulate the tourist visa process or you're screwed. It's not set up for young people to stay in Thailand long term. Sorry.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

As Joe advised earlier, a Multiple Entry Tourist Visa (METV) issued by a Thai consulate in the OP's home country is the perfect way to handle the bulk of a planned 1 year stay for someone in their 20s.

 

The OP also should be aware, that many Thai consulates have requirements for the METV that talk about the applicant needing to provide an employer's letter (which those who are retired or self-employed don't necessarily have). But, depending on the consulate, once you explain your situation, they'll often accept some alternate form of documentation or even waive that requirement.

 

What they're basically trying to get at is to show that you have adequate finances to support yourself during your planned stay in Thailand. The degree of flexibility about the requirements, and the exact requirements themselves, tend to vary some from consulate to consulate. So best to check on the web and/or in person with the nearest Thai consulate to your locale. And ask...if any of their details are going to be a problem for you.

 

[thaitero]

Even METV is not necessary. Coming with  SETV is enough to spend year in Thailand. Just every 3 months do miniholiday to some neighbor country and while visiting get new SETV. When your first SETV is from your homecountry you need only 3 trips to make about one year.

 

About your onlinework, do not talk about that while in Thailand. If you have social media accounts where you talk about your work, check your privacy settings, no open profiles.

Edited August 26, 2017 by thaitero

[roadrunner21]

Hey folks

 

I read multiple times through all the comments and I really appreciate your help! Thank you all so much!

 

I think I will go with a METV and do the border runs. It's also a good opportunity to see parts of the world I havent seen yet. I saw some guides on how to use it properly and I will for sure look into those at a later time to cover all the open questions about it I still have! 

 

I've still got one small question though. I planned to go to Thailand in January anyway and I wanted to check out all the houses in this time and come back a few months later for my 9-12 months stay.

 

Is this a problem? Can I go to Thailand with a regular visa in January (the one they give you at the airport) and then return in March with METV and get another TVS in case I want to stay longer than 9 months?

 

Is this possible? Or are there like a maximum amount of visas they handle out during a certain period of time?

Edited August 27, 2017 by roadrunner21
grammar

[JackThompson]

What you will get at the airport upon arrival is called a "Visa Exempt" entry good for 30-days, and extendable for another 30-days at a local immigration office in Thailand. 

 

Getting one of those when you do not have any long-stay history in Thailand should not be a problem.  It also should not create any problem with getting an METV from the Thai Consulate in your home-country later. 

 

Coming in for a Visa-Exempt after you have used up your METV, and have a long-stay history in Thailand, is where you could run into problems.  That is when all future visits should be with a Tourist Visa obtained in advance.

 

The money-rule for Visa-Exempt is 10K Baht worth of cash (Swiss Francs are fine) or travelers checks on every entry, but I would carry 20K Baht worth on every entry, including your METV border-runs.  Travelers checks don't have much utility in the modern world, but they do come in handy for entering Thailand.

[Crisu]

If you can show to immigration in bangkok a hotel booking e.g. from agoda + flight ticket out of thailand e.g. to singapore if you anyway intend to go there for a holiday trip/visa run would also be helpful to avoid any problems if the officer would ask you for that.

 

By the way at agoda its possible to make a booking and cancel some hotels without cancellation fee but you still have a printout of the booking confirmation that you can show at immigration if requested