For Americans living in Thailand…how does $3000 USD/month equate in Thailand? Not conversion to bahts but $3k in America is like living on how much USD in Thailand? That make sense? Does it feel like I have $5-6k in Thailand? 🤷

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to apply for the DTV at the Helsinki Embassy under the freelance/professional route.

I run my own recruitment company and work fully remotely with European clients, invoices through my registered business. I plan to travel to Thailand in late September.

Before submitting, I’d be really grateful if anyone could share their recent experience with the Thai Embassy in Helsinki, especially if you applied under the freelancer route.

Specifically:

1. Did they require 3–6 months of bank statements showing a consistent balance of 500,000 THB+, or was it enough just to have the amount in the account at the time of application?

2. What supporting documents did they ask for (e.g., invoices, proof of client payments, contracts, CV)?

3. How long did the processing take from submission to visa approval?

4. Were there any surprises or additional documents requested during the review process?

Any tips, timelines, or document checklist would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Has anyone had this issue? In "document number" it has incorrectly copied in my passport expiry date, as being 1934 instead of 2034. Any idea what to do? I don't want to proceed and then get rejected.

Thoughts on travelling to Buriram next week?

Hello everyone!

My dad, after hiring an agent, he has just returned to Thailand from Vietnam and was stamped with a non-o visa. His plan is to do the retirement extensions every year.

I'd love to hear about other's experiences with getting the residence certificate to sign up for a thai bank account and the process of applying for the retirement extension. Was the process easy? I'm looking for advice from people that didn't use an agent.

I don't have enough time for apply online for my Laos visa.

So it gonna be Visa on Arrival at the VTE airport.

I will arrive at 22:00 in the airport.

Could this be a problem for my VOA?

Or they make VOA 24./7?

It it right you have to pay for entry into thailand now

If I apply for the DTV in Manilla on my layover to the USA, can I leave Manilla before the decision and results are sent to me?

I want to personally thank everyone in this group for your immensely useful and compassionate support and guidance throughout this tedious last few weeks of visa adventure lol. Just flew back into Thailand,

Immigration: "how long will you be staying on Thailand "

Me: hands over dtv visa email

Immigration: puts stamp on passport

Loving this! So nice to hear "Ka" and "kup" again lol

APPROVED in Prague, Czech Republic

Category: Soft Skills (Muay Thai)

Very helpful information in this group, thank you for that. Hardly any reports from the Czech Republic though, so here is mine:

Applying as a Czech citizen with a Czech passport.

22nd July 2025 (Tuesday) – Application submitted

23rd July 2025 - Request for further documents:

* Proof of travel document to and from Thailand.

* Proof of accommodation for the whole stay.

24th July 2025 – Documents submitted

25th July 2025 (Friday) – Visa approved

My personal tips:

* Document Indicating Current Location

Scan of both sides of my personal ID card (Občanský průkaz).

* Financial evidence

My bank (Fio) was unable to provide statements in English, only the Account confirmation (Potvrzení o vedení účtu), so I included that together with the account statement in Czech (Výpis z účtu) in CZK currency.

* Proof of confirmation to attend the activity

I chose Bangkok Fight Lab gym and bought a 6-month membership. Issued payment in THB by a bank transfer using my Revolut account. The recipient bank was TMBThanachart Bank and the payment was confirmed within 5 days. Documents from the gym followed shortly after.

* Place of issue (Passport)

It is written on the front page of the passport under "Authority" (Pas vydal). In my case I wrote "UMC PRAHA 7".

* Last port of embarkation (Travel)

In case of a transfer flight it is the one that lands in Thailand. In my case I have a flight from Prague to Bangkok with the transfer in Istanbul. So I put "Turkiye".

Hope this helps.