Can I qualify for a Destination Thai Visa (DTV) without a job or employment contract if I have a $14K bank balance?

@Neil *****

On DTV, you are 'forced to leave for 10 minutes every 360 days. It's irrelevant. You can essentially stay 5 years.

@Todd ********

if you're forced to leave for any period of time, it's absolutely relevant.

@Neil *****

If you take a holiday once a year (as most humans would) , you are never forced to leave. It's absolutely irrelevant. It's a 5 year residency. That they needed another name for

@Todd ********

exiting the country costs money and time. People with low amounts of cash may be constrained to do that. it's a tourist visa with a 5 year validity. It's not a non-immigrant visa. You can tell that to everyone, but it doesn't change the fact that it is what it is.

@Neil *****

you can stay five years on the visa if you just exit and re-enter enough times. Most don't want to be locked inside anyway and will renew their entries naturally. You may need to hop across a border occasionally but that isn't a big deal. You can live in Thailand with this visa for five years, it's not just a 180 day entry and then stop like you suggest.

@Bart *************

I never suggested it stops after 180 days. It’s a 180 day length of stay tourist visa that is a 5 year term. Some of y’all need to learn the nuances between visa lengths, lengths of stay, and non-immigrant va tourist visas. This was not created as a 5 year non-immigrant (resident) visa, but some of y’all think it was.

@Neil *****

I understand those differences, but it doesn't mean that you can't use the visa to stay in Thailand for five years. You can.

@Neil *****

i don't understand the 180 day length. Does it mean per entry you can stay max 180 days? Then exit and come back for another 180 days? And the visa is valid for 5 years?

@Lien *****

except that if you want to extend for the second half of the year you have to apply outside of Thailand for an extension and pay the fee again. Every year

@Kirsten ********

does it mean per year i only can stay 180 days the max no matter how often I exit and enter? Cause this is a bit confusing

@Kirsten ********

applying for an extension outside of Thailand? How does that work?

And yes, extensions cost money. Other long stay visas, that mostly have yearly extensions, also incur that fee.

@Lien *****

yes.

@Neil *****

it does indeed.... just like taking a holiday. But this visa is really not targeted at all to people with no funds or income. It is, in fact, targeting digital 'nomads' who, by nature of their nomadism, tend to travel. We agree it's definitely not called a 'non-immigrant visa'. But it sure functions like one. In fact, even better. And that's how i would use it

@Todd ********

do you even realize how contradictory your comments are? First you say it’s intended to allow people to live here for 5 years. Then you say it’s intended for “nomads” because they don’t stay in one place. It can’t be both. And it’s not. The whole reason the length of stay is 180 days, is because it’s targeted at people who move around frequently. Regardless, it’s a shit visa and nothing like a non-immigrant visa. Non-immigrant visas are resident visas and people who have them don’t need 3rd parties to circumvent regulations and they don’t force you out of the country during the visa term.

@Neil *****

lol, are you for real man. Literacy seems challenging for you. Now go read it again and sort yourself out. There are no contradictions. You just don’t like the reality of it all.

The DTV is a great visa really, and one of the easiest and cheapest in the world to get. You simply have to understand how it works and take a holiday once a year if you want to stay full time. No problem. Imagine the poor sods running back and forth every year to their bank and immigration to comply with all those non-immigrant requirements. That’s gotta be annoying. Those are shit visas. Or the poor guys who overpaid for Elite now. Unfortunate timing.

@Todd ********

He's a little gatekeeper who has decided that no one else is allowed to enjoy Thailand. Not even the Thais, apparently.

@Joseph ***

There always seems to a couple of them lurking around!

@Todd ********

Yes, indeed.😄

@Neil *****

When i wrote staying 5 years it means staying within the validity of the visa and conditions of entry and reentry. Not staying 5 yrs non stop.

@Todd ********

yeah of course for this reason I specified 500k baht which has to be consulted for their embassy, for an example in Finland the minimum should be 15k € and in Italy 13.5k

@Vesna ******

well they first of all see if you have 500k baht liquidity in your saving account and this amounts it depends on many factors: if you have this by savings or someone that transfer to you those 500k that in the last case would be rejected as they want to see the last months of your bank statement

Second thing: they don’t wanna see that you go down this amount in the range of months

Third thing: they want to see a stable remote work which attest you can work remotely (so cannot be hybrid but only full remote)

All those things are helpful to the thai embassy to understand if you can “survive” in 5 years staying in Thailand

Of course you have to check with your thai embassy in your nation

In my case I showed the minimum that was 500k baht and the remote job contract, I think that if you have the remote job contract that attest that you can be remotely and the amount you can have the DTV

@Raffaele *************

Thank you for your detailed answer, I really appreciate it 🙏🏻

@Neil *****

what's the good reason? So if anyone is here for 360 days in a year, they don't need a bank account? Really? I've only ever been here on either tourist exemp stamps or 60 day tourist visa and I have 2 bank accounts. What are my personal circumstances that tell you I don't need 1 or both?

@Stephen *******

He has the mentality of a bitter old maid. You're not allowed to be here in HIS Thailand, don't you know? 😅

@Nigel *************

because banks have no interest in opening accounts for tourists. Using an "agent" to circumvent rules and regulations is shady af. Yes, that's how things are here, but some of us do not engage in it and we do it all ourselves and the proper way.

@Neil *****

agreed. I live here and no way I’m using. Agent! They have access to your account. Your tripping…

@Neil *****

yep agree

@Neil *****

using an agent is simply how it's done in many parts of the world. Nothing shady at all. Just how it's done

@Todd ********

disagree with that. If the bank's policies are not to open accounts for tourists and that is circumvented with a 3rd party, that's definitely not just "how it is done in many parts of the world". You and I both know that many people are here that shouldn't be here because of "agents". Requirements are set for a reason and some people decide those reasons don't apply to them.

@Neil *****

you can disagree all you want. It's how things are done in much of the world. It's most definitely how it's done and most certainly not just Thailand. All of SE Asia, much of Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe. Agents in many, many countries (including our own) facilitate matters like this for a fee. And you are right, those reasons/rules don't apply to everyone. Just to the obedient ones.

@Todd ********

I see you're advocating for Thailand's guests to be lawless. That's cute.

@Neil *****

who are you to suggest who shouldn’t be in Thailand ?

Your not Thai

Who lives here and how doesnt affect you at all

Long before u ever came to Thailand and long after your gone Thailand will operate bending rules for visas , jobs ,

Business etc

Why is it only foreigners whinge about other foreigners??

TIT ! Thais don’t care.

So stfu

@Neil *****

"If the banks policies are to not open accounts..." You're being ridiculous. You think the banks don't know EXACTLY what's going on when a Thai agent comes in and opens an account for a foreigner? Or are you going to prosecute the bank now for circumventng its own rules? I usually don't like the following cliche, but sounds like Thailand might not be for you.

@Neil *****

I'm not advocating anything. I'm telling you how it works. Which you can pretend doesn't exist all you want. Like the proverbial ostritch. So cute.

@Pat *****

that’s my point an agent can open an account for you for a fee , yet we can’t the whole system isn’t fit for purpose.