What are the best visa options for moving to Thailand to marry my girlfriend and potentially work?

I was in the same boat....get a retirement visa.....then 0 baht in a bank and check out the place first for a year that's what I'm doing....

Get everything in your name

How could someone be planning to marry a Thai and not know the answer to those basic questions?

If she has her business then help her make it better and enjoy your life together. (does she have a flower shop

SCUBA instructor or English teacher are the two most popular jobs for expats. The SCUBA instructor would be cool if your GF is somewhere near tourist ocean side town. From what I understand it's difficult to get hired as an English teacher after 50 (I taught for a couple years previously).

Now you're left with...

If I were you I would focus on acquiring remote work skill-set.

This is the very latest retirement visa requirements. Health insurance not necessary

You probably wouldn’t need to work out here if you have work pension. I sold my house in fucked up uk and invested the money and uk pension and alls well. You sound like you have a nice lady and good luck to you. If not resort based you might struggle with language Thai is nigh on impossible to learn and not many speak English away from the resorts which will be big problem. Thailand is a beautiful country. I hope you have a good experience here. I’m having a great life now. I’m so blessed 🙏

Hard rock get work

But support her

Have a tenner in your pocket for a beer

Roll on next day

The list of prohibited jobs is on every Thai Embassy website.

Your 53 years old get a 1 year muli entry retirement visa would be the best option for you ..

You can get married and let your wife business employ you. Or Establish Thai company with her and apply work permit. Neither Retirement visa nor married visa will allow you to work in the kingdom of Thailand

The easiest way for a foreigner to make money in Thailand is to work online and don't tell anyone.

I certainly wouldn't be starting a business within the first 2-3 years until you understand the lay of the land and have some decent ideas. Don't be one of the guys who blows all his money and ends up back in the UK working until he's 70

Th.jobsdb.com

You can get a spouse visa once married which allows you to obtain a work permit. But you'll either need an employer willing to hire you or register your own business with your wife which halves the business registration requirements. Will still need 2million baht capital and at least 2 thai staff. Business must be 51+% thai owned on paper and you will still be restricted to what job title you can hold due to thai labor laws. Your current occupation is thai only here as it's a govt position.

Easier to get a retirement visa, less paper work than getting marry and getting marry visa. But with retirement visa, you can not get work permit.

Do a tourist visa first and check the place out. Completely different of living here so much to take in.

You could come on a VOA, get married, and convert the visa to a marriage visa and reap the benefits you spoke of.

Your options are dependent on a lot of things...

For work you will require a degree, without one you won't meet the requirements for any type of job. And the lost of requirements you and your employer must meet is quite long for a non-b and/or work permit.

As for visa options, you have non-O/OA retirement, DTV, Non-O marriage (when you're actually married), LTR, Elite Visa, I mean heck you could even get an ED-Visa of you really wanted...

Stating which one is best for you is impossible with the information you gave, it all entirely depends on your circumstances. And all of them have upsides and downsides, if you want more accurate information, you'll need to give us more information.

If you get a marriage visa then you can legally work, but you must first find an employer who will hire you and sponsor you for a work permit.

But it's highly unlikely to actually find a job in Thailand as a foreigner. The required minimum salary for a westerner is the same amount of money that it would cost to hire 3 or more Thais full time, and anyone that wants to hire a foreigner must prove to the labor department that they could not find a Thai that could do the same job.

There's also a very large list of jobs that reserved for Thais only.

DTV VISA.

Go on YouTube and search "how to start a online business"

Or you can teach English