What are the pros and cons of choosing between the ED visa and DTV for learning Thai while working remotely in Thailand?

How long are you planning on living in Thailand?

The only benefit i see for ED is you can easily open a bank account. You need to extend it every year which can be annoying if you live in BKK as immigration line takes all day. You'll also need to get a re-entry permit to leave and come back.

DTV is multi entry and lasts for 5 years. Only downside is it's difficult to open a bank account unless you get an agent or visit many branches.

I was on an ED then switched to DTV. Apply once and done for 5 years, don't have to think much about extension paperwork etc. I travel frequently so won't be staying more than 180 days consecutively

Legally you can’t work on ED visa and come and go.

For DTV you need proof of remote job to get work permission

ED is not great, you'll be given a lot of trouble coming back to bangkok airport, if you intend to travel home or to neighboring countries.

If you plan on laying low and stay there for the whole duration, it might be a valid option, but DTV is better in every way.

Just realize Thailand is a big country, with very different landscapes and climates.

It will be very difficult to get a good impression in 2 weeks.

So you have to think first what is most important for you.

You can find almost anything you might want, apart from show maybe.

It is relatively easy and cheap to travel across the country by bus, train or plane.

You can find areas with a lot of foreigners, but also areas complete without foreigners.

Get the appropriate visa for what you want to do, for remote working that's the DTV. Your husband can get his own DTV based on being your spouse. You can still study thai if you want to.

Thausands of people work/worked remotely for non-thai entities under the ED and it was never ever a problem. They dont really consider that work and no one cares.

You could also get the DTV. Its for 5 years. after 5 years you get a new DTV. not sure why you want to maximize time with the ED. but both are great visa options and fairly easy to get and maintain. You can even do multiple years on multiple ED. no problem.

i can recommend Krabi. We have an amazing small language school in ao nang and the process is super easy. and the immigration office in krabi is one of the best in the country. everything is done very quickly and without a problem.

I think there are many people on ED visas who do work remotely. This is one of the reasons the DTV was brought in. It’s been a great area for a number of years. Very difficult previously to find a legal way of working remotely where your clients and business is outside of Thailand. I mean, it’s clear what you need to do to work IN Thailand, for a Thai company but previously there were few options for remote working.

So you probably could quietly work remotely on an ED visa but it presents its own challenges and now the DTV exists, if you don’t have to get an ED visa I’m not sure why you would. As for legal advice from a US immigration lawyer. That would be a pointless waste of money. Either visa you’re considering can be obtained without the help of professionals.

Where you want to relocate to, now that’s a whole other kettle of fish.

Internet speeds are important to me; I was in a nice apartment in Bangkok and the speed was 30mg up at best.

In Phuket now and it’s 500

That doesn’t mean it’s like that all over those places. It’s building specific so I think your location would best be a completely different research project for you and is outside the scope of this group. There are groups from pretty much every major city in Thailand though so you’ll have no shortage of options once you’re ready.

Good luck with it all 😊

Just do the ED, then xfer to a DTV after. Or, get your DTV and take language classes with your DTV