What visa options are available for UK passport holders looking to live and work remotely in Thailand?

Jun 9, 2024
5 months ago
Anonymous ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
I want to live in Thailand long-term. I have a UK passport and plan on securing a remote job based in the UK before moving to Thailand. What type of visa do I need for this? I've heard that doing too many border runs can get you flagged. What are the alternatives?
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TLDR : Answer Summary
A UK passport holder looking to live long-term in Thailand while securing a remote job has several visa options to consider. The potential for a Digital Nomad Visa, which may soon be available, is one option that could allow work while living in Thailand; however, it requires a bank balance of $10,000 and may have restrictions on taxation for foreign income. Another option is the Long Term Resident (LTR) Visa, which provides benefits like no tax on foreign-sourced income but has specific income and employment criteria. For individuals over 50, more visa choices could be available. Alternatively, an Education Visa could be pursued, though it typically implies actual study. It's important to understand that securing a work permit is necessary despite what the visa allows, and border runs might raise flags with immigration authorities.
DTV VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
Shane *******
Education visa . That's your best bet .. you get the full year . Forget anything else . Unless your 50 yrs + old ..45k baht I think .
Henrik *****
Why not tell it to the person who ask for advise ?
Henrik *****
ED does assumes you will actually will study, and attend classes fulltime.

Else your stay can get a abrupt end.
Henrik *****
Wait a month or 2, and see if new visa’s will be avaiable.
Greg ***********
the alternative can be one of the five LTR visa categories
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John ********
How old are you if over 50 you have more choice
Tony **********
Make sure you understand what it takes to get a work permit even if your visa says you can work.
Don *********
ltr.boi.go.th - there is a category of Long Term Resident Visa (10 years) designed for you - and a huge benefit is it won’t tax you on foreign sourced income
Randy ******
@Don ********
Dude, if one one had a $1,000,000 in a bank account, we wouldn’t have RETIRED to Thailand. We want to live in Thailand because it is CHEAP!
Don *********
@Randy *****
there are 5 categories - most of them ask for a yearly income rather than a large lump sum.

But to your point: if you had $1m in a bank account where else would you choose to live ? One of the many things I love about this place is if you’re here on a budget it’s awesome, and if you’ve got some cash to splash it’s even more awesome
Andy **********
There is a new digital nomad visa coming, details to be confirmed. Which is restricted I think to 180 days per tax year. The other visa will be one of the ltr visas. With postgraduate qualifications, you need to show average income for past 2 years of at least $40k, work experience in your field for 5 of past 10 years, your employer has to have revenue of at least $150m pa. Ltr creates the risk of permanent establishment establishment for the employer, ie they are liable Thai corporation tax, depending on your role. If you are a freelancer, you can find a Thai agency offering employer of record: essentially for a cut of your salary, they will put you on the books as an employee. I'm not sure that is entirely legitimate, and is exploiting a loophole that is at risk of being closed. Important you get the agreement if your future employer about where you work because of the risk of PE anywhere, which depends on UK tax treaties on how it is defined.
Bart **************
Look into the DTV.
Christian *****
Soon Thailand will be looking to tax you on any income earned outside of Thailand as well depending which Visa you are on so, something to keep in mind moving forwards.

(I am not sure how this is going to work yet, or if it will be applied to the Digital Nomad Visa, I suspect it will be)
Christian *****
Education Visa otherwise that's it really.

A digital nomad visa is in the works and may be announced later this month but, that requires 10,000 in the bank basically before they'll look at your application.
Todd *********
@Christian ****
it requires 500k baht in the bank. And costs 10k baht
Henrik *****
As long as the proposal isn’t voted through Parlament, nobody know for sure which conditions, that visa type will get.
Marcus **********
@Todd ********
so all of the above is just hearsay 
Todd *********
@Marcus *********
not at all. It's coming. But missing details and timing. This is a decent summary of what seems to be known now.
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Marcus **********
@Todd ********
where can I find the criteria for the digital nomad Visa?
Todd *********
@Marcus *********
nowhere yet.... but maybe soon.
Paul *************
@Todd ********
did I read something wrong as I thought it only allowed you 180 days stay in a year?
Todd *********
@Paul ************
180 days, which can be extended once for another 180 days. But still some details need to be forthcoming
Christian *****
@Todd ********
yeah, I was speaking about GBP so that's not far off. Didn't know about the 10k baht fee though for the visa
Todd *********
@Christian ****
and another 10k for 180 day extension if you choose
Christian *****
@Todd ********
appreciated
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