What visa should I choose for moving to Thailand as a chef, DTV or Non-Imm B?

Ella ********

ORIGINAL POSTER

@Richard ****

thanks for the list, I am not trying to do any of these occupations that are prohibited.

22 days ago

Reply to

Ella ********

Peter *******

You can not work in Thailand on a DTV visa. However, there are plenty of foreign chef's working in Thailand so if you do get a job to legally work you would have to finish the DTV and then re-enter on another type of visa .

John **********

@Peter ******

you can't finish a DTV until it's finished. However you can convert it to another visa type at an immigration office inside Thailand

Peter *******

@John *********

yes thinking about it kinda difficult to finish a DTV until it has expired. You are correct the DTV can be converted to another type of visa at an Immigration Office but how easy that is for Chef's remains to be seen.

Reply to

Peter *******

Jack ********

What makes you think you can just move to Thailand and work in a bar or restaurant? Sorry I think you need a reality check.

Ella ********

ORIGINAL POSTER

@Jack *******

I'm sorry, I guess I didn't think that that possibility was that outlandish? To help out at one of the bars my friend owns or at my friend's cooking school eventually. I apologize if that seemed out of touch? Just trying to figure out the best visa for myself.

A.c. ***********

The most important thing is to know what you actually want to do and your reasons for coming to Thailand. If working in a restaurant here isn't really an objective of yours, and would be more of a "would be nice if it happened" thing, and the primary goal is to just be in Thailand—and you can afford to just be in Thailand for five years (or less if you wanted, of course)—then a DTV would be fine. You don't really make this clear in your original post. The DTV is a great way to stay in Thailand for a long time, but you have to be able to afford to be here for that time under your own financial steam (not by working here).

Ella ********

ORIGINAL POSTER

@A.c. **********

My goal is to live in Thailand for 1-3 years or so, and my objective is to continue my culinary research I've done over the past several times of visiting but much more in depth. I would very much love to work in a restaurant in some capacity if I'm going to be there that long, for the hustle and bustle of something I love doing and longevity of living there.

Financially I would only be able to do maybe a year or so supporting myself there with savings, work would be able to extend that a bit.

I am a sushi chef that has trained in Japan, so have a high level of niche skill in the culinary field, and my friend that lives in, is from Chiang Mai and runs a cooking school there told me japanese food has gained huge popularity there and i should try to work at one of the many sushi spots around the area if I were to move there for awhile.

Didn't want to bog down too much personal details in original post, more wanted to see if anyone has switched between visas, or problems with that etc.

Reply to

Ella ********

Brandon ************

to qualify for a work permit as a westerner your minimum salary is enough to hire 5-6 full time Thais.

Jack ********

to get a work permit to work in a bar is highly unlikely. I won’t say impossible but it’s extremely rare even at an international hotel chain.

Many Thai people working in bars make around $10 USD per day.

Ella ********

ORIGINAL POSTER

@Jack *******

thanks for the input, I'm aware I wouldn't be really making much money doing that, more of using it for the same benefits it gets me in my country of saving a lot of money on my main daily expense of food and drink. Maybe I'll just stick to DTV then and just volunteer at businesses my friends own if that reason for work visa doesn't make sense for me.

John **********

it's not a question of not making much money, to get a work permit you need to meet certain salary levels depending where you are from, for example if you are from the UK it's 50k baht per month, the US it's 60k baht per month and so on while Thai bar staff will earn more like 15k baht per month

Ella ********

ORIGINAL POSTER

@John *********

ok thank you a lot on this info, did not know there were salary requirements that needed to be met on a Thai job that had to do with my home country's salary.

John **********

nothing to do with your home countries salary. These are the minimum monthly salaries you must be paid inside Thailand to be able to get a work permit, but based on which country you are a citizen of

Lee-Ann *******

even volunteering requires a work permit, DTV doesn't sound like an option for you with what you want to do

Ella ********

ORIGINAL POSTER

@Lee-Ann ******

understood, thank you

Jack ********