Which visa is best for an expat retiring to Thailand with a need for remote work: retirement visa, marriage visa, or DTV?

@Aaron *****

As you travel so regularly to SG and have a Thai wife for banking the DTV is fine for you. Might you not qualify for a LTR though depending on work type. Have a look at that. It has financial benefits too like zero tax on foreign income.

@Aaron *****

retirement because of a variety of reasons. Don’t forget the tax residency advantages

@Aaron *****

Marriage visa is only 400,000 thb in Thai bank account. Just don't tell anyone you are working anywhere.

@Aaron *****

You most likely won't be able to get a thai bank account on DTV. I don't have any knowledge about renewal for retirement visa really, but from what I have seen in other posts it's not much of a hassle. The only negative I guess is that you have to park 800k thb in a thai bank account.

@Aa***

remote work on retirement or marriage is a grey area. I do not personally think it is prohibited but it's not clearly allowed as it is with the DTV.

People say it is prohibited due to Thai labour law which has a very expansive definition of work, "engaging in work by exerting physical energy or using knowledge, whether or not in consideration of wages or other benefit". But this can cover absolutely anything, doing your own laundry or posting on Facebook visa groups could be considered work under this definition. So clearly what matters is how that is actually interpreted. Laws here are written deliberately with extremely broad definitions, so they can be interpreted later to suit the occasion. Rarely do laws change. Interpretation and implementation details change frequently.

The fact is, the DTV has absolutely no exception from Thai labour law. In fact Article 7 of the legislation establishing the DTV states clearly that the holder is NOT allowed to "work in the Kingdom" and that if they want to do so they need to change to a non-immigrant visa and get a work permit. So it's not even left open, they literally explicitly state in the DTV you cannot "work in Thailand" on it.

Consulates will ask you to write a letter saying you will work remotely only and not work in a way that concerns Thai law. The visa is stamped "Employment prohibited" - exactly the same as a retirement visa is. Technically, there is no retirement visa, either. It's a visa for being over 50. There is a retirement extension, but that's another thing.

The only consistent interpretation of this is that Thailand does not consider remote work to be "work in Thailand" covered by Thai labour law. This implies that it is not actually prohibited on any visa.

The online visa experts will point to the definition in Thai labour law. But if that is the case, remote work is also prohibited on a DTV explicitly issued for remote work.

Having said all that, DTV is unambiguous as a visa explicitly for remote work, and it also has the benefit that you need no money in Thailand and don't have to deal with immigration in country at all for five years. The main downside is having to leave every six months but if you plan to do that anyway I think it's a good choice and what I'd pick too (I am on a remote work one myself, although I would also qualify for several other visas including retirement.)

@Aaron *****

DTV is very logical and convenient choice for your situation. The only downside would be opening a Thai bank account. But you have a Thai wife who probably has an account or could easily open one and funnel cash to you or whatever.