We are interested in coming to Thailand long term from Canada, and curious what visa is best to arrive on. We are mid 30s, have a few rentals as our main source of income.

We will be enrolling our daughter in an international school in Phuket and

We also want to start up our dog business there.

What would be correct visa for us to apply for ?

I was thinking the guardians visa from the school as I’ve heard they assist with getting it but unsure if I can open/run a business on this visa?

Any recommendations for good visa agencies in either Bangkok or Phuket that could help us?

Thanks 😊

Da Nang or Penang?

I read on a website that you need a police check from your home country to get a retirement visa. Thats the first time I’ve read that and wanted to check that’s correct? Also wanted to check if anyone who has gone through the process got one before going to Thailand?

Are you allowed to live in Thailand for 5 years with a DTV visa if you leave Thailand every 180 days?

This group was helpful when i prepared my application so i wanted to return the favor and share my experience with applying for DTV in phnom penh, cambodia.

I am a self employed developer and so I applied for workcation on Friday march 28 around 9pm. Visa approved today April 11. Exactly 14 days (2 weekends included) from application to approval.

I was previously on a spouse extention for 3 years and before that on ed visas. This seems to have not been an issue at all.

I was not asked for anything extra. My visa status was updated to "pending approval" on march 31 (first day after the weekend) and then went to "Approved" today. No news or changes in between.

Documents submitted:

I am a bit of an over preparer so I spend a good 4 days preparing 3 pdfs. Each pdf had a clickable table of contents and I highlighted a lot important information.

1. Proof of location.

- Scan of passport stamp arriving in cambodia

- I asked for payment receipt in the hotel and included it.

- Also included my e-boarding pass to cambodia

- added a cover letter to explain I flew from Bangkok to cambodia and that I understand I have to stay in cambodia until I receive a decision

2. Proof of financials

I flew out of Thailand on the same day that I applied for the visa. Flew in the afternoon and applied in the evening. Before leaving thailand, I went to kbank branch and asked for signed statements and a signed cover letter stating I have 500 000 baht in the account on the same day as the application. I provided 4 months statement but only 1 good month had the 500 000 in it. Before that the balance was just over 100 000. I do use the bankaccount daily or so they can see that.

- Signed and stamped bank statement from thai kbank

- signed and stamped cover letter from kbank

- payslips covering the same 4 months of the statement

- a coverletter in which I explain where my money comes from and also included a currency conversion table so they easily could understand the payslips in euro vs the bank statements in baht.

3. Proof of business.

I included a 27 page pdf to proof I have my own company. This pdf included:

- Coverletter of almost 3 pages.

- Employment contract to myself, signed by myself and it stated that I am allowed to work remote which I also highlighted.

- Proof of business incorporation in estonia.

- Result of my company financials of the last 5 years.

- Portfolio overview with a lot of screenshots and explanations and links to online sites to proof everything I was saying.

- Screenshots of my website and customer testimonials.

Super smooth for me in cambodia. Just have to be aware that it will take around 2 weeks. If you are fine with that then cambodia seems like the place to apply from.

Cheers.

Hello, we are a family of 4 thinking of doing a DTV. We are hesitating between Jakarta and Cambodia. We'll only have 500,000 baht for a few weeks for the whole family, which seems to be ok for Jakarta but not sure about Cambodia. Has anyone applied with the same type of situation or anyone knows if Cambodia would be ok with us having 500.000 baht for a few weeks for my husband, our 2 kids and me?

Thailand DTV Visa Approved – Here’s How I Did It 🇹🇭

Just got approved for the Digital Nomad (DTV) visa and wanted to share my experience in case it helps anyone else. I applied from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, giving myself about two weeks before I’d need to leave — and thankfully it worked out.

⸻

What I submitted:

Since they only allow one PDF per category, I combined multiple things smartly. Here’s what I submitted:

• UK Ltd company incorporation doc (I contract through my own business)

• Bank statement (1 month)

• Passport photo

• Client invoices

• A PDF showing my experience and portfolio

• A signed letter stating I don’t intend to work for Thai clients or companies

⸻

Financials — mine weren’t perfect:

Most of my money was in Trading 212, which isn’t considered a proper bank. The day before applying, I moved funds to my Barclays account and included:

• A screenshot of the transfer

• A brief explanation

• A summary of my other accounts

I also added a sponsorship letter from my dad, with his bank statement and ID, just as a fallback.

⸻

After submission, they asked for:

• Photos of all passport pages

• A company overview (I just created a basic one with my intro, mission, and services)

Putting all the passport photos into one PDF was a bit of a pain, but I managed it using a command-line tool on my Mac to compress and merge them.

⸻

Accommodation:

I listed an Airbnb address for the application, not my actual long-term stay (which isn’t TM30-registered). I now have a short stay booked at a TM30-registered place for when my friend visits, and I’ll use that for my 90-day report.

⸻

Final Result: Approved

No interview, no major issues — just a few extra docs and a little prep. If your finances are a bit outside the box like mine, don’t panic — just explain things clearly and cover your bases.

Happy to answer questions or share general guidance if it helps someone else!

Hi! For those on a DTV, are you renting an apartment on 6 month lease? Or do you rent for 1 year and do a border run?

Just looking for advice since the DTV is 180 days; also any advice on finding a place to live would be appreciated. Thanks!

UPDATE: I successfully got the Visa in Hanoi.

Will it have any problems if my salary is only 350€ net? I work part time.

Should I state in my cover letter that I have more savings and investments that I live of or does that unneccesarily complicate it?

I have more than the 500k THB in the bank account I will show them, its closer to 1.500k THB for some years already. Plus an stock broker account with 3.500k TBH in cash, but I wouldn't show that because it's not a bank account.

Should I provide them with documents like payslips, business registration of my employer, rental contract for thailand without them asking for it in the application? I read that many people are getting asked for those documents and I want to speed up the process as much as possible.

I will be applying in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Hello all. American and wanting to retire to Thailand next year. I’ll be 62 and money will not be an issue. Retirement fund and social security. My question is…will I have any issue being able to live in Thailand with a felony conviction when I was 16 years old in 1980? Not even a traffic citation since. Degreed professional in medical field for 40 years. Plan to have the 800k baht in a thai bank and monthly of 100k for living expenses.

Appreciate your input.