Seems to be one of the more difficult consulates. Check e.g. Google reviews. Would have never assumed a plane ticket could be required. Afterall, it is in a neighboring country and close to popular land-borders with train crossings. But TIT, you never know. I would always try to get a visa by eVisa from a Thai consulate in my country of residence, first, before queuing up and waiting around for arbitrary rules at some physical location.

@Brandon ***********

I hear you. Thanks. 👍

@Brandon ***********

Do you know where that quantity is actually written in law or regulation? Cause I don’t believe it is mentioned like that in the Thai Immigration Act for example.

@Brandon ***********

Crazy. But good to know. So far, I always carried the equivalent in Euro 💶 in cash. Never touched that money. Might switch to an envelope with THB then.

Brandon Thurkettle I see. Never heard of that before. But I am not surprised. Every authority in Thailand tends to interpret the rules differently. Or they don’t really fully grasp them themselves and then make things up. Always be prepared for everything, I guess. Thanks for your clarification. 👍

Here is the answer in a nutshell. You can buy a house in Thailand - but you cannot buy the land it is on. You can find a construct to buy the land, too. But all of these constructs mean that you will only be a minority owner in a group of (majority) Thai owners. More or less smart constructs to circumvent that „inconvenience“ (by preferential shares and the like) may work - until they don’t. Cause they won’t be legal in the eye of the courts should it ever come to that. So just don’t. Rent and don’t worry. Or buy a condo - but be careful what you buy.

@Brian *********

Catch is: A Thai company needs to have majority shareholders being Thai. Any construct to circumvent that (via preferential shared / nominee) etc. can be punished by law.

@John-Paul *****

True story. Accepted answer. 😂 There is written laws. There is unwritten laws. There made up laws on the go. And often nobody bothers about either of them.

@Paul ******

The 4 to 1 rule is for the employer to worry about, not the employee. Also, this rule is enforced and checked by the relevant authorities each time a Thai company wants to hire another foreigner. For some industries (e.g. BOI companies) this rule is waived.

@Paul ******

As I said. I don’t know their exact structures. But if Shelter has a Thai corporation and they employ people with their Thai corporation and Thai immigration issues Business visa and work permits for people working for that corporation … I would say that is as safe and as official as it can get in Thailand. Nothing is ever absolute here and we all know it.