@John ********

when I refer to the banking hurdle, I really mean, Can I live long term in Thailand without a Thai bank account. Cash, credit cards, withdrawal fees etc... if it's feasible, why not!

Another thing I'm testing out is an app called Moreta. Basically SE Asia PayPal that allows you do pay via QR code in Cambodia, Vietnam, TH etc.

Only limitations that I know of is that it only works on "Business" QR codes, no personal ones.... Still gotta pay my local Yāy in cash for my Mango Sticky Rice 😉

@John ********

I'm from the U.S., so my path was:

Https://

Create an account

From the dashboard, select "apply for new visa".

enter your territory of passport, current location, "apply at" location, document type, visa type, purpose and number of entries.

For me it was;

U.S.

U.S.

Thai Consulate, Los Angeles

Ordinary Passport / Travel Document

DTV

Workcation

Multiple

Select, "Next" and proceed to upload your passport, photo and fill out your personal info.

Triple check everything to make sure it's correct!!!

For occupation, I used "Freelance".

Entered annual income range.

For supporting docs, you'll need to upload a cover letter explaining how you are a Freelancer and you'll want to upload a few bank statements and your last tax filings.

Ok, well.... It was a lot easier than this walkthrough makes it sound 😂

Speaking from limited experience, but figured I'd chime in as my scenario is similar...

~50 years old

~$60k/yr passive income

I qualify for Non-O, but I find it hard to justify stuffing $25k (USD) in a Thai account. Worst "investment" ever?

Throw 90 day reporting in there and still needing to leave the country every ~180 day to avoid any "potential" tax hurdles...

I just opted to get a DTV (took 24 hours online and it was done).

I will vacation somewhere else every June/July to avoid the 180 consecutive day tax issues.

I will renew/extend the DTV every year.

I will reevaluate the pros and cons of the Non-O and DTV every 5 years moving forward.

The banking scenario seems to be my biggest hurdle...