Give proof / receipts to show where your money came from. They don't want money laundering or illegal money and that you have an ongoing source of income to support yourself

Here is what I did and it works great

Kept the SIM from my home country to be able to keep my number, texts, ability to do banking, etc.

I also went to AIS store here in Thailand. I got the prepaid monthly plan with their fastest speed, 100gb per month for 399 baht per month. Just took passport for ID and I think I also took condo lease agreement but I don't think it is necessary. They installed the eSIM.

They have cheaper plans available but I wanted the fastest 5g speed

I put the Thai eSIM as the main with the American Sim running on backup in roaming mode.. This allows the daily data to flow through the Thai Sim but if I get a call or text on my US number it still comes through.

Anonymous participant 860 your friend is with Bangkok Bank and he has a DTV visa (and the bank knows which visa)? Wow, then he is exceptionally lucky and rare. Read all the other comments....

Anonymous participant 860 nope. Not doing this anymore

@Adam ****************

I have purchased a car here and got a Thai driver's license with DTV. It is the 2 year version. I have heard that I might not be able to get the 5 year version when I renew it though (only the 2 year version again)

Bank account is biggest issue.

And the other is you need to leave every 180 days (or do the extension which is not fun). But if you leave the country occasionally anyway this one doesnt matter

Another difference is with DTV you are allowed to work remotely.

I took a super cheap flight (3600) to Phu Quoc Vietnam from BKK because they have a visa exemption there for many countries, hotels at low cost, and Vietnamese food. Stayed for a couple nights to explore and came back. I spent around 7000 baht for everything 3 days/2 nights hotel, flights, food, etc

I was torn between Retirement visa and DTV and thought DTV sounded great. And it is for certain things because it is cheap, lasts 5 years, and easy to qualify for. But the negative is that it is still a tourist visa and one thing that has hit me recently is Bangkok Bank closing bank accounts. Some people say a bank account isn't needed but it sure makes life easier. One could argue that a cell phone also isn't needed but who wants to live without one??

Some might suggest retirement visas but lately I have been looking more into the LTR retirement visa or LTR for wealthy global citizens. I am leaning towards switching from DTV to LTR at this time

Anonymous participant 688 things have changed since March unfortunately

I use Nordvpn with no problems