I haven't seen of anyone that has chosen a different sport than Muay Thai for a soft power DTV but the gyms are supposed to be authenticated through the Sports Authority of Thailand so maybe its worth looking at which sports are considered through them as Thai culture sports. If you find a different sport you are interested in then you need to find a local gum/sports center that offer a course of training, buy said course and then have an invitation/confirmation letter from them and receipt of payment.

Cooking class is the same you need to find a cooking school in Phuket, ask them if they can support a DTV and arrange and pay for a cooking course.

Medical route you need to have appointments arranged prior, supporting evidence like doctors notes etc and reason for why Thailand.

Hope that helps 👍

@Sam *****

can completely understand that as I said I'm lucky enougj to have not had that issue 🙂

@Eamonn ******

sounds like the DTV will be good for you them as I see most people that moan about its "restrictions" are those wanting to live here and looking for the benefits of a bank account and ID etc. Which will not be the case with yourself. It doesn't matter if you dont buy a bike or car but even if you want to rent one your USA driving license will not be enpugh if you were to be stopped by police even though alot of renters dont check if you have a license. Also note that police checks are only frequent in certain busy tourist areas not so much in rural areas. In terms of the qualifying you must meet the criteria stated depending which route you are taking. Great that you have 500k in accounts ideally this needs to be in one accessible account that is in your own name and has been in the account for >3months. Theres lots of posts of Vietnam applications you can search on the group. I believe 1 city seems to be a little more difficult than the other and they are also more likely to ask you for a face2face interview. From research immediate rejections are usually due to people not checking the autopopulated fields when you upload a passport photo and the names not matching. Or simply missing the criteria. Other rejections where they ask for more info seems to be people not providing letterheaded company remote worker policies.(remote worker apps) or the muay thai gym not providing their authorisation stamps and codes on invite letters in these cases the embassies often reply and ask for further documentation. Hope that helps 👍

@Sam *****

yes I guess so for me I havent come across the problem where I need an extra ID. I have my own national passport and driving license for proof and copies 👍

Yes I agree, if you do not want or need a thai bank account then DTV is easy and best to get if you qualify. I have managed fine with a revolut bank account and a couple of western union transfers both with good exchange rates and minimal fees. Also have access to apps for scan QR payments like TrueMoney or DeepPocket. Mainly use cash.

I did the application myself its all very straight forward amd easy if you have the right documents and use ilovepdfs to merge them the form is simple to fill in online. Applied in UK and was approved within 4 working days. (APRIL)

Not sure what country you are from but I have a UK driving license for Car and Bike...of which I got a international driving license for Thailand in the UK, this is valid for 3 years and therefore I dont see a requirement to obtain a Thai Driving License. My international license was £5.50. This is always sufficient when stopped by traffic police.

The difference of other long term visas are things like work permits and length of stays depending which one. I however am working remotely and wish to be predominantley based in Thailand but travel to other countries in SE Asia too. So it is a perfect for what it has been made for 👍

I haven't personally hut it was a major headline a couple of months ago. Bangkok Bank were stopping all accounts opened under a tourist visa, as far as I have seen some have been able to keep them open once further checks have been made but the majority have been closed and now most banks in Thailand will not let you open a bank account on a tourist visa.

ExcellentJackfruit8779 this is like the same statement i used from my revolut account (the one where you just sledct it on the app) mine was accepted at the UK embassy no problem

@Greg *******

lol i wish it was multi millions 🤣

@Greg *******

I think it depends where the income is coming from and your intentions of living abroad and being am expat or your UK ties. For example I am a remote worker on the DTV get my income from a UK company and paid in the UK. I consider my home in the Uk and have my family home as my base. But I am staying outside of the UK for longer than 180days. I might spend most of that in thailand but I will travel to other countries too so makes sense to keep myself as a uk tax resident. I also went travelling for 10months in 2022-23 and spoke with HMRC since for tax related stuff, noone asked anything or said Id done anything wrong 😊

@Mo ****

from what I could make of reading it the DTA is when you are still classed as a UK Tax resident, however once you've been out of the UK more than 180days you are no longer a UK Tax resident 🙈 so then you become a tax resident in the country you are residing...currently you also become a thai tax resident after being here 180days. But its not so straight forward as that and what i have read is most people dont bother letting either govs know and stay paying tax in the UK