- 9 minutes ago
Thailand’s latest visa changes are breaking down into clear, practical options for short holidays and longer stays, including the expanded visa on arrival rules, the Thai Elite Visa, non-immigrant visas, and the new visa often referred to as the digital nomad visa.
The video explains what these Thailand visa options mean for travellers and remote workers, with a focus on how the government’s updated rules may affect entry and extended stays. It also points to useful resources for checking current Thailand visa types and finding help through visa agents and services. If you are planning a Thailand trip, a longer stay, or researching the best visa for remote work, this guide brings the main choices together in one place.
Created for viewers searching for Thailand visa explained, digital nomad visa Thailand, visa on arrival Thailand, Thai Elite Visa, non-immigrant visa Thailand, and travel advice for long-stay visitors. It is useful for trip planning, expat research, and anyone comparing Thailand entry options before booking a holiday or extended stay.
The video explains what these Thailand visa options mean for travellers and remote workers, with a focus on how the government’s updated rules may affect entry and extended stays. It also points to useful resources for checking current Thailand visa types and finding help through visa agents and services. If you are planning a Thailand trip, a longer stay, or researching the best visa for remote work, this guide brings the main choices together in one place.
Created for viewers searching for Thailand visa explained, digital nomad visa Thailand, visa on arrival Thailand, Thai Elite Visa, non-immigrant visa Thailand, and travel advice for long-stay visitors. It is useful for trip planning, expat research, and anyone comparing Thailand entry options before booking a holiday or extended stay.
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TravelTranscript
00:00Okay, so by far the most frequently asked question we get asked in our comments, our DMs and emails is
00:08about visas and what sort of visas you can use to enter Thailand, especially if you want to stay for
00:14an extended period of time.
00:16And with the Thailand government recently making some massive announcement that they're going to be shaking up the Thailand visas,
00:22I thought this would be a great time to release a full breakdown video of all the visa options that
00:28are available.
00:29Whether you want to come to Thailand for a holiday or if you're looking to stay for an extended period
00:34of time, then this video is for you.
00:36And make sure you stay till the end because I'm going to be going through all the details on the
00:41new visa, which has been described as the digital nomad visa.
00:45This is a visa that the Thailand government recently announced to try and compete with other countries in attracting digital
00:53nomads.
00:53So apparently Thailand has been suffering financially pretty badly since the pandemic and that's kind of obvious actually when you're
01:01here.
01:01They have a lack of tourism, especially from places like China where they used to get a lot of tourism.
01:06The reason that they've changed some of these visa requirements, they've actually made it a lot easier for many people
01:13from different nationalities to travel to Thailand in order to try and boost the economy.
01:17And they're not doing this in like six months' time or 12 months' time.
01:22This is being implemented right away because they really want to try and boost the economy now.
01:28Before I get into it, I'm going to preface this by saying I'm not a visa expert, okay?
01:32So I'm not giving visa advice.
01:35I'm simply going to be going over all of the visa options that are available and then it's up to
01:41you to decide which one you think is right for you.
01:43I would also highly recommend using a visa agent, especially if you're going to be applying for a certain type
01:50of visa that you're going to be staying in Thailand for a longer period of time.
01:54I will leave a link down below to both the Thai Embassy, which has all of the visas listed, as
02:00well as some really reputable visa agencies here in Thailand that we've dealt with personally.
02:05And we've also had friends who have dealt with and they have really good reviews.
02:10Okay, so I'm going to start with a brief overview of which visas are actually available for foreigners.
02:15And you can access this information directly on the Thailand Embassy website.
02:19So the first one is a tourist visa.
02:22Now, this is a 60-day tourist visa to Thailand that can be either multiple entry or single entry and
02:29can be extended for another 30 days and an immigration office.
02:32If you want to extend it for longer than 30 days, you can convert this visa to a non-immigrant
02:37visa.
02:38I'll get to non-immigrant visas in just a minute.
02:40But yeah, basically this is a tourist visa that you do need to apply for before coming to Thailand.
02:45And it does give you the ability to stay in Thailand for up to 90 days, which is really cool.
02:50The second one, and this is probably the most common that most people who travel to Thailand use, is the
02:55visa on arrival.
02:56And this previously was only available to about, I think, 31 countries.
03:00Starting June 1st, allegedly, now I haven't checked if this has actually been implemented, but this has been what's reported
03:07on the website.
03:07The number of countries eligible for visa-free entry to Thailand has increased to 93, which is like half the
03:14countries in the world pretty much.
03:15Under the new scheme, visitors can stay in Thailand for up to 60 days compared to the earlier limit of
03:2130 days.
03:22So originally, when you got a visa on arrival, that would stamp you as 30 days.
03:26Now they're going to stamp you for 60 days, which is awesome.
03:29So the requirements in order to get a visa on arrival is you need to hold a citizenship from an
03:34approved country.
03:35So again, you need to take a look at if your country is one of the approved countries.
03:39You need to hold a passport with at least 30 days validity remaining.
03:43You need to pledge to visit Thailand strictly for tourism purposes only.
03:47So this isn't a work visa of any kind or a business visa.
03:50Provide proof of accommodation in Thailand, such as a hotel or apartment address.
03:55So you don't need to provide your proof of accommodation for the entire 30 or 60 days.
04:01Generally, I'd say like a few days or a week is enough.
04:05You also need to provide proof of funds to support your stay.
04:09So a minimum of 10,000 Thai baht for single travellers or 20,000 baht per family, which really isn't
04:16too bad at all.
04:17Also, this is the really important part.
04:19You need to provide a proof of a return ticket exiting Thailand.
04:24And it cannot be a neighbouring country.
04:26So you can't have a ticket to like Cambodia or Malaysia, I believe.
04:31You need to have a ticket going to a different country.
04:34But as I said, I'll leave a link to the Thai embassy down below so you can check out all
04:38these requirements for yourself.
04:39So the next one is the Thai elite visa.
04:42Now, a few years ago this was introduced and it was aimed as a digital nomad visa.
04:47And it seems like from what I've heard, it's just gotten more and more expensive and kind of out of
04:53reach for digital nomads over the years.
04:55The Thailand elite visa is a long-term visa categorised under the Privilege Entry Visa Programme.
05:01It allows residency in Thailand along with additional benefits for a period between 5 and 20 years, depending on the
05:08chosen package.
05:09So the base package is 5 years and then the most expensive and biggest package is 20 years.
05:15Now, the elite visa is a 5-year renewable multiple entry visa with an extendable 1-year length of stay
05:21per each entry.
05:22So this visa is really designed for anyone who wants to streamline their process of coming to Thailand and has
05:28the money to be able to do that.
05:30So you're someone who wants to come and live in Thailand for a long time but doesn't want to have
05:34to deal with all the hassle and bureaucracy of going through the visa process.
05:38It's actually, they make it super simple and you get like a visa concierge that handles everything for you.
05:44It really is for the elite.
05:45And this includes digital nomads who don't want to do visa runs, which is previously what digital nomads were doing.
05:51Retirees who don't want to be stressed out with the new complicated regulations that are regularly introduced.
05:57And I've heard stories that they do change the regulations and requirements quite often.
06:03So retirees are often having to run around and do all this different stuff.
06:07Or investors or business people who need to fly in and out of Thailand several times a year.
06:11So if you're somebody who does business in Thailand or does business overseas but you want to make Thailand your
06:16home base and you have the money to do that, then this visa is for you.
06:20So as I said, there is multiple different packages for this.
06:23The five-year option is about 900,000 Thailand baht which is like I think 24,000 US dollars.
06:32It's not cheap.
06:33Now this is obviously an expensive option and it's definitely not going to be for everybody.
06:38Like especially digital nomads who are not, you know, making seven figures.
06:43Like this isn't going to be for you.
06:45This is for the elite as it's named.
06:47And to be honest, it almost defeats the purpose of living in a cheaper country like Thailand because you're paying
06:53so much to get in here.
06:55But it does come with some pretty awesome perks.
06:58Some of the perks it comes with are medical coverage, free hotel stays, concierge services to help you with all
07:04of your visa processes, free rounds of golf, discounts at major shopping outlets.
07:09Like this is pretty much just a visa for wealthy people who are doing business around the world and want
07:14to make Thailand their base.
07:16As I said, it's not for everybody.
07:18Apparently, it was about a quarter of the price a few years ago and it's just kept going up and
07:22up and up.
07:23And I think that's made it a bit out of reach for a lot of digital nomads, unfortunately.
07:29Okay, we just need to take a quick break to thank Level 8 for sponsoring today's video and also supplying
07:34us with the best quality luggage for the past two years now.
07:38So, if you want to live the nomadic lifestyle, then you'll need luggage that will hold up in all conditions,
07:43which is why we've been using Level 8 for so long.
07:46Like us, Level 8 is all about traveling light and efficient, which is why we recently upgraded our carry-on
07:52to these awesome new hard shell Roadrunner 20-inch carry-on pieces.
07:57Just like the full-size luggage sets, the carry-on luggage is made from durable materials that are also waterproof,
08:03which is super important if you're traveling and you're going to be walking around with your luggage through cities because
08:09you never know when you get caught in a rainstorm, especially somewhere here like Thailand where it rains all the
08:14time.
08:14They also have this cool little compartment for our laptops, making it so much easier to access your electronics when
08:20you're at the airport and going through security.
08:22Honestly, I don't know why they make you take your laptop and your electronics out of your carry-on when
08:27you're going through those security checkpoints, but they do.
08:30It's super annoying.
08:31But that's going to be a lot easier now with our new upgraded carry-on pieces.
08:36And having the hard shell on it also means you can rest assured that your stuff isn't going to get
08:40damaged when it's in the overhead lockers.
08:42I know whenever I'm flying and we go through turbulence or like the guy in front of me just slams
08:47his bag on top of my backpack, I'm worried that when we get off the flight, my camera is going
08:51to be in pieces or my computer is not going to be working because it's being damaged during the flight,
08:56but not anymore.
08:57And Level 8 also offers a lifetime warranty on all of their products.
09:01So if you're interested in leveling up your travel game, click the link down below in the description and don't
09:07forget to use code Lloyd and Mandy because you'll get 10% off your purchase.
09:12The next type of visa is the non-immigrant visa.
09:15This is normally a single-entry visa into Thailand that's valid for 90 days.
09:20Depending on the type of non-immigrant visa, you can also get a work permit and open a bank account.
09:25This visa can be extended to a long-term visa depending on the type of non-immigrant visa you apply
09:30for.
09:30So there's various types of non-immigrant visas and some of them are a business visa, a retirement visa, a
09:38marriage visa, an investment visa, long-term residence visa and probably the most popular which is the education visa.
09:45So the education visa, which is also known as the ED visa, is a single entry for education purposes only.
09:52And this type of visa is issued to travelers who wish to enter Thailand for the reason of traveling, for
09:58the purpose of studying, attending seminars, training, internship at a company as compulsory part of curriculum in Thailand.
10:05The interesting part about this visa is that some of the things you can study are things like yoga, Muay
10:12Thai, and even Thai language school, which makes it really popular for younger people.
10:17Like coming to Thailand and learning Thai or learning Muay Thai and being able to stay here for like up
10:24to a year is pretty awesome.
10:25So as I said, this visa lets you stay for 90 days, but it can be extended.
10:31However, if you wish to leave Thailand, you do have to get permission and you have to get a re
10:36-entry permit before you leave.
10:38So if you do come to Thailand on an education visa, beware that you cannot just leave and come back.
10:44Your visa will be canceled and you won't be allowed back in.
10:47So I believe you can extend this visa up to one year.
10:51So every 90 days, basically you have to go to immigration or your visa agent and you can extend the
10:57visa.
10:57And I think that it maxes out at 12 months.
11:00I'm pretty sure.
11:01The cost of this visa is only around US $80 for three months.
11:05And then each time you extend it, it's going to be about 1900 baht, which is like roughly about 40
11:11bucks or something like that.
11:12But in order to apply for this visa, you do need a letter from the school saying that you're enrolled
11:18and that you'll be attending the school.
11:20So that's where you have to really do your homework and find out like where you want to be and
11:25what type of school you want to attend,
11:27whether it's going to be a language school or Muay Thai or a yoga course or something like that.
11:32A lot of these places do offer this type of visa.
11:35It's actually probably easier to contact a visa agent in the area and they can probably tell you where to
11:42find these schools in the area that you want to be going to.
11:45And of course, there's the retirement visa and this is probably the most popular visa in Thailand or it definitely
11:51seems like it anyway.
11:52So the retirement visa gives you the benefit of staying at least one year of uninterrupted stay in Thailand.
11:59So you don't have to do any border crossings or anything like that.
12:03You can stay for a complete year uninterrupted.
12:05It allows you to acquire a re-entry permit to enter and exit the country.
12:09So unlike the education visa, you don't have to get a permit when you want to leave.
12:14You can renew your visa in Thailand without having to leave the country.
12:17So once you get your retirement visa, you can renew it every 12 months.
12:21So I'm just going to read off here the requirements for the retirement visa in Thailand.
12:26So you must be at least 50 years old, which is actually not too bad considering I think the retirement
12:33age in most countries is like 65 or something like that.
12:36Must hold a valid foreign passport, obviously.
12:39Must provide proof of residence in Thailand by presenting a six-month lease or more.
12:43So that's the catch.
12:45You kind of have to come to Thailand and get a lease before you can actually apply for this visa,
12:50which is a little bit of a catch.
12:52And you must be able to meet one of these financial requirements, which is have 800,000 Thailand baht as
12:59a security deposit for at least two months before applying for the visa.
13:03So in other words, you can't just get someone to chuck 800,000 baht into your bank account and say,
13:07here, I have it.
13:08It has to be in your bank for at least two months.
13:10Or monthly income of at least 65,000 Thailand baht.
13:14Okay, so now we get to the exciting visa.
13:17This is the brand new Digital Nomad visa that they've just announced.
13:21As I mentioned in the beginning of the video, this looks like a really, really good option for Digital Nomads
13:27considering the Thai Elite visa has really just outpriced itself and become unreachable for most Digital Nomads.
13:35I'm going to read an article from the website Tiger, which, by the way, if you're someone who's interested in
13:40coming to Thailand or if you're already in Thailand and you want to keep up to date with all the
13:45news about visas and travel and tourism and stuff like that, this is a really good website.
13:51So I'm going to leave a link for it down below.
13:52So it was announced just a couple of weeks ago that the Thai government would be introducing a brand new
13:59Digital Nomad visa.
14:01Under this scheme, holders of the multiple entry visa can enjoy a stay of 180 days per year, extendable for
14:08another 180 days, all for the cost of just 10,000 baht.
14:13Yet, while the initial fee stands at 10,000 baht, applicants must abide by the requirement of exiting and re
14:19-entering the country every 180 days.
14:22So technically, I guess you can stay here year-round, but you have to leave every six months.
14:27Accompanied by an initial fee of, it says here, €212, which is approximately 10,000 baht per cycle.
14:35So in other words, every six months, you've got to leave and come back and then you've got to pay
14:40another 10,000 baht.
14:41But when you compare it to that Thai elite visa, it really doesn't sound too bad at all.
14:45Although comprehensive application details are still pending, preliminary criteria have been disclosed.
14:51And I'm going to read off the criteria here.
14:53It doesn't sound too bad.
14:55Applicants must be a minimum of 20 years old, demonstrate financial capability to cover visa expenses, exhibit a bank balance
15:03of at least €10,000, so I guess that'd be like maybe €15,000 Australian dollars or something like that.
15:10Give evidence of employment with a registered company.
15:13That's the big one.
15:14You do have to be employed by a registered company.
15:16Whereas previously, digital nomads were confined to Thailand's borders on tourist visas, limited to just a 60-day stay.
15:23However, this visionary visa, the Thai government anticipates a substantial boost to tourism, aligning with its broader agenda of economic
15:32revitalization.
15:34So Thailand now joins an illustrious roster of nations embracing the digital nomad revolution.
15:38From Spain to Dubai, countries worldwide are rolling out similar initiatives, opening the doors to the global remote workforce.
15:46So as you can see by that article, this is really aimed at making Thailand a destination for digital nomads.
15:54And although this is probably very good news for many digital nomads who have been wanting to come to Thailand,
16:00sometimes the Thai government does make these announcements and doesn't completely follow through with them.
16:05So you need to keep an eye out for more announcements.
16:08And as I said, I'll leave a list to both the Thai embassy and this website, Tiger, down below so
16:14you can keep an eye out on this for yourself.
16:17There's also going to be some people that are probably not too happy about this new visa being introduced.
16:22And the thing is, like, some people may have paid a massive fee to get into Thailand a couple of
16:27years ago.
16:28And now they're finding out that digital nomads can come and just pay a simple 10,000 baht and get
16:34to stay here.
16:35And unfortunately for them, that is the case.
16:38It looks like.
16:39It also appears as though with this new digital nomad visa, there's going to be pretty lax tax restrictions.
16:47In other words, if you're paying taxes in your home country where you're employed and where your business is from,
16:53you are not going to have to double up and pay more taxes in Thailand.
16:57So that's good news too.
16:59All in all, I think this visa looks pretty awesome for digital nomads.
17:03And I'm going to keep my eye on it to see when this actually comes into effect and if it
17:07actually does come into effect.
17:09But yeah, I hope that cleared up some of the questions that you guys have been asking about visas.
17:15As you can see, there's so many different options for visas when you want to travel to Thailand, especially if
17:20you want to stay for an extended period of time.
17:22But as I mentioned at the beginning of the video, I really highly recommend contacting a visa agent because they're
17:30way more knowledgeable than me.
17:31And they're the experts and they take all of the hassle out of it.
17:35Even though you are going to pay more applying for a visa through an agency, you have the peace of
17:40mind of knowing that you're not going to screw anything up and you're not going to get like kicked out
17:44of the country or refused entry for missing something.
17:47So I would highly recommend contacting a visa agent if you're interested in one of these visas.
17:52I'll leave the links down below.
17:54Thanks for watching guys.
17:55If you made it this far, we really appreciate it.
17:57And if you found this helpful at all, please hit the like and subscribe button and even share it with
18:02a friend.
18:03Thanks again.
18:03Cheers.