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longer stay in Thailand

void

freedom addicted ultra relativist
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Oct 3, 2017
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Are there any straightforward options to stay in Thailand for 5-7 months (let say as a tourist) if you're under 50? Or is a border run the only/easiest solution?
 
ok, guys, my bad... putting aside I'm not interested in Thai education I also should have mentioned wife and kids...
 
ok, guys, my bad... putting aside I'm not interested in Thai education I also should have mentioned wife and kids...
Sure, that can be already understood from your post. Its not education, you can have "education" version as well, iykyk ;)
Kids afaik are ok without any kind of visa up to some certain age, maybe 14? or so, needs to be confirmed by someone in the know.
The wife will get the same "education" visa separately for herself.

They changed a few things recently, afaik the tourist visa goes up only to like 90 days, maybe you can combine it with malaysia which gives another 90 days if you have a western passport.

Sadly, the visa thing is not straightforward without shelling out a big chunk.
 
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Sure, that can be already understood from your post. Its not education, you can have "education" version as well, iykyk ;)
Kids afaik are ok without any kind of visa up to some certain age, maybe 14? or so, needs to be confirmed by someone in the know.
The wife will get the same "education" visa separately for herself.
one would say that holder of "student" wise is supposed to study (at least formally) to comply ;) .... will dig into this anyways

They changed a few things recently, afaik the tourist visa goes up only to like 90 days, maybe you can combine it with malaysia which gives another 90 days if you have a western passport.
yes, this is my current plan A
 
Student visa
Think they are clamping down on those since the chinese were using (and then russian).

So no, and on the border run front, after so many they just reject you at arrival.

Thai Elite Visa?
Best method, note there is a full background check inc AML.

It's done internationally (FBI, Intepol etc) and would ofcourse be in touch with local tax etc.

Elite is certainly the way to go if you want to spend more time in the country etc, having said that a german guy was butchered over 2/3m THB in the past couple of days (cut up in to numerous pieces and found in a freezer), making a lot of the people i know reconsider the country due to fear of being Kebab'd.


One friend just sold his sports car (didn't feel comfortable driving and painting a target).

Sadly, the visa thing is not straightforward without shelling out a big chunk.
I know a old British chap that hasn't left the country in 10 yrs, but his passport leaves every year and gets new stamps lol (think he pays like 35,000 THB for that).

Mind don't blame him, he can barely walk (legs will need amputation before long).
 
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stay in Thailand for 5-7 months
3 months can be done with a simple tourist visa (actual visa, not a visa exempt entry), which will give you 60 days on entry, and can be extended in-country by another 30 days. If you need more than that then you can do a border bounce (which will net you 30+30 days) or a visa run (which will net you another 60+30 days). If you have no previous history of long stays on tourist visas then you will have no problems doing that once or twice (or 20 times, depends on your luck and a few other factors). You're technically allowed 2 visa-exempt border-bounces (over land) per calendar year.
 
3 months can be done with a simple tourist visa (actual visa, not a visa exempt entry), which will give you 60 days on entry, and can be extended in-country by another 30 days. If you need more than that then you can do a border bounce (which will net you 30+30 days) or a visa run (which will net you another 60+30 days). If you have no previous history of long stays on tourist visas then you will have no problems doing that once or twice (or 20 times, depends on your luck and a few other factors). You're technically allowed 2 visa-exempt border-bounces (over land) per calendar year.
thanks for your thorough info
having EU passport, no previous visa related issues
however if I understand it correctly there is no simple way how to make it 180+ days, probably not even 150+
 
however if I understand it correctly there is no simple way how to make it 180+ days, probably not even 150+
I outlined the "simple way" above which is an easy 180 days (60+30 + 60+30). There is currently no simple way that doesn't involve exiting and returning, unless you're over 50 years old.
 
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thanks for your thorough info
having EU passport, no previous visa related issues
however if I understand it correctly there is no simple way how to make it 180+ days, probably not even 150+
yep, there is none, you either pay up a large sum or you travel back and forth or hassle around with the edu visa.
Malaysia was (maybe still is?) way more chill with leaving for a day to Singapore and come back etc. to get another 90 days. Cant be done forever, but for a year or so.
 
Lived in Thailand for 6+ years and Thailand Elite is the best option, around 5 years it included an airport lounge and a driver to pick you up at your home and back from the airport. Never had a single question from Immigration, simple and fast.

I also went to the immigration in Bangkok once, after that I would just bring my Passport to the Thai elite office with a simple form filled out and they would do the rest. No waiting in huge lines.

If you plan on living there for some time it's 100% worth it.

It's done internationally (FBI, Intepol etc) and would ofcourse be in touch with local tax etc.

@wellington Where did you get this info from? Local tax? Based on what I know this is false and it's a rather basic check.
 
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What about employment agencies like Shelter - Get a Sponsored Work Permit in Thailand - they say you would even get permanent residency after a few years. Wouldn't that be an even better option than the Elite Visa?
Depending what you want, yes. You can also run your own business and employ yourself there. It can be done legal if your business case is good and youre a seasoned entrepreneur in asia.
 
But then you pay taxes.
I was thinking you'd just be an employee on "minimum wage" ($1000-$2000 of local employment income, on which you pay tax), and then for everything else, you use your offshore company tax free.
And then you get permanent residency after a few years even. Wouldn't that work?
 
But then you pay taxes.
I was thinking you'd just be an employee on "minimum wage" ($1000-$2000 of local employment income, on which you pay tax), and then for everything else, you use your offshore company tax free.
And then you get permanent residency after a few years even. Wouldn't that work?
Yah, that could work. But its not guaranteed to get a Thai PR, you only figure it out if you try it and learn the language fluently.
If you look for PR its way way better to go to an immigration firendly place like in Latina America, Panama, Uruguay and Paraguay for example.
 
But then you pay taxes.
I was thinking you'd just be an employee on "minimum wage" ($1000-$2000 of local employment income, on which you pay tax), and then for everything else, you use your offshore company tax free.
And then you get permanent residency after a few years even. Wouldn't that work?
They employ you for around 80 000THB/$2300 monthly salary on the paper, so you have to pay around 100k thb taxes a year top of the visa costs