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Moving to Thailand: Nothing could be easier

During our stay in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, we had the opportunity to discuss at length with two of our fellow expatriates in Thailand and we took the opportunity to ask them all the questions concerning the life in Thailand. This article is therefore a summary of our discussions.

Note: some information is no longer up to date, read the comments at the bottom of the article for the latest information about visas and buying apartments

Visa

The work visa is very easy to obtain… if you have a job. Your employer will take care of it for you.

If you don’t have a job (you are retired for example), expats often go back and forth every month, either to Laos or to Cambodia. There are agencies that organize trips like that during the day, whose goal is just to get out of Thailand and come back immediately. Because each time you come back, you can stay one more month.

However, this solution is more and more risky because immigration is starting to be annoyed by these people with passports filled with Thai stamps and one day, you might come across a guy who is frankly not nice and who doesn’t want to stamp your 30-day visa anymore.

As a result, there are specialized companies particularly adapted to digital nomads (like us). Operating a little under the principle of wage portage, these companies hire you and guarantee you a work visa and a coworking space. In exchange, you have to earn at least 2000$/month thanks to your digital nomad activity. They will pay you 1600$, and keep the remaining 400$.

If you are on your own, you can always count on agencies that offer student visas by enrolling in Thai courses.

There is also the Elite Visa, very expensive, but you will be safe for 5 to 10 years

Work

Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of information to give you about the job market in Thailand because our compatriots to whom we asked all these questions are either employees of a French company with a branch in Bangkok or entrepreneurs.

Housing

Here, there is plenty of choice. We saw signs of apartments for rent for 250€/month on Koh Phangan Island (JB’s favorite island). In Chiang Mai, we are currently in a condominium. This is a serviced residence.

The advantage of the condominium is that you can move in ASAP for a very small price: the apartment is already furnished (European standard), and a 40m² – superbly arranged – costs about 400€/month.

Services vary by condominium. It can be a simple residence with janitor, up to a condominium with pool, fitness room, weekly cleaning, laundromat, work space. It’s like being in a hotel, but cheaper.

Some pictures of our apartment.

And the picture of our 80m long swimming pool in the D Condo Nim in Chiang Mai.

Condominiums are usually next to a shopping mall (normal, you have to feed and entertain all these little people), which makes life super simple. Thai shopping malls have everything you need: two floors dedicated to food, one for high tech, one for beauty, one for cute things etc. and one for movies (IMAX, 3D, 4D).

To find an apartment in a condominium, you can go through Airbnb (and pay more). Or you can simply show up in front of the Condominium of your dream, ask to speak to the condominium manager and he will give you the keys to one of the many apartments for rent the same day. No need for proof of salary, just a photocopy of your passport for the police and a cash deposit.

There are also many agencies that can offer you accommodation. We have contacted several of them but a stay of one month is too short, you have to stay several months to use their services.

If you like Thailand too much, you can also buy an apartment in the Condominium, provided that the residence is already occupied by at least 50% Thai people . A foreign company can also buy Condominium apartments. We have been told of an order of magnitude of 100 000€ for 80m².

Be careful! You must be sure that the owner declares your temporary residence to the police. You can give a photocopy of your passport to the owner, for example, or to the condominium manager who will declare it for you. These are procedures put in place to combat terrorism. If you don’t do this, you may be asked some unpleasant questions when your visa is extended.

Internet

They have fiber optics in Thailand! The 4G is very fast and cheap (I paid 10€ for 30 days, SIM card included but I think we can find even cheaper). You can sit for hours at the local café to work if you need to (ordering a coffee for the whole day). In our condominium, we obviously have internet in the apartment but also in the common areas. So JB can watch Youtube while he’s sweating on his treadmill 🙂

Transport

Uber, Grab (Asian version of Uber) exist. Otherwise, it is quite possible to rent a scooter (in Chiang Mai we paid only 3200 baht/month). Even if you don’t have a motorcycle license, the police tolerate the rental of scooters to foreigners without a license. They will just charge us a fine of 500 bahts. When you pay this fine, you will receive a receipt allowing you to continue riding for 3 days. So in the worst case, if you are really unlucky, expect to pay 500 baht fine every 3 days. You must always ride with helmets, otherwise a 500 bahts fine will be added to the fine. Some expatriates got fed up and ended up taking the motorcycle license in Thailand.

Health

When you see the number of American tourists who come here to get treatment for less, I think the question no longer arises. There are clinics set up for that, where the staff speaks perfect English and has been trained abroad. I tried this service once in Krabi when I had food poisoning, and the doctor took his time to fill out the treatment form, so I was even reimbursed by my Chapka round-the-world insurance.

Food

Thai cuisine is one of the best in the world. But if you feel like a good cheese or a real Corsican sausage, French restaurants are everywhere, and delicatessens in shopping malls sell them too. In short, the hardest thing would be to choose where to eat so many choices.

school & childcare

Most French expats choose to enroll their children in the local French school. And pay a Burmese maid who takes care of everything (cleaning, cooking, children…). Don’t hesitate to do so because it is a common practice, even Thai people pay maids to help them.

I won’t talk about dream beaches, divine massages for 5€… because people will think I’m paid by the Thai government to write this article lol. But I promise, I’ll do articles like this, especially about Vietnam, because I’ll have even more information about it, being Vietnamese. Stay tuned!

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