Thailand

For this topic and all topics relating to living in Asia, I highly recommend the youtube channel Paul Lee. Firstly, are you planning to move to Thailand for an extended duration or just a short trip. Either way, the first thing you should do is visit it for a month in order to get an initial impression for the life style, local businesses including hotels and condos, and average cost of living so that you can budget accordingly.

For your initial visit to Thailand, you do not need a visa. You can visit for 30 days and extend an additional 30 days with a $55 charge. But, if you want to stay more long term, then you will want to invest in a visa. There are three main visa types: DTV, Education Visa, and Work Visa.

The DTV (Destination Thailand Visa) is primarily aimed at digital nomads, freelances and remote worker from foreign countries. It can last for up to 5 years, but you can only stay in Thailand for durations of 180 days. Go visit another country like Vietnam or Burma and then come back for an additional 180 days. Continue to do this for the next 5 years. Now, with this visa, your income has to come from outside of Thailand, you cannot get job with a company in Thailand or have a client in Thailand.

The Education Visa is one to consider if you coming to learn. You could be attending Thai university, looking to learn the Thai language, or Muay Thai Kickboxing. This visa allows you to enroll in a class and stay in Thailand for 6 to 12 months. Now, be mindful of scams as Paul Lee warns that there are scams out there and when you cross the border, the immigration officers will test your knowledge.

The final one is a Work Visa, and unlike the DTV, this does allow you to work for a Thailand based company or for Thailand based customers. In addition, it also allows you the opportunity to start your own business with in Thailand if that is an avenue you are looking to pursue.

For the most ideal time to visit Thailand, would be between November and march. Matt Kepnes, from NomadicMatt, cites that this will be coolest time with the lowest humidity. That being said, it will still be hot. The one major drawback is that it will also be busy with tourists and the prices will be higher.

Now, what to do when you arrive? Well, there is quite a bit, so I’m only going to cover some highlights. This is a great opportunity to get immersed in a completely different culture and history. The first city to explore is Chiang Mai. One of the main cultural and historical attractions would be the many temples such as Wat Chiang Man, located in Northern Thailand. This landmark dates back to 1296 AD thanks to the Wat Chiang Man Inscription written in ancient Thai. The Thai belief is that the temple grounds were originally the campsite of King Mangrai who built the temple as a symbol of spirituality and the origin of a new kingdom.

After sites and monuments, another big part of the Chiang Mai culture is food. Two big ways in which you can participate in this is by first taking a cooking class. Thailand offers a variety of different types of classes and in Chiang Mai you can especially find classes for cooking. This will teach you about the produce made in Thailand and will even get you into the street markets or working with a farm. And then the second way is by joining a kantoke dinner. This originate to the Lanna Kingdom and was done for special ceremonies. Today it is a dinner event that combines traditional Thai food with tradition Thai dancing, music, and rituals.