Which Kind of Expat Are You?

As of October 2026. Exchange rate: 33.5 THB = 1 USD. Visa terms come from official and law-firm sources checked on 3 October 2026. This is information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change. Three changed in the last six weeks.

Everyone says "expat." A retiree in Hua Hin and a remote worker in Chiang Mai live in different countries.

Your type decides your visa, your city and your budget. Work out which one you are before you look at a single apartment.

The change that affects everyone

On 15 September 2026, visa-free entry for US and most EU passports dropped from 60 days to 30. You can extend it once by 30 days for 1,900 baht. It's for tourism only.

The old plan of stamping in and figuring it out later is gone. Every type below needs a real visa plan sooner than it used to.

Find your type: four questions

1. Who pays you? A Thai employer. A foreign employer or foreign clients. Your own company. A pension. Nobody, because you're living on savings.
2. How long are you staying? A season, a few years, or for good.
3. Who are you here with? Alone, a partner, a Thai spouse, kids, extended family.
4. What do you want your days to look like? An office, a laptop, a classroom, a golf course, a gym.

Question 1 decides your visa. Question 2 decides which visa is worth the paperwork. Questions 3 and 4 decide your city.

Thirteen types, four groups, sorted by why people came.

Here for work

Corporate transfer

Your employer moved you here or hired you locally. You'll be on a Non-B visa with a work permit, and the permit belongs to the job: it names the company, the role and the location. Most of you live in Bangkok, where the regional offices are. Know this first: full expat packages (housing, school fees, home leave) increasingly go only to senior roles. A lot of foreigners now get "enhanced local terms." Read the offer for what's missing.

Start here: Where to live in Bangkok · Earn in dollars, live in baht

English teacher

This is the most accessible legal job for a foreigner here. The school sponsors your Non-B and work permit. Expect to need a bachelor's degree, a TEFL certificate (usually 120 hours), a clean background check, and a Teachers Council license or a temporary waiver. Pay, from 2026 industry guides:

• Government schools: about 30,000–40,000 baht a month ($900–1,200).
• Private and bilingual schools: typically 40,000–60,000 baht.
• International schools, for licensed teachers: 80,000–150,000+ baht.

Teaching is a good way to live here. On public-school pay, it's a hard way to save.

Start here: Earn in dollars, live in baht

Remote worker / digital nomad

Your employer or clients are outside Thailand, so your visa is probably the DTV. It costs 10,000 baht (US applicants pay $400) and runs for five years. You get 180 days per entry, plus one 180-day extension per entry (1,900 baht). You need proof of 500,000 baht in funds (the US embassy sets it at $16,000). Since 31 August 2026 you have to apply from a country where you're a citizen or permanent resident, with a recent police certificate. Plan for weeks, not days.

You'll probably live in Bangkok or Chiang Mai, Nomad List's #1 and #2 cities (January 2026). Know two things first. The DTV doesn't allow a single Thai client or employer. And 180 days in Thailand in a calendar year makes you a Thai tax resident.

If you earn $80,000+ a year from a large foreign employer, also look at the LTR's Work-from-Thailand Professional category. See the LTR visa, explained.

Start here: The DTV, explained · Earn in dollars, live in baht · The best cities in Thailand for expats

Founder / business owner

You want to run a company here. It's harder than it looks.

• Ownership: a company that's half or more foreign-owned usually needs a Foreign Business License for services. That's why so many founders use a 49/51 split. The split is only legal if the Thai shareholders are real investors, and nominee checks went up in 2026.
• Your own work permit: even in your own company, it needs 2 million baht in capital and four Thai employees.
• Two other routes: Americans have the 1966 Treaty of Amity, which lets a majority-American company (51%+ American shareholders, half the directors American) be fully owned in most sectors. Everyone can look at BOI promotion.

Start here: Earn in dollars, live in baht

Here for money and time

Retiree

You're 50+ and living on a pension or savings. The standard route is a Non-O visa renewed by yearly extension. It needs 800,000 baht in a Thai bank, 65,000 baht a month in income, or a mix of the two. The Non-O-A adds health insurance of $100,000 (3 million baht). Neither one allows work. If you have $80,000 a year in passive income, look at the LTR Wealthy Pensioner category too.

Hua Hin is the classic pick. In a 2025 survey of 512 retirees there, the top three reasons for choosing it were being near Bangkok, the beach and golf. Their biggest worries were road safety (69%) and air pollution (49%).

Know this first: since 2024, foreign income a resident brings into Thailand can be taxable. How that applies to your pension is a question for a tax adviser.

Start here: The best cities in Thailand for expats · Retiring in Thailand: the visa options

Snowbird / half-year

You come for the cool, dry months, roughly November to April, and go home for the rest. Thirty days visa-free plus one extension now gets you about two months, down from three. A real half-year needs a real visa: the retirement route if you're 50+, or a DTV if you qualify.

Two traps:

• Rent. Your season is high season. In Phuket, high-season rents often run 40–100% above low season, so lock in a longer lease.
• Air. Chiang Mai's burning season runs January to April, the same months you'd be there. In March 2025 the monthly PM2.5 average was about ten times the WHO guideline. Many residents leave in February and stay away until the end of April.

Count your days as well. 180 in a calendar year makes you a tax resident.

Start here: The best cities in Thailand for expats · Spending 3 to 6 months in Thailand

Wealthy / investor

Two routes:

• Thailand Privilege, a paid long-stay membership. Gold costs 900,000 baht ($26,900) for five years. The cheaper Bronze tier is reported to be ending, so check before you apply. It gives you no right to work and no tax break.
• The LTR Wealthy Global Citizen. You need $1 million in assets plus $500,000 invested in Thailand. It lasts 10 years, the fee is 50,000 baht, and foreign income you bring into Thailand isn't taxed. Details in the LTR visa, explained.

You'll find this type in central Bangkok and in pool villas on Phuket and Samui. Know this first: both routes buy you a long stay. Neither buys you a job.

Start here: Earn in dollars, live in baht · Where to live in Bangkok

Here for people

Married in

Your spouse is Thai, and the usual route is a marriage-based Non-O. Check its current financial requirements with the embassy or a lawyer, not a forum. You'll live where the family is, which is often outside the expat cities. Know this first: marriage gets you a visa, not a job. To work you still need a work permit, and Thai law defines "work" broadly: any occupation, with or without an employer.

Start here: Married to a Thai: the marriage visa

Returning diaspora

You have Thai parents or grandparents and grew up somewhere else. Some of you hold Thai citizenship and some don't. That one fact can change which of these visas you need, if you need one at all. Confirm your status and your documents before you plan anything else. Most of you end up in Bangkok or near relatives.

Start here: Why I chose to live in Thailand ·

Trailing family

Your partner's job or visa brought you here, and your status depends on theirs. On a DTV, a spouse and children under 20 can come as dependants. The official dependant checklists don't list separate funds for each person, but confirm with your embassy before you apply. A dependant can't work without their own work permit. Know this first: the school decides the neighborhood, and the neighborhood decides the commute.

Start here: Where to live in Bangkok · International schools in Bangkok

Here for a passion

Golfer

There's no golf visa. Your visa comes from your other type. What golf decides is the city. Courses listed on Golfsavers:

• Bangkok region: 49
• Pattaya: 29, the most of any expat city outside Bangkok
• Chiang Mai: 12
• Hua Hin: 11
• Phuket: 10, and the most expensive green fees of the group

Know this first: what a round really costs once the caddie, the cart and the tip are included.

Start here: What a round of golf in Thailand costs · Golf courses near Bangkok, rated · The Thailand caddie guide

Other sport (Muay Thai, diving)

You came here to train. The DTV isn't only for remote workers: it also covers people enrolled in a Thai cultural activity, which the government calls "soft power." Muay Thai is on the official list, along with Thai cooking courses and medical treatment. You'll need official confirmation of enrollment from a registered Thai gym, school or hospital, and embassies commonly look for a program of around six months. You get the same 180 days per entry. Diving and other sports aren't on the list I checked, so confirm yours qualifies before you build a plan around it. You live where the gym or the reef is. Know this first: a training visa isn't permission to work, and coaching for money counts as work.

Start here: The DTV, explained

Student

You're enrolled at a Thai university or school, and the visa for that is the Non-ED. The school's international office is the best source for current terms. You live where the campus is. Know this first: a student visa covers study. It doesn't cover a side job.

Start here: Studying in Thailand: the ED visa

The cheat sheet

Most people are two types

Almost nobody is one row in that table.

A remote worker who golfs. A retiree who married in. A founder with Thai parents. A trailing spouse who wants to teach.

Your visa follows the type that pays the bills. Your city follows the type that fills your days. A remote worker who golfs is still on a DTV, but the courses may decide the city. A retiree who married in has two visa routes and should compare both.

If two of your types point to different visas, settle the one that pays first. Everything else hangs off it.

My types

I'm three of these.

Founder. I run a consulting practice and build software products. Returning diaspora. My parents are Thai and I was raised in the US. Golfer. A self-described addict. I've lived in Bangkok for more than ten years.

Nobody fits one box, me included. The diaspora part is the longer story, and it's in why I chose to live in Thailand. The golf part runs all through this site, starting with what a round of golf in Thailand actually costs.

Next step

Two questions decide most of this: who pays you, and how long you're staying. Answer them, find your row in the table, and open the guide next to it.

Sort out the visa first and the apartment second. This year the 60-day stamp disappeared with two weeks' notice.