What does it take for foreigners to live in Thailand?
- Long Term Visa – Either a retirement visa for those over 50 (800,000 thb), a marriage visa for those married to Thai people (400,000 thb), LTR visa for those wealthy professionals earning more than US $80,000 per year, a DTV visa (500,000 thb). There are other 1 year education visa’s not considered long term.
- INCOME – You need to have a guaranteed monthly income. For the long term, suggest 60,000 thb per month for singles and 90,000 for couples with children.
- Tuition – If you have children be advised International Schools can run as high as US $30,000 per child per year. Unfortunately most schools priced where westerners can afford them are not up to speed in English. Therefore, many families have to chose home schooling.
- Long term living here requires a car/truck. New or used.
- Medical Insurance – Not a legal requirement, but the safe bet is to have insurance if you can afford it.
- A Place to Live – Most westerner’s will find a ton of rental options. Condo’s can be purchased outright if the building meets the foreign ownership laws. Foreigners cannot own land, however, they can lease land for 30 years and build their own house.
That is pretty much it. Not too different than anywhere else.
The 2 big items are the INCOME and the long term visa.