Is is getting harder for foreigners to live in Thailand?
It certainly appears that way.
Getting bank accounts is one of the main issues and a bank account is required before you can get a long term visa.
Sometimes illegal things are done in Thailand and the resulting crackdown affect even the innocent.
Illegal Chinese money laundering has forced the bank account crackdown on everyone and it is not really fair at all.
But that is where we stand today in 2026.
It is very difficult to get a bank account opened without paying an agent.
Foreigners are coming to Thailand under-funded and are looking for ways to make money.
This often results in illegal business operations, trying to do jobs reserved for Thai people and selling drugs.
There is a high arrest rate of foreigners in Koh Phangan and other island locations.
Thailand is cracking down on foreigners doing illegal things and the locals are helping the police by turning in foreigners working illegally.
The motorbike helmet crackdown in Phuket results in 1,000 thb fine for not wearing a motorbike helmet (aimed at foreigners), yet where I live that is never the case.
The more foreigners that break the law, it grabs the attention of the authorities which is not a good thing. Rules and laws are metered out where every foreigner gets cast into the same bucket.
Social media highlights all of these activities from drunkenness, brawls, thievery, and others and it brings a ton of unwanted attention from the authorities trying to paint the picture that Thailand is family friendly.
The rules are aimed at every foreigner and do not differentiate between the good foreigners and the bad, which is a shame.
People that come here and follow all the difficult rules to live here should have no problems.
Yes, the paperwork is cumbersome and un-necessary, but it has to be done to be here legally.
As we have said 1,000 times, Thailand is NOT the place to break the law and get arrested.
No one can save your from the hell of a Thai prison and your life will be forever changed.
The big issue is always money.
The same as any country in the world, if you are not retired with a guaranteed income, you need money to live each month.
If you have to make money to live in Thailand, it is going to be a tough row as it appears people that live here and make money do so with a DTV visa and earn money working online for foreign companies/clients.
But even that work does not guarantee a lifetime income.
10,000’s of expats live a wonderful like in Thailand.
Because they qualify legally to be here.
If you cannot do that, you do not belong here.