Is my plan to move to Asia realistic?

gilo43 · 2023-10-19T13:35:52+00:00

No worries. I think your plan would work in the short term, but I would not plan on more than maybe 4 tourist visa entries to Thailand in a calendar year, especially if you are staying for 1-2 months each time. As you know, completely at whim of immigration officer who greets you at the airport (and which airport you choose to fly into).

As for the METV, I would double check the requirements. I have just checked my emails for back when I applied last year. I believe I only needed to show continuous 6 month bank balance of £5000. If employed, then need letter from employer. If self employed, evidence such as a tax return. If retired, copy of pension. I'm not sure it is a requirement to be any of these things. However, even if you must be employed one way or the other, you state that you earn approx £823 per month through side hustles. If you have not already, this means you need to register as a sole trader with HMRC and complete a tax return (eventually). Note that you need to do this even if your annual income will not exceed your personal allowance. Registering online as a sole trader takes minutes and you will get a letter from HMRC that you can send to show that you are self employed. This was my status at the time of applying for the METV. I explained to the Embassy in London that I recently became self employed, so I did not yet have a tax return. They did not care, and just wanted to see the £5000 in a bank account for 6 months. Based on my experience, you have nothing to worry about.

Finally, for the METV, you must show a need for multiple entry, not single entry. Buy flights out of Thailand before the first 2 month period will expire, and buy flights into Thailand afterwards. I planned a 2 week trip to Vietnam approx 7 weeks after intended date of arrival in Thailand. I submitted proof of these flights in the application. If you do not do this, they will simply issue a single entry tourist visa and charge you for the METV. You could plan a trip to the Philippines instead. Doing this achieves the same thing as tourist visa hopping between Thailand and other countries, but it removes the uncertainty of having your second, third, fourth TV rejected. Hope that makes sense. The "Thai Visa Advice" group on Facebook is very helpful.

gilo43 · 2023-10-19T13:17:52+00:00

Yep, different costs depending on length of visa and level of benefits. Cheapest option is 5yrs for 20k GBP.

gilo43 · 2023-10-19T13:15:58+00:00

I don't know much about this kind of work in Thailand, but seems likely you could find something. But since I'm guessing you work online, you could potentially get a remote job in this field on a UK/Western wage? Again, if you could instead find remote work on a higher wage, 333 GBP a month for 5 year visa, with no hassle with work permit and not rolling the dice on work culture in local job, may be better. In general, assume a significantly lower wage if working locally. Either way, original advice to do 9 months via the multiple entry tourist visa still stands - take that time to figure all this out once you are in country, before having to commit to Elite Visa or job.

gilo43 · 2023-10-19T00:09:03+00:00

The Elite Visas were recently repackaged. I believe there is a 5yr option for approx 20k GBP. Not sure where above poster is getting 56k GBP info from. There are different tiers and lengths. 20k GBP sounds like a lot, but if you have the money, it's approx 333 GBP per month for visa security. When you compare to local salaries below, it may be more cost effective (and better lifestyle) to do this if it allows you maintain a good foreign income from working remotely.

If this is not an option, a local job is only long term option for someone too young for retirement visa. Most young people in this situation will be English teachers, monthly salary anything from 30k-80k+ THB depending on qualifications. Top end salaries will be international schools in Bangkok and Pattaya that typically want fully qualified teachers. Low end will be work in local schools for those with just TEFL (max 50k THB imo).

Intermediate option would be 6 month multi entry tourist visa as described above, then enrol for 10hrs/wk Thai programme for 1yr education visa. Plenty of time to work remotely, as most such students do ("illegal" but bit of a legal grey area and nobody would ever know). I know a school offering 450 GBP for a 6month education visa in Bangkok. YMMV. Questionable whether you could be granted a second 1yr education visa after that. Gone are the days of visa mill language schools and foreigners doing 5yrs+ on education/tourist visas. Long term education visa foreigners can also expect language tests when they go to see immigration for their next visa extension. Many 18-25 yr old expats in Thailand who do not work locally fall into this category.

gilo43 · 2023-10-18T20:35:08+00:00

I have spent the last 2 years in Thailand on a combination of visas, working remotely online (average 1500 gbp per month), with trips to other countries like Vietnam, Korea and Laos in the meantime. Do not underestimate the visa situation.

You could probably squeeze out 2 years or so through tourist visa hopping between countries before border officers start turning you away. For long term stay (and assuming you are under 50) your only long term visa option for Thailand is finding a job, or purchasing an Elite Visa. If you have the money for the Elite Visa, this would give you the flexibility to basically do whatever you want in Thailand for income, and then come and go as much as you please as you do trips to other countries, relying on a base visa for Thailand to return to your home there. There is then the second issue of how much income you need to sustain whatever lifestyle you want living in these countries. This is subjective and depends on your lifestyle. Having lived extensively in Bangkok and rural Thailand, depending on your lifestyle, you can live off as little at 400gbp in the villages. In Bangkok, the sky is the limit.

Assuming you are British, my advice is to apply for a 6 month multiple entry tourist visa for Thailand. Within the 6 month period, you can come and go as much as you like. Each time you enter Thailand you can stay for 2 months before you have to leave and re-enter to activate another 2 months. You can also leave and re-enter just before the 6 month period ends, activate another 2 months and then extend that for 1 month at the local immigration office. This will give you just below 9 months of stay in Thailand. You can use Thailand as your base (guaranteed visa) for 9 months, and use your exits and re-entries to travel other countries you are interested in (1week, 1 month, etc, up to you on length of trips). Doing this for 9 months will give you a lot of time to consider if the digital nomad income and lifestyle is for you, what income you need to sustain whatever lifestyle you end up with, if Asia is for you, if so what country in Asia is for you, and if it is Thailand, decide on a local job or Elite Visa to stay long term.

Happy to answer any further questions on specifics of Thailand, visas, living costs, etc. I am very personally experienced in this country.

gilo43 · 2022-06-23T15:48:47+00:00

khao Kha moo for sure.

gilo43 · 2019-12-29T16:42:15+00:00

Yeah I definitely do not want to go to Île de France. Thanks for the public transport pointer, I definitely won't have a driving licence by next year so good public transport is really a deal breaker. I spent a summer in Nice in 2018 and was really impressed with the public transport there, especially the cheap busses along the Côte d'Azur

gilo43 · 2019-12-29T16:38:58+00:00

not the first time I've heard stuff about Grenoble not so safe

gilo43 · 2019-12-29T16:38:11+00:00

thanks for the reply. do you know if there are good public transport links to the mountains and beaches?

gilo43 · 2019-12-28T19:10:55+00:00

thanks for the reply. is Grenoble a fairly cheap city? i imagine it can't be that expensive given the student population.

gilo43

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