Newbie planning to relocate ASAP

[Surfing Psychic]

Hi all,

Newbie on here and planning / wanting to relocate to Thailand ASAP within the next 6 months. Own my own business over here in Oz as a consultant though think it will be difficult to continue same line of work in Thailand (which is fine)...

Prefer to cooler areas, definitely a beach fan (surfing psychic - see?)

Thinking of relocating for at least a year though have a tonne of questions...

Firstly - do you have to have a degree to work as an English Teacher in Thailand?

How long a VISA can I get to stay there without an employer (currently though may be able to remedy that) and without marrying a Thai man?

That will do for now - though have tonnes more!

Thanks heaps - looking forward to responses.

[frogblogger]

In theory you need a degree of some sort, and preferably a TEFL qualification. That gives you more weight when looking for the better teaching jobs, ie the ones where the school concerned actually employs you legally and sorts out a teaching visa for you.

Not that these jobs are necessarily much better paid - too many schools employ 'illegals' for a pittance and get away with it, which makes it harder for the others to be competitive. ('Illegals' being those who are working in Thailand on tourist visas or border stamp runs, see below. Not all of them have relevant qualifications, by any means).

Living in Thailand on border runs and/or tourist visas is getting harder and harder. The authorities are bringing in more and more restrictions - the double entry tourist visa is supposed to be on its way out - this allowed you to double up on the 3 month holiday visa and stay a total of six months before you had to look at other options in order to stay longer.

Earlier this year the land border runs giving you a month stamp were cut to 15 days. The only month stamps now are when you fly into the country.

Technically on arrival in LOS you need to have proof of a flight out of the country with the time limit imposed by the type of visa you have. Some people get around this by booking a one way flight in, and an extra cheap flight out (say Bkk Phnom Penh) that they may or may not use.

Ref the non-immigrant visas, these are not easy to obtain (even if certain consulates have a reputation for handing them out more easily... it's a good earner for them )

Education visas are an option, but you have to enrol long term for a course, whereby the educational establishment gets you the relevant visa (corresponding to the length of the course).

You're not 50 so you can't get a retirement visa, you're not married so you can't get a family visa, and anyway both of these require either substantial sums lodged in a Thai bank and/or proof of regular income from abroad. You have no long lost Thai offspring in LOS, I take it, which would help you to get a non-immigrant visa for visiting family. I won't bother going into business visas.

Basically the Thais are making it harder and harder for those looking to hang out for a year or two, to do so!

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by frogblogger

In theory you need a degree of some sort, and preferably a TEFL qualification. That gives you more weight when looking for the better teaching jobs, ie the ones where the school concerned actually employs you legally and sorts out a teaching visa for you.

Not that these jobs are necessarily much better paid - too many schools employ 'illegals' for a pittance and get away with it, which makes it harder for the others to be competitive. ('Illegals' being those who are working in Thailand on tourist visas or border stamp runs, see below. Not all of them have relevant qualifications, by any means).

Living in Thailand on border runs and/or tourist visas is getting harder and harder. The authorities are bringing in more and more restrictions - the double entry tourist visa is supposed to be on its way out - this allowed you to double up on the 3 month holiday visa and stay a total of six months before you had to look at other options in order to stay longer.

Earlier this year the land border runs giving you a month stamp were cut to 15 days. The only month stamps now are when you fly into the country.

Technically on arrival in LOS you need to have proof of a flight out of the country with the time limit imposed by the type of visa you have. Some people get around this by booking a one way flight in, and an extra cheap flight out (say Bkk Phnom Penh) that they may or may not use.

Ref the non-immigrant visas, these are not easy to obtain (even if certain consulates have a reputation for handing them out more easily... it's a good earner for them )

Education visas are an option, but you have to enrol long term for a course, whereby the educational establishment gets you the relevant visa (corresponding to the length of the course).

You're not 50 so you can't get a retirement visa, you're not married so you can't get a family visa, and anyway both of these require either substantial sums lodged in a Thai bank and/or proof of regular income from abroad. You have no long lost Thai offspring in LOS, I take it, which would help you to get a non-immigrant visa for visiting family. I won't bother going into business visas.

Basically the Thais are making it harder and harder for those looking to hang out for a year or two, to do so!

That's some excellent information and advice right there! I've been visiting Thailand now for some 6 years and yeah I would love to move there but the Thai authorities are making it harder and harder.

You can live in Thailand but you have to go through the dreaded visa run depending on how long your present VISA lasts. They hit you with late stay fines if you don't renew. I have met many expats out there and they all say the same thing, the VISA run is a royal pain!

[blue eyes]

Originally Posted by Sonny

That's some excellent information and advice right there! I've been visiting Thailand now for some 6 years and yeah I would love to move there but the Thai authorities are making it harder and harder.

You can live in Thailand but you have to go through the dreaded visa run depending on how long your present VISA lasts. They hit you with late stay fines if you don't renew. I have met many expats out there and they all say the same thing, the VISA run is a royal pain!

As far as I know there is no real "visa run" anymore,if you are looking to stay long term.