[lilmelissa]

Hello! We are thinking of spending a year abroad in Thailand with our three children (2, 6 and 9). We don't plan to work there, will home school our kids, and will be on a budget of about $2,000 month.
Questions:
Which areas do you recommend where we could rent a small house or two bedroom apartment for $400/month or less, low crime (safe for children), not too far from good medical care, and some expat presence? We may like to spend a few months in several different areas.

Will it be difficult or costly for a family of 5 to obtain visas for roughly 10 months?

Thanks, folks! Any advise is appreciated!

Melissa

 

[Song_Si]

There is no visa option for a stay of that duration.

Refer to thread on Tourist Visas for information

For accommodation - suggest you refer to Getting your news online and click through to the classified sections to get an indication of housing costs, there are English language newspapers listed there for the main expat colonies of Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Mai/Rai

 

[stednick]

Hello! We are thinking of spending a year abroad in Thailand with our three children (2, 6 and 9). We don't plan to work there, will home school our kids, and will be on a budget of about $2,000 month.
Questions:
Which areas do you recommend where we could rent a small house or two bedroom apartment for $400/month or less, low crime (safe for children), not too far from good medical care, and some expat presence? We may like to spend a few months in several different areas.

Will it be difficult or costly for a family of 5 to obtain visas for roughly 10 months?

Thanks, folks! Any advise is appreciated!

Melissa

Melissa:

Some quick questions and comments.

Questions; 1) Why Thailand, have you visited before? And 2) Why ten months?

Without having first-hand experience with a multi-entry tourist visa but having read the sticky thread "Thailand - visits and Tourist Visas" you should be able to schedule/arrange a six month stay legally.

You're in Philly, so call the Royal Thai consulate in New York City, 351 E 52nd St New York, NY 10022 (212) 754-1770, this is where you will apply for your tourist visas, explain to them your plans and see what they say. From my first hand experience with them they are very professional and accommodating. No communications problem as there are Thai-American employees who speak both languages fluently. You qualify as tourists, but as Song Si posts, there is no ten month tourist visa option.

From my personal experiences and spending habits, you need to increase your budget numbers. $2k for a family of five is tight, it is doable but very tight.

The biggest question is medical insurance. God forbid one of the family gets seriously sick, disease or accident, how will you fund medical care. You may be able to cover your family with travel insurance although I would request quotes from insurance companies for a short term expat insurance policy to cover the family.

What you want to do is an achievable adventure abroad with proper planning. Do your research. Anticipate problems and devise solutions. Read through this forum for the experiences provided from many expats who have lived on the Thailand economy.

Good luck and Plan, Plan, Plan.


You may be able to achieve legal permission to stay for a year through enrollment in school and using an educational visa route.

 

[lilmelissa]

Thanks for the information!
Stednick, Thailand is one of a few options we're considering. The reason why, is a combination of an interests in the culture, cuisine, climate and cost of living. We have 10 months because my husband is taking one year off from teaching here, and I run a summer camp business, so we can leave next Sept but need to be back by June for my summer season. We will keep our health insurance through my husband's teaching job here, so we don't need to purchase insurance.

I'm hoping if we find a place to rent for $400-500, and eat cheaply, it's doable on 2K/month. I'll check out those resources you suggested.

Melissa

 

[stednick]

Thanks for the information!
Stednick, Thailand is one of a few options we're considering. The reason why, is a combination of an interests in the culture, cuisine, climate and cost of living. We have 10 months because my husband is taking one year off from teaching here, and I run a summer camp business, so we can leave next Sept but need to be back by June for my summer season. We will keep our health insurance through my husband's teaching job here, so we don't need to purchase insurance.

I'm hoping if we find a place to rent for $400-500, and eat cheaply, it's doable on 2K/month. I'll check out those resources you suggested.

Melissa

Melissa:

The budget required will be based on location. See Cost of Living for locale comparisons.

Another avenue to explore is if your husband takes a "working vacation" and teaches English-as-a-second-language on a part-time basis. Qualifying for a business visa and the legally required work permit. See ajarn.com for information concerning teaching in Thailand. Teaching is not a lucrative position part-time nor full-time but is a method to receive legal permission to stay in Thailand for your desired ten month period. The family would accompany him on non-immigrant O visa's.

Good luck.

 

[imissmarmite]

Hello! We are thinking of spending a year abroad in Thailand with our three children (2, 6 and 9). We don't plan to work there, will home school our kids, and will be on a budget of about $2,000 month.
Questions:
Which areas do you recommend where we could rent a small house or two bedroom apartment for $400/month or less, low crime (safe for children), not too far from good medical care, and some expat presence? We may like to spend a few months in several different areas.

Will it be difficult or costly for a family of 5 to obtain visas for roughly 10 months?

Thanks, folks! Any advise is appreciated!

Melissa

Hi Melissa,

We are a family of 4 looking to also spend time in thailand and home school our kids 8 and 5.

Did you have any luck with finding a property and when do you plan to go? We have just left Spain after 5 yrs to spend Christmas in UK with family then plan to head to thailand as soon as possible afterwards. Feel free to PM and we maybe we canhave a chat or meet up.

 

[lilmelissa]

Hi imissmarmite. I'd love to compare notes about Thailand with kids. You will be there long before we will, though, as we're not planning to go until Sept. 2014. I can't for the life of me figure out how to PM someone on this forum. I see the inbox, but not how to compose a new message. Any pointers on that?

Good luck with your plans, and I'd love to hear about what it's like there with kids, homeschooling there, housing rental costs, etc.

Best,
Melissa