Reporter: Erik Kuijpers
What could be better than working on your laptop under the sun, in a hammock in the open air, taking a dip and a relaxing massage when letters and numbers become too much for you? Fresh drink at hand? A trend among PC workers. Everything better than the morning sandwich with cheese, that car and the traffic jams in NL or B. And now I forget the rules; oh dear, those rules.
Thailand will soon offer a facility to digital nomads. Anyone can become a digital nomad in Thailand, but the extra facility is only for a select group. A very select group.
The facility consists of a ten-year visa and a lower Income Tax rate for high incomes.
The conditions
You have to work in the high-tech field such as electronics, biotechnology and electric vehicles. But in addition, the visa is also for employees of foreign companies who want to work from Thailand. There is a new word for it: the work-from-Thailand professional…
But the other requirements are not wrong! The applicants must:
1. Have earned at least $80.000 per year for the past two years. (with one exception, see below)
2. And have at least five years of experience.
3. And must work for a company that has had at least $150 million in sales in the last three years.
The reward is then a ten-year visa and a reduction in the highest bracket of the Thai Income Tax. Above 140.000 dollars (five million baht) income per year, the rate is not 35%, but 17%.
Other special visas
The LTR, the Long-Term Resident Program, has several categories. I refer to the links below. There, too, the work-from-Thailand professional occurs alongside the highly-skilled professional and the requirements are not wrong.
Thailand wants to attract the 'creme de la creme', the best of the salmon. These people, I read, contribute to the economy with $28.000 per person per year, which is one million baht. For the government, it will bring in 27,6 billion baht, says the Thailand Board of Investment, which is $800 million. .
Will the 'toppers' find their way to Thailand or would they rather do their work in a politically quieter region? Time will tell.
Web Links
https://www.travelinglifestyle.net/thailand-to-attract-digital-nomads-with-10-year-visa-and-low-taxes-from-september-1/
https://www.boi.go.th/upload/content/LTR.pdf
Bangkok 2nd best place in the world for Digital Nomads according to Instant Offices
Thailand Visa Question No. 156/21: Digital Nomad. Which visa?
Reaction RonnyLatYa
This Long Term Resident (LTR) visa was approved early this year and will normally come into effect next month. I wonder how it will show up at immigration or on the embassy website.
The cost of the visa, regardless of the requirements, has also been reduced from 100 Baht to 000 Baht. The target group is:
- High-income foreign persons
- Foreign retirees
- Foreigners who want to work remotely from Thailand
- Foreign professionals with “special” skills
The requirements are not bad, but we will see if it will be a success.
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The LTR (long time resident) visa must be applied for at the BOI (board of investment). Is per 1
September possible. If you enter “BOI” and LTR visas” as a search query in Google, you will get an extensive one
BOI brochure on your screen. It takes a very long time before it appears because it is an extensive brochure and also in color, so it requires a lot of bites. The KNMG has also written an extensive article about it.
https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2022/06/flash-alert-2022-127.html is the link. Dates from July and appears to be very accurate.
You do not need to apply for the visa itself at the BOI.
The BOI checks whether you meet the requirements.
If you comply, you will receive confirmation of this and you can then apply for the visa at an embassy or immigration
“Endorsed applicants may then apply to have the LTR visa issued at an overseas Royal Thai Embassy or Royal Thai Consulate General, or at an immigration office in Thailand, within 60 days from the issuance date of the endorsement letter. The processing fee for the 10-year visa, inclusive or multiple entry permit, is THB 50,000 per person.”
https://www.boi.go.th/upload/content/LTR.pdf
correction to my previous text. Just see that Eric Kuipers has already reported the BOI link. That is indeed the link I refer to in my text.