You’ve closed the sale on your house, or you gave your landlord notice that you’re not renewing your lease. You’ve crammed two suitcases full of clothes, mostly shorts and T-shirts. I hope you’re checking your plane ticket to Bangkok on your phone at least daily. In short, you are ready to begin your life in Thailand.
Before you head for the door, a bit of planning will save you time and expense. So here are five tips from my experience relocating to Thailand.
First, you can—and should, in many cases—start the visa process with your home country’s Royal Thai embassy or consulate. We’ve seen lots of folks arriving visa-exempt for 60 days, thinking they have plenty of time to sort out their long-term visas, especially since they can easily extend for another 30 days at immigration.
Hey, what can’t be accomplished in three months, right?
Well, you can’t open a Thai bank account when arriving visa-exempt, and a bank account is necessary to complete the process for many of the most popular visas. You can solve this by e-filing for a 90-day visa through your home country’s Royal Thai embassy or consulate. With a 90-day visa in hand, you can arrive, open your Thai bank account, and complete the visa process without having to incur the expense and time of leaving the country.
There are also visa approvals you can obtain in your home country through the e-filing system. Simply print out the visa approval and present it to immigration upon arrival, and you’ll receive your visa and be stamped in for the permitted length of stay. However, if you start the process in Thailand, you’re going to need to spend some time and money exiting the country just to reenter and finish the visa process.
Second, if you plan on driving here, get an international driving permit in your home country. In the U.S., you can obtain one at almost any AAA office, and it costs about $50. Why? First, you can legally drive here with an international license for the first three months while you sort out getting your Thai driver’s license. More importantly, it’s much easier to obtain a Thai driving license from the Department of Land Transport if you already have one.
You’ll just need to watch a one-hour video in the comfort of your home, take two simple sight and reaction tests, and then proudly leave with your two-year Thai license. Doing it this way will save you from a much longer day sitting through a driving school. By the way, when you renew after two years, you’ll receive a five-year driving license.
Third, consider setting up a home-country residential address with a family member, good friend, or a virtual mailbox service. For a small monthly fee, I’ve been surprised by how much mail I still receive in the States. Frankly, snail mail sent here from the U.S. can take quite a bit of time, and sometimes the condition of the mail can be a bit rough. Setting up a residential address or virtual mail service better guarantees timely receipt of bills, tax documents, and other important materials.
You can also have items sent to you here by reliable couriers such as FedEx or DHL, but that gets expensive very quickly.
Fourth—and this may be a blinding glimpse of the obvious to more tech-savvy viewers—purchase a good VPN for your devices. Public Wi-Fi is available just about everywhere here, and the encryption provided by a VPN will give you greater security and peace of mind. Some government or regional sites may block overseas internet traffic, and a VPN will allow you to access your local content or government services much more easily.
Finally, here’s something not to do: you don’t need to ship a container full of household furniture to Thailand. Most condos and apartments come fully furnished. Even if you do need furniture, stores are abundant, and there’s always the ubiquitous IKEA, which will ship anywhere in the kingdom at a pretty reasonable rate.
And yes, the IKEA stores here serve up some excellent Swedish meatballs.
So, a bit of planning will make your transition to living long-term in the kingdom less expensive and less time-consuming, letting you focus on exploring your new neighborhood.
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