

Ask HN: Anyone living/working in Thailand? - simantel

If so, any tips? Any issues with visas? I'm just beginning my research, but would love to hear from some folks who have lived/worked there.
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gexla
What issues would you have with your visa? Are you Iranian? Pakistani?

Don't worry about it. Nobody going there to live is having problems with
visas. Living in Asia is very fluid. You don't have problems there. You simply
plan A, plan B, etc. If plan A gets blocked, then you happily go with plan B
while you work out plan A. Or maybe you go with plan C just for kicks. No
matter what happens, you don't sweat much of anything. That's Asia. (I'm in
the Philippines)

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simantel
I'm American. Since the US Embassy site says I can only stay for 90 days
without a visa, I was curious if there are any issues getting one.

Are you also American, but living in the Philippines? How do you like it? Why
there?

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ohashi
I am going to say don't listen to this guy. I think the advice is bad. See:
<http://www.thaivisa.com/visa-overstay-thailand.html>

You can keep re-entering the country as a tourist and get an extension from
what I've seen. There are a lot of places that do visa runs over the various
borders. I would advise being very mindful of visa issues and respecting the
laws. It's very easy to get around and get visas, but don't play around with
the expiry. If you do plan to stay longer term, figure out a proper visa.

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jimbobob
I recently went on a backpacking trip with the thought of working from the
beach in Thailand in mind. I spent a couple months there, both in the South
near Krabi and later in the North (Chiang Mai, Pai).

The good: You can live a pretty good life for quite cheaply. Depending on
where you are, I found the Internet connections to be decent, the food to be
tasty and the people kind. If you stay there long-term it is important to pick
up some of the language as it will bring you closer to the locals. You may
also find that you are able to get better prices as a result.

You can do border runs quite easily (Cambodia, Myanmar, or Malaysia). There is
an entire industry that has developed around this purpose. When I was there,
the visa terms were different depending on if you flew into the country or if
you went over a land crossing. I would check out the latest situation on
WikiTravel or the Lonely Planet forums.

I personally met another American who over-stayed his visa by over a month.
Believe me, you do NOT want to be that guy. He had a horror story about the
situation, and ended up having to pay a hefty fine.

Feel free to reach out to me if you want more details.

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burnblue
I have lived in Chiang Mai for the last two years. My wife has Thai
citizenship, which allows me to get a one year renewable visa. Still have to
do 90-day border runs (never figured out why).

Staying in Thailand for less than a year at a time is easy to do. If you want
to stay on a more permanent basis you'll need to either get married (marriage
visa), enroll in a Thai language school (education visa), or be over 65 and
have 25 grand or so in the bank (retirement visa).

If you can wrangle something, it's a wonderful place to live. There are the
well-known sights and the low cost of living, but for me it goes much deeper.
I've become a calmer and more thoughtful person, quicker to smile and slower
to anger just by spending two years among the Thai people.

Re: gexla's post – he makes it sound a little cavalier, but there really is a
sense in Asia of "eventually this will work out somehow". There are limits and
boundaries where this doesn't apply, of course, but in general I find the
saying about India applies equally well to Thailand: "everything will be all
right in the end. If it's not all right, it isn't the end" ;)

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mb_72
Have you seen Stick's site? This page in particular will help:
<http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/living.html>

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simantel
I hadn't! Thanks!

