Moving to Thailand: Visa, Housing, Money and First-Month Checklist

Pick the visa first. File the TDAC within 3 days before arrival. Your landlord files the TM.30 within 24 hours of move-in. Report your address every 90 days. Stay 180 days in a calendar year and you become a tax resident.

By Vincent Nguyen and team

Three decisions come first

A long stay in Thailand rests on three choices: which visa, where you live and how your money arrives. Make them in that order.

The visa comes first. KBank opens no account for holders of tourist-type visas, including the DTV. Your address comes second. Your landlord files a TM.30 notice within 24 hours of you moving in.

Money comes third. Foreign currency or baht can enter Thailand without limit. Stay 180 days in a tax year and you are a tax resident.

The first deadlines after landing are short. File the TDAC before you arrive, check the date on your entry stamp and report your address every 90 days. The diagram and checklist below put them in order.

Choose your visa

Start from what you will do in Thailand, not from the visa name. Each row links to the full guide with fees, documents and the office that handles it.

Short stays and extensions

A visa-exempt visitor can ask for one extension of up to 30 days. The fee is THB 1,900. Apply before the permitted stay ends. The officer decides whether to grant it.

Overstaying costs THB 500 a day, up to THB 20,000. The visa exemption guide and the visa changes page carry the newest rules and the country lists.

Long stays: what to know first

A DTV application filed from 31 August 2026 needs proof of permanent residence and a criminal record certificate. The DTV bars a Thai work permit and work for Thai companies or Thai clients. The visa types overview sets the categories side by side.

If you work, study or retire, hold the right visa from the start. Employment of any kind is prohibited on the O-A and O-X.

Before you fly: the TDAC and your entry stamp

All non-Thai nationals entering Thailand file the Thailand Digital Arrival Card online within 3 days before arrival. The card is free, and the only official site is tdac.immigration.go.th. File one for every entry. The TDAC guide covers the steps and lookalike sites.

At the checkpoint, read the last permitted date on the stamp before you leave the counter.

First 90 days: timeline and checklist

The steps run in the order the deadlines arrive. Each line points to the page that explains it.

Enter your arrival date in the move planner to get this checklist with your own dates.

1. File the TDAC within 3 days before arrival. It is free.
2. Read the date on your entry stamp before you leave the checkpoint.
3. Ask your landlord to file the TM.30 within 24 hours of move-in. The host can print proof of the filing. See the TM.30 guide.
4. Register your SIM card with your passport before use. See the eSIM and SIM guide.
5. Open a bank account once you hold a non-immigrant visa. See opening a bank account.
6. Buy a re-entry permit before any trip abroad: THB 1,000 for one trip or THB 3,800 for multiple trips. See the re-entry permit guide.
7. Report your address from 15 days before to 7 days after each 90-day due date. See the 90-day report guide.
8. Count your days in Thailand each calendar year toward the 180-day tax line. See tax residency.
9. Before any extension, apply while your permitted stay still runs. See extending a stay.

The 90-day report

You report to immigration every 90 days once a permitted stay passes 90 days. A late report is made in person and settled with a THB 2,000 fine. Leaving Thailand restarts the count from your latest entry. The report is not a visa extension.

LTR holders report once a year instead.

Housing and the landlord’s notice

A one-bedroom condo in Bangkok asks THB 25,700 a month on average. Where to live in Bangkok compares the expat districts.

A consumer notice covers operators who rent out three or more units. A short-term lease runs three years at most. Advance rent and deposit together may not exceed three months of rent. Without tenant damage, the deposit comes back within seven days after the lease ends.

Landlords may charge water and electricity no more than the state rate. An overcharged tenant can call the OCPB hotline 1166.

The TM.30 duty sits with the owner, landlord or operator. A host who fails to file faces a fine of up to THB 2,000. Ask for the printed proof.

For your rights as a tenant, see renting in Thailand: the law.

Buying a condo

Foreigners together may own up to 49% of a condominium’s unit area. To hold a unit, you bring the price in as foreign currency. The condo quota guide explains the papers.

If buying suits you better than renting, see buying a condo in Thailand as a foreigner.

Land is a different matter. A foreigner may acquire land only under a treaty. Thailand has made no such treaty since the earlier ones ended.

Open a bank account and move money

Open the account after the visa is in place. KBank asks for a passport and a non-immigrant visa of any type, plus papers that match your purpose, such as a work permit or a school certificate. A tourist visa cannot open an account at Krungsri. Bangkok Bank needs you at a branch in Thailand, in person, to open an account.

Apps and ATMs

PromptPay links a bank account to a phone number. A passport is enough to register a phone number at Bangkok Bank. KBank mobile banking needs a SIM registered under the same passport number.

PromptPay transfers up to THB 5,000 are free. The PromptPay and banking apps guide covers each bank’s app.

A foreign Visa card pays THB 250 per ATM withdrawal at KBank, and Mastercard pays THB 350. Krung Thai charges THB 220. KBank caps a withdrawal at THB 30,000. The ATM fee guide covers the other banks.

Bringing money in

The sender states a purpose for each incoming transfer. From USD 200,000, the bank asks for papers showing the source. Bangkok Bank charges 0.25% to receive a transfer, with a THB 200 minimum and a THB 500 maximum. See sending money to Thailand.

Carrying cash needs a Customs declaration above THB 450,000 in baht or USD 15,000 in foreign notes. The cash declaration guide has the detail.

Tax residency and foreign income

Someone in Thailand 180 days or more between 1 January and 31 December is a tax resident for that year. A stay of 179 days is not.

A resident is taxed on foreign income earned from 1 January 2024 and remitted in the same or a later tax year. In a year under 180 days, foreign income is not taxed in Thailand even if you bring it in. Savings built up in non-resident years come in tax-free.

A resident can credit foreign tax paid against Thai tax under a double tax agreement. LTR holders in three categories are exempt on foreign income brought in. Read foreign income and residency and remote-worker tax before you move savings.

Health insurance and hospitals

Insurance rules follow the visa. O-A needs cover of at least USD 100,000. O-X needs a Thai policy with THB 40,000 outpatient and THB 400,000 inpatient cover. LTR needs USD 50,000 of insurance, social security cover or a deposit.

Employers register staff with Social Security within 30 days of starting work. Hospitals ask for a guarantee of payment before treatment. A single room at Bumrungrad costs THB 14,700 a night. Call 1669 for a medical emergency.

The expat health insurance guide compares what each visa asks for. See English-speaking hospitals in Bangkok for insurer rules and hospital costs for price lists.

Moving with children? See international schools in Thailand.

Working legally

A foreigner may not work without a work permit. Foreign workers without permits face fines of THB 5,000 to THB 50,000 and deportation. An employer is liable to a fine of THB 10,000 to THB 100,000 per foreigner.

A work permit lasts up to two years. On a Non-B visa you get the permit within 90 days of entry. LTR Work-from-Thailand holders get no work permit.

Tour guide work and hairdressing are closed to foreigners. The work permit guide walks through the application.

Driving in Thailand

Carry an international driving permit with your home licence. Drivers with an ASEAN licence show that licence instead. A 1968 permit stops being valid once you establish normal residence in Thailand. Driving without a licence risks up to 1 month in jail or a fine of THB 1,000.

Residents apply for a Thai licence with a passport and a residence certificate or a work permit. A first licence is temporary, and the 5-year licence needs a year of holding it. The fees are THB 205 for a car and THB 105 for a motorcycle. See the driving licence guide and the IDP guide.

Chiang Mai and Phuket

City detail lives on the sister sites. Chiang Mai Jao (opens in a new tab) covers neighbourhoods, rent and daily life in Chiang Mai. Phuket Anchor (opens in a new tab) does the same for Phuket.

The national steps above apply in both cities. This site also has the Chiang Mai overview and the Phuket overview.

More guides on settling in are in the living cluster.

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Not confirmed: Banks publish their own paper lists, and branches may ask for more. The Cabinet approved a draft change to residence notifications on 23 June 2026. It is a draft, not law.

General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

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