Expats
Thailand expat news, visas, work permits, property, and healthcare—stay informed with essential updates and insights for foreign residents. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for expat news in Thailand.
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Sponsored Limited-time deal: Save 20% on Cigna's expat health plans forever
Starting a new life abroad is exciting—new culture, new lifestyle, and new chances to grow. But living far from home also means taking steps to protect your health in unfamiliar surroundings. Without the right coverage, even small health issues can...
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Deceased Phuket expat’s body stuck in hospital due to passport mix-up
In a nightmarish scenario, a deceased Phuket expat’s body is stuck in a Thai hospital as his step‐daughter claims hospital administrators won’t release the body due to a passport mix‐up. Gemma Swift, the step‐daughter of 75 year old David Donoghue, who died 2 weeks ago, says she is pleading with embassy staff in Thailand to resolve, what she says, is…
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British man arrested on Koh Samui for alleged meth-fuelled shooting spree on speedboat
A 33 year old British man has been arrested on the holiday island of Samui for allegedly firing gunshots from a speedboat while high on drugs. According to a report in the UK’s Daily Mail, Benjamin Robert Simpson, a cryptocurrency trader, allegedly fired a handgun several times, in the direction of the Four Seasons Hotel, where he was a guest.…
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Video of foreigner’s road rage in Pathum Thani gets mixed reaction from Thais
A video of a foreigner lashing out after a motorbike accident, yelling and hitting a Thai motorbike driver for pulling out in front of him and causing him to crash, has gotten a mixed reaction from Thais (you MUST watch it… below). The incident also caught media attention and Thairath made a post on Facebook pairing the clip from the…
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Ban on sales and promotion of alcohol online starts December 7
From December 7 you’ll no longer, officially, be able to purchase alcohol online in Thailand, according to a posting in the Royal Gazette back in September, the Thai government will prohibit the sales and promotion of alcoholic drinks on every online platform from December 7. The ban includes direct sales, promotion and introduction of alcoholic products online, but will not…
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Expat awaits trial for drug charges, mother in England worries and works to pay the bills
While 27 year old expat Louis Bentley awaits trial in Thailand for drug charges, his mother back in England is working 12 hour shifts to pay her son’s bills. For his mother, Michaela, the anticipation of waiting for the her son’s February court date, in a country so far from her with laws she’s unfamiliar with, has been “horrendous.” Louis…
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Bangkok nightclub has special booth to vet and upcharge foreigners
A Bangkok nightclub has set up what resembles an immigration counter outside the venue to check foreigners’ IDs and make them pay up before entering. At BarBarBar in Thong Lor, Thais get in free, but foreigners are asked to step aside to the booth and either pay 500 baht or buy a bottle of alcohol before entering the venue. Bouncers…
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Expat says he was almost deported over Facebook posts
With the ongoing pro-democracy protests, some have raised question: What could happen to foreigners who get involved or speak out against Thai politics? Or post their thoughts on social media? Well, they could possibly get deported. Expat Yan Marchal says he almost got kicked out of the country for posts he made on Facebook. Many of Yan’s recent Facebook posts…
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Pattaya residents accuse Greek expat of throwing sewage, threatening neighbours, and damaging property
Residents of a housing estate in the district of Banglamung in Pattaya, have filed a police report against an expat they accuse of threatening and damaging behaviour. According to The Pattaya News, neighbours say the Greek national has threatened them, as well as “throwing sewage” at their homes, and damaging their fences. They add that, despite filing a police report…
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Complete Thailand Travel Guide (October 2020)
Latest update – October 21. If you are overseas and wish to come to Thailand your FIRST port of call must be the Royal Thai Embassy in your country before you make any bookings. Thailand Longstay is also a valuable resource of information at this time. First ‘tourists’ arrive in Thailand under the Special Tourist Visa In 2019, almost 40 million tourists…
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Deals and discounts for expats at Bangkok wellness tourism event
Expats in Thailand will be offered discounts and promotions at a 2 day fair focusing on health and wellness travel, including deals on flights, accommodation and spa packages. Domestic flights start at 490 baht, and if the booking is made on the spot, customers get a free 15 kilogram baggage allowance. There will also be many deals for health and…
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Expat shift drives changes in Bangkok’s condo market
Thailand’s dominant working expat nationality in past decades has been Japanese, currently making up 18% of expatriates in the country. But, while Japanese expatriate numbers are decreasing, a CBRE report notes that Chinese and Filipinos are on the rise. There were 28,560 Japanese expats in Thailand as of Q3 2020, just ahead of the Chinese expat contingent at 25,811. As China’s manufacturing has…
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News of American sued over bad Koh Chang hotel review has everyone talking
After news hit of an American being arrested and sued for defamation over leaving a bad review about a Koh Chang hotel on TripAdvisor, many are taking to the internet to voice their opinions on the issue. The Sea View Resort owners say it tried in vain to negotiated with Wesley Barnes after he posted the reviews, but he continued…
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Elderly Dutch man’s body found floating near Pattaya Beach
An elderly Dutch man’s body has been found floating near a Pattaya beach in South Pattaya after telling his wife he was going to go swimming. The 74 year old man’s wife Ms. Sukjai Bungutum, a 41 year old Thai woman, was found by rescue workers crying near his body. “My husband told me he was going to go swimming.…
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Thai Chamber of Commerce urges visa amnesty to be extended after today’s deadline
The Thai Chamber of Commerce is urging the government to extend the visa amnesty for the country’s 400,000 tourists after today’s deadline but has so far been turned down. The move comes as such provinces like Chiang Mai’s immigration office sends messages giving tourists until Monday to sort out their visas (which is under the law as Saturday, the final…
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Thai cabinet adds 2 more 4-day long weekends
A holiday-led economic recovery. That appears to be a part of the government’s agenda following yesterday’s meeting of the Thai cabinet. 2 new holiday weekends have been created, one in November, one in December, in efforts to further stimulate the economy. In both cases the extended weekends will be 4 days each, adding the Thursdays and Fridays before the weekend.…
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Russian in Pattaya offers 100,000 baht reward for missing cat
A Russian resident in Pattaya is offering a hefty reward for anyone who finds her missing 9 month old cat. The woman, 46 year old Oksana Kobzar met with Associated Pattaya Press today to send out the message of the reward for finding her beloved white Main Coon furry friend. Kobzar says her treasured pussy left her house in Bang…
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Samui charity battles to feed island’s remaining residents
by Ann Carter As around 2,000 Thai workers have reportedly left the island of Koh Samui due to the Covid-19 economic fallout, ‘Sisters on Samui’, the island’s largest charity is changing up the way in which to help feed those remaining residents. Keyt Topcu, co-president of SOS, says the effort involves cutting out bags as the organisation realised that they could save over 500 USD…
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Belgian arrested after living and working in Thailand without a passport for 4 years
A 49 year old Belgian man has been arrested by Thai immigration police after being discovered living in the Kingdom without a passport. The man was reported to be living in an apartment at Wang Thonglang, a north east suburb of Bangkok. Officials started an investigation into a “good looking European man” that spoke fluent Thai and discovered that the man has…
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Tourism officials look to end dual pricing for expats
“The key factor is we have to treat expats like locals, without discrimination or a negative attitude towards foreigners.” Admission fees at national parks and tourist attractions are often drastically higher for expats than they are for Thai nationals. Foreigners sometimes even pay 10 times more than Thais. Tourism officials say they might put an end to dual pricing for…
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A glimmer of hope for expats unable to satisfy minimum income requirements
September 26 looms as a dark day for many foreigners who have been unable to sort out a way to either leave the country or stay in Thailand. But at least one Thai immigration office appears to be discussing some leniency in this crazy time. Phuket Immigration has specifically addressed the issue for foreigners on a non-immigrant B (Business) visa…
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90 day Thai Immigration reporting deadline passes
Today was the last day to update your 90 day report if you weren’t doing the reports during the visa amnesty Thai immigration set the end of today as the deadline for foreigners, with current visas, to do their 90 day report. Otherwise fines will be imposed. You had to report, or update, your residential address before the end of…
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Should foreigners go to protests and get involved in Thai politics?
Should foreigners get involved in the Thai protests? Is it any of our business? Is there a danger of being targeted and thrown out of the country? Most foreigners, certainly the vast majority, will say they’re uncomfortable even discussing local politics with Thais, especially THAT other big topic. Most are happy to walk the beaches, explore or sit in the…
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CCSA considers another 2 groups of foreigners for return to Thailand
The next batch of returnee categories is now being considered by the CCSA. This time, foreigners with permanent residences who have been stranded overseas for the past 6 months, and long-term foreign residents, will receive priority when the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announces the next date for the next phase of lifting the shutters on Thailand’s borders. The chairman…
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I flew home to get a new visa – one person’s experience with the “new normal” in Thailand
Theo, from The Netherlands, flew back from Thailand to arrange a new visa in his home country. When he returned he had to stay in an Alternative State Quarantine hotel in Bangkok. What were his challenges? How much did it all cost? I am from the Netherlands, I am 44 years old, married with my Thai wife for over 5 years…
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Separate licence to be required for big bikes
The Cabinet yesterday approved rules on the issuing and renewal of drivers’ licences as proposed by the Transport Ministry, agreeing that “big bike” motorcyclists will require a different licence from those of smaller, less powerful motorbikes, and applicants will need to pass special training and a test before being granted a licence, according to a government spokesperson. “The details of…
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Richard Barrow is dusting off his luggage in case he can’t renew visa
Yesterday, Richard Barrow, a popular British blogger and school employee in Samut Prakan, who has been living and working in Thailand for decades, says he had a surprise visit from the immigration bureau in regards to the renewal of his visa. Kapook reported the incident on their page saying that many Thai people admire the work he does for Thailand…
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Thai minister encourages hotels to stop price-gouging expats
The thorny issue of dual pricing has raised its ugly head again, this time with the current offerings for hotels as Thailand slowly winds up its tourism industry again. Tourism and Sports Ministry, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, is asking hotels to offer “fair packages to expats and resident foreigners, and avoid price discrimination”. He said that there are 2 million foreign residents who…
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Pattaya’s Walking Street. Will it return to high rents and high heels?
Now that Pattaya’s infamous Walking Street is open to traffic along with parking for the first time in many, many years, what’s next? Thai officials and the local constabulary have long had a love-hate relationship with the red light district. It has attracted tourists but perhaps to the tourists the bosses in Bangkok were hoping for. It was a hive…
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Bangkok Midnight Marathon 2020 bans foreigners
It’s official. The Bangkok Midnight Marathon 2020 is closed to foreigners. Popular blogger and Samut Prakan school employee Richard Barrow posted the news last night saying… “For some reason, the organisers of this year’s Bangkok Midnight Marathon have decided not to allow foreigners to run. I hope this doesn’t become part of the ‘new normal’.” Unsurprisingly, the social media outrage was…
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No current plans to extend list of foreigners allowed back into Thailand
There is no immediate plan to extend the list of foreigners being allowed to come to Thailand at the moment. Specifically still excluded are retirees with valid visas, homes and families in Thailand. The directive comes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since Thailand’s experience with Covid-19, it has closed its borders to tourists and visitors, stranding both Thais and…
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