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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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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12 month “Medical Visa” proposed among updates to Thai visa offerings
A new visa category is being proposed that could allow people to stay in the Kingdom for up to a year for medical treatments. The so-called “Medical Visa” (Non-MT) would visitors to stay for 12 months. The Thai deputy PM and health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, and the tourism and sports minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn announced yesterday that countries that will benefit are wealthy…
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Wanted American found hiding in Thailand
PHOTO: The Nation An American wanted for serious crimes in his home country has been tracked down to Hua Hin, in a joint operation involving Thai Immigration Police and Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security in the U.S. Thai Residents reports that the man, known only as Derrick, is wanted in the states of…
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Could you be a digital nomad in Thailand?
Are you a digital nomad? Working online wherever you can find a seat and wi-fi? According to digital nomad websites, some of the most popular locations to work online around the world include Chiang Mai & Bangkok (Thailand), Budapest (Hungary), Belgrade (Serbia), Bali (Indonesia), Lisbon (Portugal) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). What do all these cities have in common? The main…
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Immigration overhaul – TM6 disappearing and TM30 App being launched
“We made the decision last Friday. Within two to three months, life will be much easier for foreign tourists and expats.” In what appears to be a major overhaul of immigration procedures, dare we say ‘modernisation’, foreign visitors will soon no longer have to fill out the “TM6” arrival forms. The white and blue form has been a source of…
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Pattaya Cricket Club match report – Indoor cricket league
September 12 was the inaugural round of the recently created Pattaya Indoor Cricket league. PCC was due to play Asian Stars B whilst Rugby School Thailand (RST) were due to play Asian Stars A. Unfortunately, both Asian Stars teams failed to materialise, so PCC played RST. This hotly contested match also saw the appearance of new members to PCC –…
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Why the Chinese are more important than Western tourists to Thailand
OPINION by Dan Cheeseman – Dan About Thailand We need to wake up and smell the roses, us Westerners are no longer an important group for the Thailand tourism industry – in fact, we are what you would call ‘niche’ – and with good reason. The Chinese are here in numbers and not only will this continue to grow but…
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Thai Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce call for overhaul of TM30 laws
PHOTO: Stanley Kang, chairman of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand, spoke to the Bangkok Post about their concerns over the TM30 debacle Speaking to the Bangkok Post, chairman of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce Stanley Kang, says the government needs to review the enforcement of the draconian TM30 (and TM28) immigration reporting regulations The TM30, and…
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Thailand drops 7 places in world’s best places for expats to live
PHOTO: Wikipedia An Expat Insider survey on the world’s best places for expats to live sees Thailand drop 7 places. The country is now in 25th place, out of a total of 64 destinations. Taiwan took the top spot, with Vietnam coming in second, and Portugal third. In March, InterNations, the world’s largest expat networking group, consulted over 20,000 expats,…
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Foreigners crying foul over the new dual pricing policy at Thai public hospitals
Thailand’s expat community is reeling after the news of Thai public hospitals given the greenlight to charge foreigners higher rates for foreigners than the locals – a classic dual-pricing policy. The new split rates kick in from September 29. But the health ministry say the new rates actually provide more set prices for services and procedures and, in some cases,…
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British man found dead in Rayong condo
PHOTO: Sanook A 49 year old British teacher at a language college in Rayong, eastern Thailand, has been found dead in his Cherng Nern apartment. Work colleagues told police that it was unusual that the man failed to turn up for work and wasn’t answering phone calls. Security at the condominium checked on the man’s room and found his body…
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Thai Immigration announces improvements to online TM30 process
PHOTO: Bangkok Post Thai immigration officials say that improvements made to the online TM30 system will help reduce waiting times and that those using the system should now receive a username and password sooner. Until a user receives this information, he or she cannot report online, a huge source of frustration for many. Khaosod English reports that Col Thatchapong Sarawanangkul…
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Pattaya Cricket Club competes in the Koh Chang Beach Cricket Tournament
Nine members of the PCC toured to Koh Chang to compete in the 5th International Beach Cricket Tournament from August 23-26, 2019. Simon Philbrook (Captain) and Dave Samways were already experienced beach cricketers, whilst Clive Rogerson, Bernard Lamprecht, Trevor Moolman, Ian Liddell (Reds), Gavin Perfect, Wesley Masterton and John Harvey were beach cricket virgins. Twelve teams from Koh Chang, Phuket,…
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Guest houses caught out in the ongoing TM30 purge
PHOTOS: Naew Na Immigration have continued their purge on home owners, guesthouses and hotels not reporting foreigners at their addresses within 24 hours of their arrivals. This time reports from Koh Samui and Pattaya, according to Naew Na. Yesterday officials from Surat Thani immigration, along with a crime suppression team, visited a house in Bophut, Koh Samui where they fined an…
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Japanese ringleader of fraudulent call centre arrested in Thailand
PHOTOS: Tna.mcot.net Immigration police have arrested 30-year-old Jinnai Yamato at a resort in the Bang Rak district of Bangkok. Thai police have been looking for him for over 4 months, after it was discovered he was wanted in Japan and was believed to have fled to Thailand. He first came to the attention of Thai police following the arrest of…
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British man arrested in Hua Hin for overstaying his visa
PHOTO: Naew Na A 22 year old British man is in police custody in Hua Hin for having overstayed his visa. An official under the command of the chief of Prajuab Khiri Khan immigration handed the man over to the police, as it is understood that he has overstayed his visa by 143 days. SOURCE: ThaiVisa and Naew Na
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Koh Phangan get a fully licensed International School opening next month
Si Ri Panya International School announced this week they have received their license from the Thai Ministry of Education and will open as the first official international school on Koh Phangan on September 4. In an important first for the Gulf island, a ferry ride from Koh Samui or the mainland, the school is now licensed to teach a full…
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You’ve read the social media, now watch the TM30 debate in Bangkok – VIDEO
A panel of Thai and foreign experts and commentators came together yesterday to discuss the enforcement of immigration rules, government policies and concerns, and recent shifts in official procedures and attitudes. They attempted to clarify the TM30 reporting process, analyse its impact and discuss the future of this unpopular law. The speakers were… • Pol. Maj. Gen. Patipat Suban Na…
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“It’s really not that hard” – panel discussion on Thai immigration form TM30
PHOTO: ThaiVisa A panel discussion about the controversial TM30 form was held yesterday at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok. The panel line-up included Sebastian Brousseau from Isaan Lawyers who has been involved in the recent online petition which called for TM30 to be abolished. Also Richard Barrow, blogger and long-term expat, made a presentation calling for “clarity and consistency” in the…
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55 year old New Zealand expat arrested on drug charges and working without work permit
PHOTOS: Chiang Mai News Chiang Mai Police raided a restaurant on Sam Lan Road last night at 10pm arresting a 55 year old New Zealand citizen. The man has been arrested on alleged charges of drug dealing and working without a proper work permit. According to the Chiang Mai News, police raided the restaurant after receiving reports that the New…
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Koh Samui tourists rounded up on year long overstay
PHOTO: Naewna.com Immigration and tourist police in Koh Samui have arrested a Turkmenistan couple on overstay. They had overstayed their visas by 366 days They were acting on the orders of the Koh Samui immigration chief Pol Col Supharik Phankoson. Naewna.com has named the couple as 30 year old Mekan Nazarov and 28 year old Alina Loginova. Police headed to a house…
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Popular Thai expat blogger shares problems renewing visa
PHOTO: Facebook/richard.thailand Popular expat blogger and Samut Prakan school employee Richard Barrow has shared his difficulties in trying to renew his visa’s extension of stay. Richard returned to Samut Prakan immigration last Friday to collect his annual extension. But he was told that Bangkok hadn’t yet approved his application. Samut Prakan Immigration, the province which has also issued his work permit (presumably…
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Organisers meet with immigration over TM30 petition – full report
(This post, re-published with permission, has been edited by The Thaiger to clear up the grammar and spelling without changing any of the intentions or meanings. Here it is, in full…) Yesterday, I met the Officer Longtor at Korat immigration. He was very nice, very polite and we had a conversation in Thai. I had with me a copy of…
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Potential for retirement properties in Thailand
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com While a number of property offerings in Phuket, Hua Hin, Pattaya, Chiang Mai and more recently in Bangkok have promoted themselves as retirement-centric offerings, the jury is still out on the broad success of the sector. Despite retirement communities and assisted living being mainstays in Western countries like the US, UK and Australia, these are…
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Immigration police spruik more successes with their biometrics systems
Immigration police have arrested three more unwanted foreigners for crimes committed in Thailand. The arrests follow people stopped at Immigration queues trying to enter the country last week. In reporting on the success of the biometric systems, police say the new systems helped identify the people and crimes they been allegedly involved in, even though the process of taking all…
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Thai Department of Land Transport brings better tech into the classroom
The Department of Land Transport is going to use fingerprint scanners, e-classrooms and CCTV as it aims to improve standards in the country’s driving schools. There are 275 DLT certified driving schools in 66 provinces across Thailand. Privately operated, they are given DLT quality guidelines which they must follow to maintain the level of their training and testing procedures. DLT…
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British and Australian expats and tourists ponder the Thai baht
The British pound continues to sag against the strong Thai Baht. And things are predicted to worsen for British tourists and local expats relying on funds out of the UK, as analysts predict the GBP to drop further as the date approaches for a ‘no deal’ Brexit and the Thai Baht continues to surge. As of 11.30am Thai time, the…
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Expat group petitions Thai immigration to abolish TM30 form
A group of expats, representing foreigners living in Thailand for many years, has prepared a petition for affected expats to sign, before they present it to Thai Immigration and government officials. They are requesting changes to the enforcement of the controversial TM30 form. There is a link to their website at the bottom of the page where you can sign the…
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Zambian arrested on overstay and animal cruelty charges in Samut Prakhan
PHOTO: khaosod.co.th Thai immigration police have arrested a Zambian man for an alleged overstay and committing acts of cruelty following a Facebook post that sought help for the dog. The Nation reports that 27 year old Wachisa Sikwese has been arrested by Immigration police. They reported that Sikwese was arrested shortly after Watchdog Thailand spotted a Facebook post that sought help…
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Russian woman arrested for allegedly using Thai nominee in business
PHOTO: Bangkokbiznews A Russian businesswoman has been arrested for using a Thai nominee company to run a real estate firm in Pattaya. Immigration police arrested the woman who they claim had been in hiding for three years since a warrant was issued back in 2016. The acting commissioner of Pattaya Immigration reported that Natalia Nikiforova was arrested in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung…
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Thais fined for failing to report resident foreigners within 24 hours
PHOTO: Naew Na More Thai nationals have been charged and fined for failing to report foreigners who were staying at their accommodations within 24 hours of checking in. The article didn’t specify if they were guest house proprietors, landlords or hotels owners. In any case, someone must register if foreigners are staying at their establishments within 24 hours of check-in. 23 year…
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