If you are a digital nomad or freelancer and have looking to stay in asia as a part of your life journey, Thailand is the best choice for you.
Let me explain why Thailand is a good place to stay as digital nomad. Thailand Government infrastructure is better than some asian countries such as public transportation, banking, internet, entertainment and living cost.
As a digital nomad, internet and banking sectors are very important. In Thailand, internet speed is very fast and you can install fiber internet connection up to 2Gbps (2000 Mbps) at your home.
Banking section in Thailand is amazing and there is no bank transfer fees. As a foreigner, you can easily apply bank account in Thailand whereas some asia countries are limited with their strict policies for foreigners.
Everything is fine and you just need to calculate actual living cost in Thailand. As a digital nomad, the minimum living cost is about $1300 per month in Thailand including living space and food. But if you are foodies, the cost will more. In this case, the estimated calculation $1300 is not included for entertainment purposes. The more entertainment , the more expensive.
Living space pricing can be different based on location. Bangkok is the most expensive living space in Thailand and normally living space with 1 bed room size ( 27 sqm to 35sqm) starts from 13000 baht ( $350) per month.
If you don’t want to spend living space for about $350 per month, Chiang Mai and Phuket is the best choice for you. It can save your budget and cheaper than Bangkok.
But if you are entertainment addict, Bangkok is the best choice for you. As for me, my monthly living cost is about $2000 including condo rental, daily meals and Starbucks coffee.
So you need to think the location for long stay in Thailand. For long stay purpose, you have to calculate about the budget that suit with your monthly income. Even you have a good income, you can wisely choose the location in Thailand for long term by the following conditions.
Bangkok
- Street Food Everywhere
- Public Transportation ( BTS Skytrain, MRT, Bus, etc. )
- Bars and Restaurants Almost Every Street
- Night Life and Entertainment
- Supermarkets everywhere
- Western Style Condos
- Hot Weather
- Air Pollution
- Noise
- Surrounded by Buildings and Highway Roads
- The Most Expensive City in Thailand
Chiang Mai
- Street Food ( But you can’t found everywhere )
- Public Transportation ( Taxi and Tuk Tuk )
- Bars and Restaurants ( Less )
- Night Life and Entertainment ( Less )
- Bars and Restaurants ( OK )
- Supermarkets ( Less than Bangkok )
- Western Style Condos ( Few )
- Cold Weather
- Fresh Air
- Quiet
- Surrounded by Mountains and Forests
- Cheaper than Bangkok
Now you can see the difference between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. There are some provinces cheaper than Bangkok and in this post I only compare Bangkok and Chiang Mai for digital nomad. Because Bangkok and Chiang Mai are well known locations for digital nomad in Thailand.
VISA Types
There are some options to live in Thailand as digital nomad.
Elite Visa
If you can afford 600000 baht ( About 16000 USD ), you can apply Elite Visa and you can stay long term ( 10 years ).
ED Visa
I recommned ED Visa for digital nomad. It is education visa type and if you attend language schools ( Thailand, English, Chinese ) or martial arts ( Muay Thai , Combat ) training, you can apply ED visa and it costs about 30000 baht ( About 800 USD ) per year. It is really deserve for digital nomad.
Special Tourist Visa
Special Tourist Visa may be different depending on your home country. Some countries are allow to stay up to six months and some are fewer than six months.
Tourist Visa
It also depends on your home country and normally you can stay up to 60 days and then you can extend the visa up to 45 days. But these things up to your home country and Thailand policies. So keep in mind that policies can change anytime.
Smart Visa
Smart Visa is especially for investors, startups, entrepreneurs and talent person. I will not explain about Smart Visa here.
There are some Visa types available in Thailand and I will not write fully descrption in this post and I only write suitable visa types for digital nomad.
Conclusion
If you can spend about $1300 to up for your digital nomad journey, Thailand is deserve country for every digital nomad. As a digital nomad, all you think is about internet, banking, living space, visa type and how long you live in Thailand. Now you know the average cost and visa types in Thailand, and then you can prepare necessary things to live in Thailand as digital nomad.
