What I’d Sort Out First If I Moved to Thailand Today
Under construction. Pictures to be added in a few days.
I came to Thailand in April 2004. I’ve managed law firms here for 20 years.
So if I landed today, with what I know now, this is the order I’d do things in. Call it my moving to Thailand checklist.
It’s a personal list, not legal advice. Rules change, and offices apply them differently. Check each step before you act.
Two jobs people put off the longest sit near the end of this list: a Thai police clearance (for when you leave or apply elsewhere) and a Thai will (for the assets you build here). Both are small. Both are cheaper early.
1. Pick the visa for the life you’ll actually live
Start with what you’ll do here, not with the visa your friend has. Retire, work, study, live with a Thai spouse: each one points to a different visa, and each one has its own rules about what you can’t do.
Two things that catch people:
- Health insurance can be a visa condition. For the retirement visa type O-A, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sheet (March 2024) asks for health insurance with cover of at least 3,000,000 baht or USD 100,000. Check what your visa needs before you buy a policy.
- Working is a separate permission. A visa that lets you stay isn’t permission to work. Work needs a work permit from the Department of Employment. That’s true even for permanent residents. I’m one, and getting there took years.
2. Get the TM30 answer before you sign anything
When a foreigner moves into a house, condo or room, the owner or landlord has to tell immigration within 24 hours. That’s section 38 of the Immigration Act, and the form is called TM30. The fine for a householder who doesn’t do it is up to 2,000 baht (section 77).
It’s the landlord’s job. It becomes your problem later, because other paperwork leans on it, like a residence certificate for a driving licence.
Ask before you sign the lease: who files the TM30, and will I get a copy of the receipt? Then ask again after every trip abroad.
3. Put the 90-day report in your calendar on day one
On a long-stay visa or extension, if you stay more than 90 days in a row, you report your address every 90 days. You can do it online from 15 days before the date, but not once you’re late. Late means going in person and paying a fine of 2,000 baht.
Set two reminders: one 15 days before, one on the day.
4. Before your first trip out, get a re-entry permit
If you’re on an extension of stay and fly out without a re-entry permit, the extension ends when you leave. You come back to start again.
Bangkok Immigration lists 1,000 baht for a single re-entry and 3,800 baht for multiple. You can get one at your immigration office before the trip, or at the airport on the day you leave.
This is the most expensive small mistake on this list.
5. Open a Thai bank account in person
You’ll want a local account for rent, bills and transfers. Bangkok Bank’s own FAQ is clear on one point: you can’t open an account from abroad. You go to a branch in Thailand, in person.
The FAQ doesn’t list the documents, so ask the branch first. I’d bring the passport with the visa in it, and proof of where you live.
6. Rent first, and read the lease
Rent before you buy anything. Ideally a full year, so you see the high season, the rainy months and the quiet weeks.
Keep a short lease simple: the deposit, what’s included, who pays for repairs, and the TM30 question from step 2.
If someone offers a long lease, slow down. Thai law caps a lease at 30 years. A lease over three years has to be registered at the Land Office to hold for the full term. If you hear “30 plus 30 plus 30,” get it checked before you pay.
7. Health insurance, even if your visa doesn’t ask
Some visas require it. I’d buy it anyway, and buy it while you’re healthy.
Before you sign, read three things: the exclusions, how pre-existing conditions are treated, and whether there’s an age limit for renewal.
8. Know where your police clearance comes from
This one surprises people. If you might leave Thailand later, for a job, a visa or a residence permit somewhere else, you’ll probably be asked for a police clearance from Thailand.
It comes from the Royal Thai Police Special Branch, in Lak Si, Bangkok. The government fee is 100 baht. The Centre’s published sheet lists 15 working days for Thai nationals. For a foreign applicant, that timing is not published the same way, so plan for longer. You can apply in person, or through a representative with a power of attorney.
If you’re already abroad when you need it, that’s when it gets slow. At ThaiLawOnline, the firm I founded, the service is 4,400 baht if you apply from abroad and 6,400 baht in Thailand. Here’s how a Thai police clearance works.
9. Make a will in your first year
This is the one people put off longest. Nobody moves to Thailand to think about it.
But if you have a bank account, a car or a condo here, a Thai will makes life much easier for the people you leave behind. Without one, Thai law decides who inherits, in a fixed order of heirs. That’s rarely what someone with a partner here, children abroad or a second marriage would choose.
It’s a small job. At ThaiLawOnline a bilingual Thai and English will is 3,900 baht. Here’s what a Thai will needs. Do it while you’re still in setting-up mode.
10. Keep one folder
Last thing, and the cheapest. Keep one folder, paper and phone, with:
- passport photo page, visa and latest entry stamp
- TM30 receipt
- 90-day receipt
- lease
- bank book
- insurance policy
- a copy of your will, and where the original is
When an office asks for something, it’s there.
The order, short version
- Visa that matches your life.
- TM30 answer before signing.
- 90-day date in your calendar.
- Re-entry permit before the first trip.
- Bank account, in person.
- Rent first. Read the lease.
- Health insurance.
- Know where a police clearance comes from.
- A will in year one.
- One folder.
None of it is exciting. All of it is cheaper than getting it wrong.
If you only do two of the later steps this year, do the police clearance when you need a clean record for somewhere else, and the Thai will while your accounts and lease are still simple.
If you plan to stay for good, permanent residency is the long game. I wrote up what it changes and what it doesn’t.
If you’re heading to the coast, the paperwork has a local twist: Cha-Am and Hua Hin are in two provinces. I wrote that up in Cha-Am is not Hua Hin. And for a look at what a year in a Bangkok tower was like, there’s Punnawithi.
FAQ
What should I do first when moving to Thailand?
Choose the visa that fits what you’ll actually do here. Everything else follows from it.
Who files the TM30?
The landlord or owner, within 24 hours of you moving in. Ask for a copy of the receipt.
Can I open a Thai bank account from abroad?
Not at Bangkok Bank. Its FAQ says you must open it in person at a branch in Thailand.
Do I need a re-entry permit?
If you’re on an extension of stay and you leave, yes. Without one, the extension ends when you go. 1,000 baht single, 3,800 multiple.
Do I need health insurance?
For an O-A retirement visa, yes: cover of at least 3,000,000 baht or USD 100,000. For other visas, it’s still wise.
When do I need a Thai police clearance?
Usually when you apply for a job, visa or residence in another country. It comes from the Special Branch in Bangkok. Details and fees.
Do foreigners in Thailand need a will?
If you have assets here, a Thai will avoids the fixed order of heirs. It’s a small job. Thai will requirements.
