This article is a good example of the primary form of click-bait used by websites catering to the Thai expat / digital nomad market. No new visa has been introduced, and it is unlikely that anything along these lines ever will be, no matter how many times it is suggested in expat forums or Facebook groups for digital nomads. All the expat websites know this, but they keep pumping out these articles because they are, by far, their most reliable source of traffic.<p>Every foreigner who spends time in Thailand indulges in the fantasy that their bizarre visa system will, somehow, be fixed to allow "good" visitors to spend longer there. It seems obvious that this _should_ happen, that the Thai people would benefit financially, but it would not be in the interests of the Thai elite, and that is the only things that currently matters.
I am mystified probably coming from South Asia, what makes Thailand so attractive? when you can do similar cost arbitrage with many places in Carib and Latin America, while being in the same time zones and probably better way to get in touch with US based clients.
Southeast Asia is a really interesting case study for me when it comes to political ideals vs. optimizing for life situations. There's a growing creep of authoritarianism in different nations -- given what we know of the military regime in Thailand and their propensity to arrest people for expression, it would be somewhat ironic to preach for the "open Internet" while living there. The tradeoff, of course, is much lower costs, higher security as others have pointed out. But I do wonder about the greater costs involved -- those perhaps not weighed on foreign workers, of accepting that this is the way things happen to be there.
Great move Thailand! I expect the kingdom will be loose with these as it has been in allowing this class of foreigner use tourist, ed and extensions when they know full well what's really going on.<p>The previous system was essentially a checkpoint to allow for the removal of party goer types who have become more trouble than they're worth.
Would be great if you're eligible - no more visa runs or "self-defense" ED visas, but not that much info is provided at this moment. The visa should roll-out in January 2018 according to FB page...
Any idea how would they evaluate highly skilled professionals?<p>Most importantly, a lot of people living in Thailand have an offshore source of income (a business or a freelancing contract), those people don’t need a regular work visa as they are don’t participate in the Thai Labor market. Is this law somehow applicable to those people?
Slightly OT: Everytime there's a discussion about living in SE Asia or Thailand people give many good reasons to go.<p>Very rarely to never one dares to mention girls there as a reason. In this thread there's one person only who does mention girls.<p>Since I have never been to Thailand or SE Asia I am just wondering how much weight does this factor have in decisions to live in SE Asia (this is a serious question).<p><i>Edit: Fyi, this post got so many downvotes and I just don't understand why. People try to hide the truth and want us to believe that everybody goes to Thailand because of all these amenities, good Internet but not the one reason I mentioned? If downvoters keep on this hypocrisis I will delete the post again. This is ridiculous. I would like to see one downvoter replying and explaining why he downvoted.<p>Guys, keep on downvoting. I think the downvoters are exactly those who visit Thailand just because of this one reason.</i>
I am not sure if this is ao good for your personality and character devlopment.<p>Just compare two guys: One lives in a country where his personal purchasing power is much much higher than in his home country and his ethnicity signals a high status and value to locals as well (e.g. American in Thailand).<p>The other guy lives in a super expensive hub with high competition and just finding a flat and paying the rent ia already a huge challenge (eg some guy in New York or SF).<p>I could imagine that the first guy will degenerate over time (like animals in the zoo) while the other one has to fight night and day for everything and gets thougher.