Thailand questions, answered with sources

Yes, once per entry, for 1,900 THB in cash.

No.

Not as a visitor.

No official rule covers it yet: Thai authorities have published no procedure for renewing a Destination Thailand Visa, and the embassy pages describe a five-year visa and nothing after it.

Yes.

On paper, yes, although not every traveller is asked.

Yes.

Yes.

You apply online before you fly, on the official e-Visa portal, thaievisa.go.th.

You need two documents, and a Thai employer starts both.

From 5 working days to a month or more, depending on the embassy.

Thirty days per entry, down from 60, for arrivals from 15 September 2026 on one of the 60 eligible passports, including the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, France and Germany.

A re-entry permit keeps your current permission to stay alive while you are out of Thailand.

The 90-day report is a free notification of address, form TM.47, owed by every foreigner who stays in Thailand for 90 consecutive days.

On the island.

Every new DTV applicant whose file was not both submitted and paid before 31 August 2026.

Yes, potentially in both countries.

No.

If you are a Thai tax resident, assume it can, because nothing published says it cannot.

No.

Thailand taxes personal income on eight bands, from nothing on the first 150,000 THB to 35 percent on anything above 5,000,000 THB, and none of the sources we checked on 26 September 2026 shows a change to that table between 2025 and 2026.

The annual return is due by 31 March of the following year on paper or 8 April online, so 2026 income is declared by 31 March or 8 April 2027.

Usually not in full, but the relief is not automatic.

Yes, for one person almost anywhere in the country.

Yes, but only in the island's low budget version: a fan room, Thai food and very little diving.

Only just, and only in the cheaper cities.

About six to ten years for one person at today's prices, if nothing changes.

Count 900 to 1,500 THB a day on a backpacker budget and 1,800 to 4,400 THB a day in mid range comfort, flights excluded.

Yes.

Barely.

At Siam Scuba the 12,000 THB Open Water course covers gear rental, boat trips, the certification fee and tax over two and a half days.

Book one or two weeks of accommodation, then find the monthly place in person once you are on the island.

Monthly rent on Koh Tao runs from about 4,000 THB for a basic fan room or wooden bungalow to 30,000 THB and more for a modern air conditioned apartment.

On Koh Tao, electricity is almost never included in a monthly rent: it is billed on the meter at a rate the landlord sets.

Yes.

For work, stay in Mae Haad or on the stretch between Mae Haad and Sairee: the piers, the banks, the hospital and both coworking spaces are close, and Sairee Beach is about a ten minute walk away.

Only if you were licensed to ride that motorbike, which for most visitors means a home licence plus a 1968 International Driving Permit with the motorcycle category.

You call 1669 or get to Koh Tao Hospital in Mae Haad, and the island's chain moves you: the hospital stabilises you, then arranges evacuation by speedboat or helicopter to Koh Samui or the mainland.

About 27 to 66 GBP for two weeks and 52 to 167 USD for a month, on the quotes we could find.

No.

Yes: Koh Tao Hospital, a small government hospital in Mae Haad, with outpatient hours from 08:00 to 16:00 every day, a 24 hour emergency service, around ten beds and its own ambulance.

Yes.

Seeing a doctor at a Thai private hospital costs 1,000 to 3,000 THB and an emergency room visit 3,000 to 15,000 THB.

Usually not.

Yes, if you work in Thailand.

No, not as a foreigner.

No, in practice.

Yes, if your Wise account is registered to a Thai address: Wise is rolling out PromptPay transfers and Thai QR payments to those accounts between March and October 2026, capped at 10,000 THB per transaction.

Yes with Revolut, Western Union and Wise, no with Zelle, and only for purchases with PayPal.

Yes.

Choose without conversion, every time, and take the amount in Thai baht.

Your passport with a long stay visa stamp (Non-B, Non-O, ED, LTR or Thailand Privilege), copies of the photo page and visa, a passport photo, proof of your Thai address such as a lease, a TM30 receipt or an Immigration certificate of residence, a Thai mobile number, and 500 to 1,000 THB for the opening deposit.

No Thai bank is best for every foreigner: the four big ones sell near identical savings accounts, and what separates them is the paperwork each asks for.

Yes.

For most remote working families it is the DTV: your spouse and unmarried children under 20 apply as your dependants at 10,000 THB each, and every entry gives 180 days over five years.

Koh Tao has two coworking spaces.

Sometimes, but rarely.

Fly from Bangkok to Samui in the morning and take a Lomprayah boat from Maenam pier the same day.

Fly from Chiang Mai to Koh Samui with Bangkok Airways, then take a boat to Koh Tao the same afternoon.

Take a Lomprayah joint ticket, a bus across the peninsula and a boat to Mae Haad pier, on a single booking.

About 1.5 to 2 hours on Lomprayah, the fastest operator: 1 hour 30 minutes by speedboat and 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours by catamaran, for a crossing of about 65 km.

Koh Tao is a small island in the Gulf of Thailand, off the east coast of southern Thailand, in Surat Thani province.

Yes.

One year, if you overstay by more than 90 days and hand yourself in at departure.

Yes, east coast hours work from Thailand if you keep an evening block, and west coast hours mean working nights.

No, not for most visitors, but the island has real risks and a hard reputation.

Three to four days cover the island without a dive course, and four nights is the minimum if you learn to dive.