Thailand 🇹🇭

With a Spanish, EU, UK or US passport, or one from about 60 other countries, you enter visa-free and at no cost, with a 30-day stamp (official announcement). Before flying you must fill in the TDAC (digital arrival card) within the 3 days before the trip.

Immigration may ask for your accommodation address, an onward ticket within those 30 days and proof of funds of up to 20,000 THB per person (requirements). They don’t always ask, but keep the onward ticket at hand.

• Enter visa-free and apply for a 30-day extension at an immigration office before the stamp runs out (in Bangkok, the one at the Chaeng Watthana complex): 60 days in total, for a 1,900 THB fee. The officer grants it at their discretion.
• If you already know you’ll stay longer, get the tourist visa (TR) before travelling on the official e-Visa website: 60 days, extendable by another 30 at immigration.
• Don’t overstay a single day: the fine is 500 THB per day (up to 20,000 THB), and long overstays end in deportation and an entry ban.

The DTV (Destination Thailand Visa) is the visa designed for nomads: valid 5 years, multiple entry and up to 180 days per entry, extendable once by another 180 days. It costs about 10,000 THB (it varies by embassy) and you apply from outside the country on the official e-Visa website. What they ask for, in plain words:

• Bank statements for the last 3 months showing at least 500,000 THB.
• Proof that you work remotely for companies or clients abroad: contract, employer letter or freelance portfolio.
• A criminal record certificate and proof of residence in the country where you apply.
• It is not a work permit: it doesn’t let you work for Thai companies or bill clients in Thailand.

If you are a high earner, there is the 10-year LTR visa for remote professionals (it asks for about 80,000 USD in annual income and a large employer). And watch taxes: if you spend 180 days or more in a calendar year you become tax resident, and foreign income you bring into Thailand can be taxed (PwC summary).

The currency is the baht (THB). Banknotes come in 20 (green), 50 (blue), 100 (red), 500 (purple) and 1,000 THB (brown), and coins in 1, 2, 5 and 10 THB. In September 2026, 1 USD was about 33 THB and 1 EUR about 38 THB. The day’s rate is on the Bank of Thailand site or XE.

• Cash: street stalls, markets, motorbike taxis, taxis, tuk-tuks, massages and small shops.
• Card: malls, supermarkets, chains, hotels and better restaurants. Some small businesses add a 2–3% surcharge.
• Grab and Bolt: the card saved in the app.
• Thais pay for almost everything by QR (PromptPay), which requires a local account; as a tourist, TAGTHAi Easy Pay gives you a wallet for those QR codes, activated with your passport at a KBank exchange booth.

Every withdrawal with a foreign card pays a flat fee of about 220–250 THB (Wikivoyage): withdraw rarely and in large amounts (most ATMs give up to 20,000 THB per transaction). If the ATM or card terminal offers to charge you in euros or dollars, choose THB, and use a card without FX fees such as Revolut, N26 or Wise. To exchange banknotes, SuperRich exchange booths give a rate very close to the real one, far better than airport banks.

Everyday prices, much the same across the country except where noted:

• Street dish (pad kra pao, khao man gai): 50–80 THB.
• Meal at a simple restaurant: about 100 THB; dinner at a mid-range restaurant: 500–600 THB per person.
• Coffee at a café: 60–120 THB in Bangkok, closer to 60 THB in Chiang Mai.
• Beer: 50–60 THB at a 7-Eleven, 90–180 THB at a bar.
• 1.5 litre bottle of water: 15–20 THB.
• One-hour Thai massage: 150–350 THB depending on the place.
• Chain gym: 1,200–3,000 THB a month.
• Unlimited data eSIM for 30 days: 49–74 USD.
• Short Grab car ride in town: 80–200 THB.

Chiang Mai comes out around 30% cheaper than Bangkok once rent is counted, and the islands a bit dearer (comparison). The monthly budget and what rent costs are in Cost & long-stay housing, and the Bangkok detail on its own page. Up-to-date reference: Numbeo.

• Tuk-tuks or taxis offering you a cheap “tour”: it ends at a gem or tailor shop that pays them a commission. The classic version, at Bangkok’s Grand Palace, is on the city page.
• Taxis that won’t use the meter in tourist areas: ask for the “meter” or get out.
• Exchange booths without a rates board: use the well-known ones and count the money at the counter.
• Ask the price first for massages, tuk-tuks, cut fruit and scooter or jet ski rentals.
• Some national parks and attractions charge foreigners a higher price: it’s legal, not a scam.

Tips are not compulsory or expected at stalls and simple restaurants. If the menu says “++”, a 10% service charge and 7% VAT are added. People round up taxi fares, and leaving 50–100 THB after a massage is common.

No need to find a shop or get a Thai number. Install the eSIM at home, activate it when you land and you’ll have data on the runway. I used an unlimited Holafly eSIM for my whole stay in Thailand and never needed a local SIM. Holafly has Thailand-only plans, regional Asia plans and a monthly subscription that works in more than 160 countries, handy if you chain several destinations; Airalo is the alternative, a bit cheaper.

Sharing data with your laptop works too: I tethered on the unlimited plan with no problems. 4G and 5G work well in cities and on the tourist islands.

Flats, cafés and coworkings usually have more than enough wifi for video calls. Before booking, ask the host for a screenshot of a speed test taken in the flat itself; if it fails one afternoon, your phone’s hotspot gets you through.

• Local SIM: the operators are AIS and True (which includes the former dtac). You buy one with your passport at their shops, and the airports have counters open 24 hours; True’s tourist SIM costs 449 THB for 8 days of unlimited data (prices). A Thai number makes local delivery and banking apps easier.
• Home fiber: AIS Fibre or True Online contracts run 12–24 months, so they only pay off with a long lease. Most monthly rentals already include it: ask whether the line belongs to the flat or is shared by the whole building.
• Backup coworking: for a day of important calls, a day pass guarantees wifi and a socket.

The grid is reliable in cities. Outages are usually scheduled maintenance announced in advance by area: in Bangkok MEA publishes them, and in the rest of the country PEA does.

Grab is Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing app, the local Uber: you order a car, taxi or motorbike, see the fixed price before accepting and pay with your saved card. It works in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai and much of the country, and it’s the easiest option when you arrive: in Bangkok I always moved with Grab and never had a problem. Bolt, in 13 Thai cities, is usually a bit cheaper. In rain and at rush hour both get pricier and slower: the fare is dynamic and gets recalculated from demand, traffic and weather (Grab explains it), so don’t be surprised when the same trip costs 90 THB one day and 160 THB the next. If a price looks off, wait a few minutes and ask again.

Only Bangkok has an urban rail network: the BTS (Skytrain, elevated train) and the MRT (metro), at 17–65 THB a ride; how to use them is on the Bangkok page. In Chiang Mai and on the islands the local option is the songthaew, a shared pickup truck with two benches in the back: within central Chiang Mai, about 30–40 THB per person.

• Metered taxi: cheap if the driver uses the meter; if not, get out and take another one or a Grab.
• Tuk-tuk (open three-wheeled motor rickshaw): negotiated, and usually pricier than an air-conditioned taxi or a Grab. Before you haggle, look that same trip up in Grab: that number is your reference, and much beyond double it isn’t worth it. In tourist areas the first figure they say can be three or four times that. Worth it once, for a short ride at night, with the price agreed before getting in.
• Motorbike taxi (drivers in numbered orange vests): the fastest option for the last stretch; in Bangkok the official fare is 25 THB up to 2 km.

In Bangkok it isn’t worth it: the traffic is among the worst in the world, parking is expensive and awkward, and the BTS and MRT reach almost everything. In Chiang Mai and on the islands many people rent a scooter, but be clear about this:

• Without a motorbike licence from home and an International Driving Permit with that category, your travel insurance probably won’t cover you, and police fine people at checkpoints (500 THB for riding without a helmet in Chiang Mai).
• Never leave your passport as a deposit.
• Helmets are compulsory for rider and passenger, and traffic drives on the left.
• Thailand has one of the highest road death rates in the world, and most victims are on motorbikes (WHO).
• A rental car, with the same international permit, makes sense for touring the north or the south, not for getting around town: Bangkok traffic averages 19 km/h and costs about 115 hours a year in jams (TomTom), and parking downtown runs 20–40 THB an hour at malls and 200–500 THB a day in the financial district.

• Plane: the fastest and often the cheapest. Low-cost airlines (Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air, Nok Air) fly from Don Mueang (DMK), and Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways and Thai VietJet from Suvarnabhumi (BKK): check the airport. Bangkok to Chiang Mai or Phuket starts at about 1,200 THB (routes and prices); only Bangkok Airways flies to Koh Samui, and it costs quite a bit more.
• Night train: from Bangkok (Krung Thep Aphiwat station) to Chiang Mai in 11–13 hours, with a second-class sleeper for about 800–1,000 THB. Tickets on the SRT website.
• Bus: BKS VIP buses reach almost the whole country; Bangkok to Chiang Mai from about 600 THB.
• Ferry to the islands: Lomprayah, Seatran or Raja Ferry, often with a combined bus and boat ticket; 12Go lists them all.

Thai cities get very congested, Bangkok most of all: at rush hour (07:00–09:00 and 17:00–20:00) and in rain, a car trip can take twice as long as at midday (TomTom). If there’s a train, take the train; if you’re driving to a meeting or the airport, leave at least an hour of margin.

For one person, with a one-bedroom flat, local food with the odd treat, transport and a coworking desk:

• Bangkok: 40,000–55,000 THB. The neighbourhood you pick moves the figure most (details on the Bangkok page).
• Chiang Mai: 30,000–45,000 THB.
• Islands and beach areas (Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan): 45,000–70,000 THB, with rents that climb sharply in high season and the extra cost of getting around by scooter or taxi.

Indicative ranges based on Numbeo and Nomads.

• Airbnb with a monthly search: the easiest way to arrive with a home. Renting a condo for less than 30 days is not legal in Thailand, so month-long stays are exactly the ones that fit.
• Book one or two weeks and look in person: many apartment buildings rent by the month directly at reception, cheaper than Airbnb.
• Portals: RentHub for apartment buildings (monthly too), and Hipflat or DDproperty for condos through an agent.
• Each city’s rental Facebook groups, where owners and agents post listings.

• Internet: almost always included in monthly rentals; confirm the speed.
• Electricity: almost always extra, by usage. With air conditioning, 1,500–4,000 THB a month. Condos with their own meter pay the official rate (about 4–5 THB per kWh); if a building asks 7 or 8 THB per kWh, negotiate or look elsewhere (how it’s billed).
• Water: a small amount.
• Cleaning: extra on long contracts; included in the Airbnb fee.
• Gym and pool: common in condos, at no extra cost.

From 6–12 months you sign a contract: the norm is a 2-month deposit plus 1 month in advance, in exchange for a much lower price than month by month. The landlord must register your address with immigration (the TM30 form) within 24 hours of your arrival: ask them to do it, because you’ll need it for extensions and visas. Take photos of the flat when you move in to get the deposit back.

• Pad kra pao: minced meat stir-fried with holy basil, garlic and chili, on rice with a fried egg. Half the country’s lunch.
• Khao man gai: rice cooked in stock with poached chicken and a spicy sauce on the side.
• Pad thai: stir-fried rice noodles with fish sauce, lime and peanuts.
• Som tam: spicy green papaya salad with lime, from the northeast (Isan), eaten with sticky rice.
• Larb: minced meat with lime, chili, herbs and ground toasted rice.
• Tom yum: hot and sour soup with lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves.
• Khao soi: coconut curry noodle soup topped with crispy noodles, from the north (Chiang Mai).
• Moo ping: grilled marinated pork skewers with sticky rice, the street breakfast.
• Khao niao mamuang: mango with sticky rice and coconut milk.

In malls, the food court runs on a prepaid card: you load it at a counter, pay with it at each stall and get the unused balance back the same day. Night markets are the open-air, cash version: you pick a stall, get a beer at another and sit at any of the shared tables.

Carts and stalls on the pavement that cook one or two things: skewers, cut fruit, noodle soups, sweets. You eat walking, standing or on plastic stools. Bangkok’s Chinatown (Yaowarat) is the most famous example.

Open-fronted places with the kitchen in view and a laminated picture menu, where they cook whatever you order on the spot (in Thai, ahan tam sang, “food made to order”). A dish costs about 60–120 THB.

Air conditioning and everything: a cheap food court, Thai and Japanese chains, upscale restaurants and a supermarket. The easy option at midday, in the heat. If you’d rather stay in, GrabFood and LINE MAN deliver.

Specialty coffee is in every city and many cafés are comfortable for a laptop session; if you stay for hours, order something every two hours.

• Don’t drink tap water: buy bottles or use the street refill machines (1 THB per litre). Factory ice, in cylinders with a hole, is considered safe.
• Spice: “mai phet” means not spicy and “phet nit noi”, a little.
• Vegetarian: ask for “jay”; yellow flags with red lettering mark vegan food. Fish sauce and shrimp paste are in almost everything.
• Peanut allergy: peanuts show up in pad thai, satay and many sauces.
• Hygiene: pick stalls with a queue and food cooked to order.

Private healthcare is very good but expensive, so travel insured: Intermundial, Heymondo, IATI or SafetyWing. If you’ll ride a scooter, check which licence your policy requires.

The big private hospitals have English-speaking international departments and usually ask for a card or an insurance guarantee on admission.

• Bangkok: Bumrungrad, Samitivej, BNH and Bangkok Hospital.
• Chiang Mai: Chiang Mai Ram and Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai.
• Phuket and Koh Samui: Bangkok Hospital Phuket and Bangkok Hospital Samui.

Pharmacies are everywhere, from chains like Boots or Watsons to neighbourhood ones with a pharmacist on duty. Buy medicines only there, never at street stalls or from unknown online sellers: that is exactly where the fakes circulate. One thing surprises Europeans: plenty of things that need a prescription at home are handed over by the pharmacist here, because the Thai classification keeps prescriptions for a small group of medicines and leaves the rest to the pharmacist (Thai FDA). Being able to buy it doesn’t make it wise: bring your usual medication from home, and for anything serious go to a hospital.

• Dengue: cases all year, peaking in the rainy season (May to November). Use strong repellent, especially at dawn and dusk.
• Vaccines: on top of the routine ones, hepatitis A and typhoid are recommended; rabies and Japanese encephalitis depending on the trip (CDC). Ask at your travel vaccination clinic.
• Malaria: only in border areas, not in cities or on the tourist islands.
• Heat: drink a lot, carry electrolytes and avoid walking in the sun at midday.
• Stray dogs and monkeys: keep away; if one bites or scratches you, go to a hospital the same day because of rabies.

It’s a calm country to walk around, at night too in busy areas. The real risks: traffic (by far the biggest), phone theft in crowds, spiked drinks in party areas and tourist scams (see the money section).

• Vaping is illegal, and so is carrying a vape: fines of 5,000–30,000 THB and possible detention.
• Cannabis: you will still see dispensaries and ads everywhere, but since June 2025 they can only sell with a medical prescription for specific conditions, issued by a doctor on site. Recreational use is illegal again.
• Drugs: extremely harsh penalties.
• Criticising the monarchy is a crime, on social media too, punished with 3–15 years in prison.
• Smoking on designated beaches can cost up to 100,000 THB.
• Alcohol: sold from 11:00 to 24:00 without a break. The old ban on sales from 14:00 to 17:00, which many guides still mention, was lifted in December 2025 and made permanent in May 2026. Never at temples, parks or on public transport, and restricted on election days and religious holidays.
• Carry a copy of your passport: police may ask for it.
• If you travel with a drone, you must register it within 30 days of arrival.

Tourist police 1155 (in English), police 191, ambulance 1669 and fire 199. The Thailand Tourist Police app has an SOS button and chat in English.

The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) splits the year into three seasons: hot (mid-February to mid-May), rainy (mid-May to mid-October) and cool (mid-October to mid-February). “Cool” means highs of 32 °C in Bangkok: only the north really cools down at night.

• Bangkok and the centre: highs of 32–36 °C all year. April is the hottest month, and September and October the wettest, with flooded streets after downpours. Most comfortable from November to February.
• Chiang Mai and the north: from November to January, pleasant days and nights of 16–20 °C. From February to April the agricultural burning season fills the air with smoke (March is usually the worst month), and April tops 36 °C.
• Andaman coast (Phuket, Krabi, Koh Lanta): dry from December to March. From May to October it rains a lot, the sea gets rough and some businesses close.
• Gulf of Thailand (Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Koh Tao): the reverse of the Andaman. The worst stretch runs from October to December, peaking in November, and February to September is a good time.

In the rainy season it rarely rains all day: a heavy downpour lasts an hour or two, usually in the afternoon or evening, then it clears; the problem is getting caught walking or waiting for a Grab. Always keep a compact umbrella or a rain shell in your backpack, plus a laptop sleeve.

• November to February: the best time for most of the country (except the Gulf, where rain lasts until December). Also the priciest and busiest.
• April: the harshest heat of the year, though it coincides with Songkran, the water festival.
• September and October: peak rain in Bangkok and on the Andaman coast.
• March in the north: smoke and poor air quality.

The comfortable hours for walking are 05:30 to 07:00 and from 17:00 onwards. From December to April, check the air quality index (AQI) on Air4Thai before a long outdoor session, especially in Chiang Mai and, in January and February, in Bangkok too.

• Bangkok: big city, countless coworkings and cafés, malls and flights everywhere. Its page has neighbourhoods and specific places.
• Chiang Mai: the classic nomad base, cheaper and calmer, with many cafés and a community. Best from November to January; avoid February to April because of the smoke. The usual areas are Nimman (modern) and the Old City.
• Koh Lanta: a quiet island with a seasonal nomad community around KoHub, from November to April.
• Koh Phangan: wellness, yoga and parties; a big community, but few serious coworkings and rising prices.
• Phuket and Koh Samui: more infrastructure and hospitals, and pricier. Areas like Rawai or Bang Tao on Phuket, and Bophut on Samui.

• Bangkok: The Hive (Thonglor and Phra Khanong, hot desk from 4,000 THB a month), Common Ground (CentralWorld, Ploenchit and G Tower) and WeWork, among many others.
• Chiang Mai: Punspace, with two spaces in the Old City (Wiang Kaew and Tha Phae Gate).
• Koh Lanta: KoHub, with a 400 THB day pass and a 6,900 THB month, plus coliving packages with a bungalow, meals and coworking. Closed from May to October.
• Almost everywhere you can try a day pass before paying for a month.

• Nomad Summit: Chiang Mai’s nomad conference, every January (the next one runs 15–24 January 2027).
• Each city’s nomad Facebook groups (search “Digital Nomads” plus the city name): where people ask about flats, coworkings and plans.
• The coworkings themselves: join their events and meals if they run them, it’s the fastest way to meet people.

The DTV (see Entry & visas) is designed for remote workers who want long stays, and the LTR for high earners.

230 V and 50 Hz, so laptop and phone chargers work without a converter. Most sockets are hybrids that take flat pins (A and B) and the thin European plug (C); the thick grounded European plug (F, Schuko) fits badly or loses its ground. Type O, with three pins, is the Thai standard. A universal adapter solves it.

• Compact umbrella or rain shell: from May to October a downpour can start at any moment.
• Mosquito repellent and a plug adapter.
• A light sweatshirt: the air conditioning in malls, trains and cinemas is very strong, and I got properly cold. If you don’t pack one, buy it there: UNIQLO has a shop in nearly every mall and sells thin hooded tops that weigh nothing, keep the sun off and fold away into a bag.
• Clothes covering shoulders and knees to enter temples.

• Grab and Bolt: rides, food delivery and groceries.
• LINE: Thailand’s messaging app; landlords, shops and clinics answer on LINE.
• Google Maps to get around, and Google Translate with the camera for menus and signs.
• Air4Thai for air quality, and Thailand Tourist Police for emergencies.

All of these download from any country, so install them before you fly with your card already added. What you won’t be able to do is sign up for the Thai everyday apps, such as ThaID (the digital ID) or Rabbit LINE Pay: they ask for a Thai ID card or a Thai bank account, so don’t count on paying by local QR as a tourist. For that there is TAGTHAi Easy Pay, activated with your passport.

• Take your shoes off when entering homes, temples and some shops: if you see shoes at the door, do the same.
• At temples, cover shoulders and knees.
• Don’t touch anyone’s head or point at things with your feet.
• Total respect for the royal family: in cinemas the royal anthem plays before the film and everyone stands.
• Raising your voice or getting angry in public goes down very badly; calm and a smile solve almost everything.

Banks and offices close on about twenty public holidays a year (Bank of Thailand calendar). The ones you’ll notice: Songkran (13–15 April), when half the country goes on holiday and the streets turn into a water fight (protect your laptop); New Year; and several Buddhist days (such as Makha Bucha or Visakha Bucha), when alcohol isn’t sold.

Almost every neighbourhood has laundries that wash and fold by the kilo, and self-service machines for about 40–60 THB a load.