I will be jotting down all the things that, I think, are important for you in Thailand. I have moved to Thailand in April 2024 as a digital nomad and had some challenges along the way.

Visas, tickets, and insurance

Which airlines to choose?

Look for tickets through aggregators (for example, Skyscanner). It’s recommended to buy the ticket on the carrier’s website.

Do I need a Visa?

Probably not. You get to stay 30 days without a visa, and you can extend by another 30 days in the immigration office by filling in some forms and paying around 1900 baht.

As of June 2024, the most common visa is a tourist visa (single and multiple entry) which gives you 60 days + 30 days extension.

I applied for my eVisa online and picked it up in Poland.

Since July 2024 you receive 60 days + another 30 days at Patong office.

Do I need insurance?

No, but it’s recommended. Check the requirements of your airline and the country you are traveling to. The requirements are updated regularly. But even if there is no such requirement, I still recommend having insurance.

I’m using Genki since April 2024 and had flawless service. The process is smooth: you either book a doctor through an app called AirDoctor and everything is paid for, or you choose your doctor by yourself and notify Genki as soon as possible, and you get reimbursed later (takes a few weeks to process).

Do I need to get vaccinated?

No. You can get vaccinated for some uncommon sicknesses, but I didn’t meet anyone yet who did anything special.

Border Run, Visa Run, Visa Extensions

Once your 30/60 days have expired, you can go to the immigration office (in Patong or Phuket Town), fill in some forms, pay, and extend your stay for another 30 days.

Once those 60/90 days are over, you can do a border run:

  • cheap and easy border run: you can pay someone who’ll take you over the border to a nearby country, turn around and go right back. Everything is taken care of: food, drinks, transportation, a “friendly” agent at the border who won’t have any problems with your stamps.
  • visa run: same as a border run, but you’ll have to stay in another country (Cambodia or Malaysia) for a week or so to get your visa and return.
  • the sane peron’s border run: buy a plane ticket and visit a neighboring country, return after a week or so and get your stamp. Enjoy another 30/60+30 days.

Officially, you can only do 2 border runs by land, and “unlimited” by air, but all of that depends on the agent at the border who can choose to give you crap.

Return Ticket

You’ll be asked for a return ticket when getting your visa. There’s an option to get a fake return ticket, but in my opinion, that’s playing with fire.

Instead, buy an airline ticket from Malaysian Airlines and choose “Economy Flex”, this allows you to cancel your ticket and get a refund. Once your eVisa is approved, cancel your ticket and get your ticket refunded.

Step 1: go to Malaysian Airlines website, choose the city in Thailand you’ll be living in and a nearby country like Malaysia, in this case I chose Kuala Lumpur.

Step 2: select your flight and choose Economy Flex

Step 3: fill in all your details, pay for the ticket and voila.

Green Corridors

In case you’ve got one too many stamps in your passport, or you need to enter the country without being asked too many questions, you can order a green corridor from some fixers (need to order it a day or more beforehand).

Accommodation

  • Booking.com and other hotel aggregators
  • AirBnb
  • Facebook Marketplace ⇒ Categories: Properties for rent
  • Groups on Facebook and Telegram
  • Locally: just drive around and you will see signs “Rooms for rent”, or just go to any place that has the sign “Hotel”, “Homestay” or “Guesthouse” and ask for a room.
  • Ask local friends

Car Rental, Bike Rental, Scooter Rental

ATMs and Crypto/Money Exchanges

There’s a fixed fee of 220 baht for withdrawing money in ATMs. If you have a physical card and your passport, you can enter any bank and withdraw a certain amount of money (different daily max per bank).

The regular exchanges have a worse rate than withdrawing at the bank (in my experience).

Crypto exchanges are everywhere and usually ran by russians, just check out telegram. You could potentially reach out to me and I’ll provide you with a trusted contact

Neighborhoods

Check out this hoodmap: https://hoodmaps.com/phuket-neighborhood-map

Other than that, here are my findings:

  • Rawai: russians and longstayers. Calm, has beaches nearby
  • Patong: degenerates, parties and sex tourists
  • Phuket Town: normal people, has sidewalks
  • Karon and Kata: nice beaches

Coworking Spaces

These usually cost 500 baht for a day and about 3000 to 7500 monthly. Quality is above average, nothing to write home about, but gets the job done.

What To Do

This is the list of things I recommend doing which are fun and Instagrammable:

Basics:

Day Trips (I booked these through Klook):

  • James Bond island + Koh Panyi (muslim floating village)
  • Phi Phi Islands
  • Similan Islands

Instagram Flexing:

  • Ma Doo Bua Cafe
  • Viewpoint Cafe
  • Chaithararam Temple
  • Windmill Viewpoint
  • Soi Romanee
  • Black rock viewpoint
  • Promthep Cape
  • Wat Doi Thepnimit
  • Airport Viewpoint
  • Samet Nangshe Viewpoint (very far, better to visit during sunrise or sunset)