Living in Thailand

Rent, health cover and ways to get residency for a foreign retiree in Thailand, checked 2026-09-26.

Rent for a one-bedroom flat

City	Centre	Outside centre
Bangkok	THB 22,837	THB 11,700
Chiang Mai	THB 15,982	THB 9,627

Condos in expat areas such as Sukhumvit rent above the city-centre average.

Foreigners without a Thai job are not covered by public insurance, so private insurance is the norm. Long-stay visas require it.

Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) (Remote workers): ฿500,000 in the bank. Five years, up to 180 days per entry. Since 31 Aug 2026 you also need a criminal-record certificate.
Retirement visa (O-A / O) (Age 50+): ฿800,000 in a Thai bank or ฿65,000 a month in income. O-A requires health insurance of at least ฿3M.
LTR wealthy pensioner (Age 50+): US$80,000 a year in passive income, or US$40,000 plus US$250,000 invested in Thailand. Ten years; foreign income is tax-exempt.

Tax residents (180+ days a year) pay tax on foreign income earned from 2024 onwards when it is brought into Thailand.
Only the income part of a remittance is taxable (gains, dividends), not the original capital. The model assumes all of it is remitted.
A proposal to exempt income remitted within the year it is earned or the next was still a draft as of mid-2026, not law.
Foreign tax already paid can sometimes be credited under a tax treaty. Not modeled.