About Thailand

Thailand has many land borders with its immediate neighbors of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Malaysia. However, as you read this article, most, if not all will be closed due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions. Whether you’re leaving briefly to obtain a new visa-exempt entry, traveling to an embassy to obtain a new Non-O visa, or just planning to visit another country as part of your travels, here you’ll find all the information you need about all the various crossing points, listed by country. There are several very popular and commonly used crossings, as well as many more obscure and quieter crossings. Some crossings are known to be a bit more problematic than others, most noticeably the Aranyaprathet/Poipet crossing into Cambodia, where you will find very militant and fussy immigration officers as well as a swarm of people trying to get money out of you. Quieter crossings such as Savannakhet/Mukdahan will likely be less of a headache, however, crossing the border will still take you around half an hour or so, depending on how busy it is. The attitude of the immigration officials also appears to vary between the different crossings, with some being friendly and

January 1 – New Year’s Day It is a celebration of the brand new year. All schools, government offices, and banks are closed for business. The commercial establishments will remain open. All airports, land borders, and seaports will remain open. February 10 – Makha Bucha Makha Bucha is one of the 4 most important Theravada Buddhist holidays in Thailand. It is an occasion when Buddhists go to the temple to perform merit-making activities, such as almsgiving, meditation and listening to teachings. Although Makha Bucha is a national holiday, banks and commercial centers are open. No alcohol for sale, from midnight to midnight of the holy day, meaning you cannot buy alcohol from convenient stores and bars. Pubs and bars are closed. April 6 – Chakri Memorial Day It is the founding of the Chakri Dynasty which dates back to more than two centuries when the capital city Bangkok was initially established. The day is celebrated with enormous enthusiasm in the Royal family and all the government offices, banks and schools are declared closed. Other normal business open as usual and are unaffected by the celebrations April 13, 14, 15 – Songkran The Songkran Festival is a time when family and

Can digital nomads work in Thailand without a Thai work permit? In order to work in the Kingdom, a foreigner needs to: be on an appropriate visa, obtain a work permit and pay taxes. But, what is work? A digital nomad working on his laptop in a co-working space, is that considered work? A businessman sitting in his hotel room preparing for a seminar? When does the Work Permit office consider this to be work? This is a hard question to answer with a straightforward yes or no. The most important criteria that the Work Permit Office considers when judging if a foreigner works or not, is: does the foreigner use energy, knowledge or effort to produce something? If the answer is yes, then this could mean work. However, the authorities may not pro-actively investigate or pursue every such case. The Work Permit Office will mostly be concerned with an activity of foreigners when: Thai security is affected in a wide sense the activity of the foreigner takes work from local Thai people Using these criteria, aren’t most Digital Nomads in Thailand effectively working here illegally? Yes, in a strict sense. However, Thai law does not have specific sections that