Most of the hard parts of moving to Thailand are paperwork. The visas and immigration overview sets out the ways in, from visa-free entry and tourist visas to the Destination Thailand Visa, the Non-Immigrant visas and the ten-year Long-Term Resident visa, and the duties that come with a longer stay: 90-day reports, the address notice your landlord files, re-entry permits and the cost of overstaying. The Non-O visa goes deeper into the visa most families and retirees end up on, with its 400,000 and 800,000 baht rules.
Some errands need proof of where you live, such as a Thai driving licence or registering a motorbike in your name. Residence certificates explains who issues one and how it works in Chiang Mai.
For work, teaching English is the path most foreigners take: the guide covers the degree and licence rules, the visa and work permit, pay by kind of school and the warning signs of a bad employer. Parents can read schools in Thailand on how international and Montessori schools are licensed and accredited, and what to ask on a visit.
Chiang Mai has two guides of its own: the city, with its districts, seasons, transport and the smoky months of the burning season, and Doi Inthanon, the national park on Thailand’s highest mountain.
Every guide here says when its facts were last checked and links the official pages it relies on. Thai rules on visas and work change often, sometimes overnight, and officers at different offices can read them differently. Use these pages to know what to ask, and confirm the answer with the Immigration Bureau, the Department of Employment or a Thai embassy before you act.