Thai Digital Nomad Visa vs Cambodian Work Visa

Many news agencies and travelers alike have recently been posting about Thailand letting in more countries visa free, as well as their new Digital Nomad Visa. How much of a game changer though is this and how does it compare with what is available within Cambodia?

The short sharp answer is that while the Thai digital niqab visa is indeed interesting, as is letting in more nations visa free, the reality is that there are better options in other countries.

The Thai Digital Nomad Visa

The Thai Digital Nomad visa has been launched to encourage more people to legally do what they do already and this is live in Thailand while working remotely.

So, what are the facts? One can apply for said visa if they have a provable 10,000 USD in the bank and if they pay the 10,000 baht ($280) fee every 180 days or roughly 6 months.

And what do you get for this? Seemingly just the ability too tay in Thailand for six months at a time, as well as potentially putting yourself on the Thai tax radar.

Alongside said visa Thailand also announced that foreigners resident in the country will also have to pay tax on from earnings, which starts at 5% for $4000 and up to 20% for those earning $23,000+, so not all that much, but potentially opens issues with double taxation if you are already paying them somewhere.

Sadly this means that while Thailand have launched this in order to make it easier for people to stay, in fact they have just made it more bureaucratic.

The Cambodian Work Visa

So, how does the Cambodian work visa compare to the Thai Digital Nomad visa? Overall pretty damned well, but again depending on what you are looking for.

For this it should be noted that the Cambodian work visa is technically just that, a visa to work for someone. In this case you get a visa for a year and work for a company. If at any time you stop working for said company you can get a job somewhere else.

Alternatively you can just use an agent and buy a work permit and visa for around $560. This then entitles you to either go find a job or work remotely. From a cost point of view this makes it in line with the Thai Digital Nimbi visa, but without the need to go line up again and indeed show much money you have after a mere 6 months.

The other thing that truly goes in the favour of Cambodia is that with a work permit and visa you can actually open a bank account, which brings a whole new level of ease to life.

If you want to go extremely legitimate it is also possible to either open a company, or register yourself as self-meplyed and register for local tax.

Expat in Thailand vs Expat in Cambodia

When it comes to which visa you should choose it should not just be about ease of processing, but also ease of life once you get the visa. This is another area where Cambodia comes out on top.

Overall big cities like Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville are not just cheaper than their Thai counterparts, but also much more friendly and safe. Generally speaking you will not get arbitrarily arrested in Cambodia, which is seemingly no longer the case in Thailand.

This is because while Thailand on the one hand is easing visas, they have also been stamping down on “illegal workers”. This as included people working as teachers, massage therapists and even tour guide – all professions that would be covered by a Cambodian work permit.

And not just that, but there have also been a spate of expats in Thailand arrested for things as petit as leaving a bad Trip Advisor review.This in itself marks one of the big Thai contradictions of seemingly wanting and not wanting foreigners to come.

With these factors in mind we therefore firmly recommend digital nomading in Cambodia over Thailand….

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