The Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa is a ten-year Thai residence visa, administered by the Thailand Board of Investment, created to attract investors, retirees, remote professionals, and highly skilled experts to live and work in Thailand. For someone buying in Bangkok, it changes the nature of the decision. A residence becomes a stable, long-horizon base rather than a holding to visit on a tourist stamp.
- 10 years
- of residenceissued as 5 + 5
- 1×
- report a year, to immigrationnot every 90 days
- USD 500,000
- invested in Thailandproperty can count
- THB 50,000
- visa feeper person
Who the LTR visa is for
The programme runs along four pathways. Most buyers recognise themselves in one of them.
Wealthy Global Citizen
At least USD 1 million in global assets, together with investment in Thailand of at least USD 500,000, which may be held as property, Thai government bonds, or direct investment in a Thai company.
Wealthy Pensioner
Retirees with qualifying pension or passive income.
Work-from-Thailand Professional
Remote employees of established companies based abroad.
Highly Skilled Professional
Specialists working with Thai employers in targeted industries, often with tax benefits.
Each category sets its own thresholds, with supporting documentation to match. For the pathway most Bangkok buyers use, Wealthy Global Citizen, the Board of Investment requires assets of at least USD 1 million, investment in Thailand of at least USD 500,000, and one of three alternatives on health cover: insurance of at least USD 50,000, enrolment in Thai social security, or USD 100,000 held on deposit for twelve months.
There is no minimum income requirement for this category. The USD 80,000 income figure still quoted on many advisory sites has been removed, and a buyer who rules themselves out on that basis is ruling themselves out of a visa they qualify for. The visa fee is THB 50,000 per person. Checked against the Board of Investment’s own programme site on 20 August 2026.
Health cover, one of three
USD 50,000
health insurance, minimum cover
Thai social security
enrolment
USD 100,000
on deposit for twelve months
How it works alongside a property purchase
A residence and a visa answer different questions, and the LTR sits naturally between them.
- A permanent base. Owning in Bangkok and holding an LTR visa together demonstrate a settled, long-term presence rather than a series of short visits.
- Part of a portfolio.Bangkok’s central residential market draws international buyers for its rental depth and its pricing relative to comparable Asian capitals. A long-stay visa lets an owner use the home as well as hold it.
- Flexibility on tenure. Ownership is one route. Long leases and longer-term rental arrangements are others. The visa does not depend on the ownership structure of any single home.
The visa is rarely the starting point. It is the structure that makes the rest hold together.
What USD 500,000 actually buys in central Bangkok
The investment figure is easy to find and almost never translated into floor area, which is the thing a buyer is really asking. At THB 34.5 to the US dollar, the rate this site quotes as of 1 June 2026, USD 500,000 is about THB 17.25 million. Measured against our own corridor medians, drawn from asking prices across 52 central buildings, that buys:
- Lumphini park-axis, median THB 356,981 per square metre: about 48 square metres.
- Sukhumvit corridor, median THB 399,722 per square metre: about 43 square metres.
- Sathorn, median THB 315,664 per square metre: about 55 square metres.
- Riverside, median THB 356,558 per square metre: about 48 square metres.
So on the prime corridors the threshold is a one-bedroom, not a family home. Buyers who want two bedrooms on the park front are generally looking at roughly double it. That is not an argument against the visa. It is the number to have before choosing a corridor, and it is the reason a buyer aiming at both the visa and the home often ends up on Sathorn or the river rather than on Sukhumvit.
Two cautions, and both matter. The dollar figure is a Board of Investment criterion, not a purchase that buys a visa: the application is assessed on the whole picture, and qualifying property is one part of it. And the exchange rate moves. Check both against the BOI’s own site and a current rate before you plan around either.
What it changes day to day
- A ten-year horizon. Five years, renewable once, with lighter reporting than short-stay visas.
- Annual reporting. LTR holders report to immigration once a year rather than every 90 days.
- Work rights where they apply. Several categories carry the right to work in Thailand without a separate work permit.
- Family included.A spouse and children can usually be added under the holder’s visa, subject to the programme’s rules.
What you need to apply
Applications generally call for:
- a passport with at least six months’ validity;
- financial documentation appropriate to the category (income, assets, or investment);
- health insurance meeting the required level of cover;
- evidence of property ownership, a lease, or a longer-term rental, where relevant;
- additional documents specific to the chosen category.
Most applicants work with an immigration adviser to confirm the file meets BOI requirements before submitting.
Where it fits an Embark purchase
For the buyers we work with, the LTR visa is rarely the starting point. It is the structure that makes the rest hold together: a clear reason to be in Bangkok, a base on the Lumphini park-axisor a comparable corridor, and a plan that treats the purchase as a long position rather than a transaction. We walk through the visa alongside the property and the buyer’s own legal and tax advisers, so the residence and the right to live in it are decided together.