One Year Language Exchange Visa Program
With our Homeschool Education Resource Center, based near Bo Sang, 15km east of Chiang Mai City, you may apply for a Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) to live and study in Thailand for FIVE YEARS.
This is the ideal way to spend several years in Thailand, one year at a time. You only need to leave the country at the end of each year for a “visa run”.
The main requirement is that you need to show evidence of having the equivalent of ฿500,000 in any currency in your bank account.
We also offer a Volunteer Visa Language Exchange Program that does not require evidence of funds. However, you will be required to provide some kind of tuition for at least half a day per week. As a volunteer, you will also receive a Work Permit, which means that you are legally entitled to work – usually by providing private tuition – to supplement your income in Thailand.
We have fast fibre-optic wifi, a kind of co-working environment, facilities for web-camming and even a studio with a green screen for high-quality audio/video recordings for voiceover work or video production.
We can help you find convenient and inexpensive accommodation nearby, within 30 minutes from the city. You will be living in the countryside yet have all the benefits and enjoyment of a sophisticated, cosmopolitan and fun city.
Or if you enjoy nature then you’re literally 10 minutes away from rural farmlands; and only 30 minutes away, in the other direction, to rivers, lakes and mountains – not to mention the hot springs, swimming pools (and an amazing water park), small & intimate yoga studios, gyms, exotic temples, Thai & foreign restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops and pizzerias, shopping malls and fresh food markets.
Details of the Rapid Thai Language Visa Program
Basically, you will follow the Rapid Method for learning Thai in a hands-on manner.
Start with the Rapid Read Thai course. You can complete this on your own online (at home or at the Learning Center)… or by attending the intensive Seven Day Rapid Read Thai Bootcamp.
Once you can read, you will work through the Supplementary reading & pronunciation exercises and the Everyday Thai for Beginners conversational course, online, with the help of a “study buddy”.
Requirements
This program is not open to anyone. It requires commitments on the part of several people. So we will only be inviting people who are relaxed, easygoing and non-judgmental; and who are serious about learning Thai and about Thailand and getting to know Thai people.
You should also contribute your knowledge and skills in some way by running in-person courses at the training center. As a volunteer, you can teach music, coding or marketing/ecommerce/design skills, art, yoga or dance or self-defense, for instance. As a DTV applicant, this is not required.
Volunteers also have additional administrative requirements for obtaining your visa and work permit that we’ll discuss when you apply.
Costs
Besides the visa and program fees, the costs for living in Thailand will obviously depend on your personal lifestyle and preferences.
Below are the typical costs for a reasonably comfortable and enjoyable time in Thailand, drinking moderately, using the aircon sparingly, occasionally exploring other parts of Thailand and staying in budget accommodation – and eating some Thai and some Western food.
The more you live a Western lifestyle (wine, coffee, desserts, pizza, steak; partying, staying in fancy resorts, etc.) the higher your living costs will be.
We can also help you to live cheaply and can arrange to sell your items when you leave. For example, we can help you find a decent scooter and helmet for around ฿26,000 (possibly a lot less) and then sell it (or we buy it back from you) for around ฿18,000. So the actual cost of owning a scooter for a year is only ฿8,000 plus fuel & maintenance. (Just renting a scooter will cost around ฿3,000 per month.)
If you’re happy to live in a kind of dormitory-style room (42m² / 450ft²) without aircon and just fans to keep you cool then you can live very cheaply indeed (฿3,000 per month).
If you’re not on a tight budget then for around ฿8,000 – ฿9,000 / month (incl. electricity and fiber internet) you can get a whole house and garden with 2-3 bedrooms and aircon.
The cheapest you could probably live (comfortably), somewhere nearby, without aircon, eating mostly Thai food and occasionally going out to eat a Western-style buffet or a night out on the town, would cost about ฿20,000 per month.
Maybe a bit less… but there will always be unexpected costs, so on average, you should make sure you have at least this amount each month.
Keep in mind that you should at least have travel insurance to cover you in the case of accidents or illness. You are likely to get ill or have to get treated at a clinic or out-patient’s department. And you will probably want or need to go to the dentist. You may also want to buy or repair or replace your phone or computer, or buy clothes or gifts.
| Language & Culture Program (per annum) | 60,000 |
| Visa extension & Work Permit Fees (per annum) | 10,000 |
| Rapid Method Thai Course Material (one off) | 20,000 |
| Rapid Read Thai Bootcamp (optional) | 20,000 |
| Total Program Fees | ฿90,000 – ฿110,000 |
| Initial Settling-In Costs | |
| Rental Security Deposit (refundable) | 10,000 |
| Furniture & Fittings | 20,000 |
| Scooter (used) (resaleable value ฿18,000) + tax + insurance | 26,000 |
| Car (used) (resaleable value: ฿40,000) + tax + insurance | 72,000 |
| Thai Driving License | 2,000 |
| Total |
฿58,000 or ฿104,000 |
| Cost of Living | |
| Rent + electricity + water + internet |
6,000 |
| Mobile phone plan | 600 |
| Food (incl. groceries & toileteries) | 12,000 |
| Entertainment, eating out and getting around (variable) | 6,000+ |
| Travel and out-of-town accommodation (say, 3-4 days per month) | 5,000+ |
| Miscellaneous and contingencies | 5,000+ |
| Total Monthly Expenses | ฿25,000 – ฿35,000 |