Americans top Thailand’s talent visa recipients

American citizens topped the list of people applying for Thailand’s new “talent visa” for highly skilled workers during the first three months of the program. The visas allow for long-term residency and provide other advantages.

Thailand made the new visas available in September in a bid to attract more experts, entrepreneurs and talented individuals in various fields, but especially technology fields, to come work in the Kingdom.

The idea has made Thailand more competitive through a stronger more diverse workforce and to generate more local talent through greater exposure to international talent.

“Since the launch on 1 September up until the present, over 1,600 applicants have submitted applications,” said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, Secretary-General of Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI).

While Narit did not give a specific breakdown on nationalities and numbers, he did say that Americans were the largest group, followed by Chinese, British and Germans. A significant number of them are remote workers, he added.

“We create a business environment that can respond to global conditions, such as geopolitical conflicts, COVID-19, and supply chain disruptions,” Narit further mentioned, adding that another strong point is that Thailand is “not in conflict with any country, and is safe for investment.”

In January 2023, as another move to make the Kingdom more competitive, Thailand will allow corporate income tax exemptions of up to 13 years for investments in advanced industries, such as biotechnology and nanotechnology. As of now, the period for corporate tax exemptions is 8 years.

Incentives will be even greater, Narit said, if companies already operating in Thailand move their research and development centers to the Kingdom.

Photo courtesy of https://smart-visa.boi.go.th/smart/