Thailand Visa Runs to Europe: What It Actually Costs vs Long-Term Visas
Photo courtesy of Nomadic Matt
Thailand's visa rules mean most of us hit that wall eventually. You're loving life in Bangkok or Chiang Mai, then suddenly you need to leave the country. Europe's always tempting for a visa run — good food, different vibe, reset your head before diving back into Thai life.
I just did Paris for a visa run. ฿47,000 ($1,350) for 10 days including flights, accommodation, and food. Here's the breakdown and why it's got me rethinking the whole visa run game.
The Real Numbers
Flights: ฿28,000 ($800) roundtrip Bangkok to Paris on Air France. Booked 3 weeks out, nothing fancy but direct.
Accommodation: ฿1,200 ($34) per night for a decent Airbnb in the 11th arrondissement. Small but clean, metro nearby.
Food: 850 ($24) per day average. That's mixing grocery shopping with actual restaurant meals. Paris prices hit different when you're used to ฿60 pad thai.
Transport: ฿350 ($10) per day for metro passes and the occasional taxi when I got lazy.
Here's What Nobody Tells You
The visa run math gets weird when you factor in what you're not spending in Thailand. My Bangkok burn rate is about ฿1,800 ($50) per day including rent, food, everything. So those 10 days in Paris cost me ฿29,000 ($830) more than staying put.
That's the real cost of the visa run.
The Alternative That's Looking Better
That ฿29,000 extra? It's exactly what a proper visa agent in Bangkok charges for an education visa that lasts 12 months. No joke. I could have learned actual Thai, stayed in my routine, kept my gym membership active.
Or the Elite Visa route: ฿600,000 ($17,200) for 5 years sounds crazy until you do the math. That's 3-4 visa runs to Europe per year. If you're planning to stay in Thailand anyway, the Elite Visa pays for itself.
When Visa Runs Still Make Sense
Look, I'm not saying don't do it. Paris was solid. Got to reset, eat actual cheese, remember what seasons feel like. Sometimes you need that mental break from Thailand life.
Visa runs work when:
- You actually want to travel anyway
- You've got friends or specific plans in that country
- You're still figuring out if long-term Thailand is your thing
- You can work remotely and make it a proper trip
The Thing About Visa Agents
Yeah, I know. Visa agents feel sketchy. But the education visa route through a legit language school is ฿29,000 ($830) for 12 months, includes actual Thai lessons, and you never have to leave.
I checked three schools in Bangkok. They all offer the same deal: 4 hours of classes per week, education visa sorted, immigration reports handled. Not glamorous, but neither is schlepping through Charles de Gaulle at 6am.
What I'm Doing Next Time
Honestly? Probably the education visa. Those 10 days in Paris were good but expensive good. I'd rather spend that ฿29,000 on actual Thailand experiences — Koh Lipe for a month, proper Muay Thai training in Chiang Mai, whatever.
The visa run made sense when I was testing Thailand out. Now that I know I want to stay, paying for convenience beats paying for flights.
That said, if you've never done Europe and need the visa run anyway, Paris delivers. Just know what you're actually spending.
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