The Royal Thai Embassy in Vientiane has announced two additional requirements for the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV), Thailand's five-year visa for remote workers, taking effect worldwide from 31 August 2026.
Applicants must now be a national or a permanent resident of the country where they submit the application, and must supply a certificate of criminal record clearance issued either by their country of nationality or by their country of residence. Both are new; neither was required before.
In practice this closes the route most applicants used. For two years the DTV was the easiest long-stay visa in Southeast Asia to obtain, largely because you could fly to Vientiane, Hanoi or Phnom Penh on a tourist stamp, file online from there, and collect a five-year multiple-entry visa a few days later. From now on you apply in your own country, or in the country where you legally reside.
Existing DTV holders are not affected, and the visa's financial and eligibility criteria are unchanged.