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Wat Arun temple in Bangkok at dusk

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🇹🇭  Retiring in Thailand from New Zealand

What New Zealanders need to know: the visa, how your pensions are taxed, what to do before you leave and every year after.

By the retireacross editorial team · Last reviewed

Visa for New Zealanders

Check the visa-free stay for your passport with the consulate before a trial stay. To live there you need a residence route:

  • Non-Immigrant O-A (long stay, retirement): income from 65,000 THB a month or savings from 800,000 THB, from age 50. Official page
  • Long-Term Resident visa: wealthy pensioner: income from 80,000 USD a year, from age 50. Official page
  • LTR visa, Wealthy Global Citizen (10 years): savings from 1,000,000 USD. Official page

Check your figures in the visa checker

Sources: Thai e-Visa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs): retirement visas O, O-A, O-X (checked 2026-10-22) · Board of Investment: Long-Term Resident visa (wealthy pensioners) (checked 2026-10-22) · UK travel advice: Thailand, entry requirements (checked 2026-10-22) · Royal Thai Embassy: updated tourist visa exemption (30 days, from 15 September 2026) (checked 2026-10-25)

How your pensions are taxed

New Zealand has a tax treaty with Thailand: it decides which country taxes NZ Super and your New Zealand pensions (usually your new country for private pensions, and often the paying country for government pensions). Ask Inland Revenue so the right tax is withheld.

  • State and government pensions: the treaty's pensions and government-service articles decide.
  • Private pensions: usually taxed in your country of residence.

Sources: Inland Revenue Tax Policy: New Zealand tax treaties (checked 2026-10-26)

New Zealand: You stay New Zealand tax resident while you keep a permanent place of abode there (a home you go back to), even if you are away more than 325 days; NZ Super paid abroad under general portability is paid gross. Official page

Thailand's own rules: Since 2024, residents pay Thai tax on foreign income earned from 1 January 2024 when they bring it into Thailand, in the year of transfer or later; money earned before 2024 can be brought in tax-free. Rates are progressive from 0% to 35%. Thailand has an inheritance tax on very large inheritances; there is no wealth tax.

Before you leave New Zealand

  1. Check NZ Super before you go (New Zealand): To get NZ Super you must be ordinarily resident in New Zealand when you apply at 65, and meet the residence rule (10 to 20 years since age 20, rising with your birth date). If you plan to leave before 65, check how and when you can apply first. Official page
  2. Call International Services at least 6 weeks before leaving: NZ Super does not follow you automatically: apply to keep it going by calling Work and Income's International Services at least 6 weeks before you leave. It cannot be paid if you move to the United Kingdom. Official page

More for New Zealanders

Rules and figures change and we can make mistakes: confirm with the official source or a licensed advisor before acting.