A report that began circulating on 13 October 2026 describes Thailand’s income rules for foreigners applying under the Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa’s Highly Skilled Professional category as newly “published” by the country’s Board of Investment (BOI). A check against BOI’s own LTR portal, cross-checked with a dated legal explainer, shows the opposite: the thresholds are not new. They are the standing criteria that have governed this category since the programme’s rules were restated in BOI Announcement No. Por. 3/2568, effective 4 February 2025 — and for this specific category, the figures trace back unchanged to the LTR’s original launch in September 2022.
Under the rule as currently published on BOI’s ltr.boi.go.th site, an applicant in the Highly Skilled Professional category must show a minimum average personal income of USD 80,000 a year over the two years before applying. Applicants earning between USD 40,000 and USD 80,000 remain eligible if they hold a master’s degree or higher in science or technology. Employees of Thai government agencies are exempt from the income test altogether. Beyond income, applicants must be employed under a formal contract with a Thai or foreign company operating in one of BOI’s targeted industries, or otherwise demonstrate recognised expertise in a field BOI has specified.
The February 2025 package did change one LTR category materially. According to ThaiLawOnline’s reading of BOI Announcement No. Por. 3/2568, the Wealthy Global Citizen track dropped its own USD 80,000 income test entirely, replacing it with an investment-and-assets requirement — USD 500,000 invested in Thailand plus USD 1 million in total assets. That change did not touch the Highly Skilled Professional income thresholds the recent report describes.
For foreigners weighing an LTR application now, the practical point is that nothing about the Highly Skilled Professional income test has moved: the USD 80,000 / USD 40,000 split, the academic alternative, and the government-employee exemption remain exactly as BOI has had them published.
References
Thailand Board of Investment – LTR Visa Program / ThaiLawOnline – Thailand LTR Visa 2026: Criteria, Tax and Process / YEN.com.gh – Thailand Announces Income Conditions for Foreigners Applying for Its Long-Term Visa
