Four LTR Tracks Compared
Which LTR track do you qualify for?
The four tracks share a visa duration and a reporting regime, and almost nothing else. Two run on income, one on assets, one on passive income plus age. The highly skilled track is the only one with a work permit and the 17 percent tax rate. The work-from-Thailand track has the narrowest employer test of any Thai route.
The comparison
| Highly skilled | Work-from-Thailand | Wealthy global citizen | Wealthy pensioner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core test | USD 80,000 income | USD 80,000 income | USD 1,000,000 assets | USD 80,000 passive income |
| Fallback | USD 40 to 80k plus master’s in STEM | USD 40 to 80k plus master’s | none | USD 40 to 80k plus USD 250,000 investment |
| Age | none | none | none | 50 plus |
| Employer test | Yes, targeted industry | Yes, narrow | none | none |
| Thai investment | none | none | USD 500,000 | USD 250,000 if in fallback band |
| Work permit | Yes, digital | No | No | No |
| 17 percent tax | Yes | No | No | No |
| Insurance | USD 50,000 or alternative | USD 50,000 or alternative | USD 50,000 or alternative | USD 50,000 or alternative |
| Spouse and children | Yes, up to 4 | Yes, up to 4 | Yes, up to 4 | Yes, up to 4 |
Highly skilled professional
The strongest track if you can get it, because it is the only one that gives you the right to work in Thailand and the reduced tax rate.
The employer must sit in one of the BOI fields: automotive, electronics, affluent tourism, agricultural and biotechnology, transportation and logistics, automation and robotics, aviation, biofuels and biochemicals, digital, medical, defence, petrochemical and chemical, or an international business centre. Circular economy work counts, and BOI also accepts applicants who can prove special expertise in fields it specifies. A software company qualifies. A marketing agency does not.
The income test is USD 80,000 average over the last two years. Between USD 40,000 and 80,000 you need a master’s degree or higher in science or technology. A master’s in history does not open the fallback band on this track. It does open the equivalent band on work-from-Thailand, where any master’s degree counts.
There is a second way onto the highly skilled track. If the employer is outside the BOI fields, BOI accepts documented expertise in a field it specifies, so a specialist can qualify on the strength of the work rather than the employer’s sector.
Government agency employees are exempt from the income test entirely, which is a quiet provision few people know about.
Work-from-Thailand professional
Same income bar, much harder employer test.
Your employer must be one of:
- A publicly listed company on a stock exchange
- A private company operating at least three years with USD 50 million in combined revenue over the last three years
- A wholly owned subsidiary of a listed public company
- A wholly owned subsidiary holding 100 percent of a qualifying private company
Read that again with a typical remote worker in mind. A 20 person design studio with USD 3 million in revenue fails. A funded startup with USD 8 million fails. A consultancy with USD 40 million fails.
This is the most common reason a well paid remote worker cannot use the LTR. They earn enough and they cannot pass the employer test, so they end up on a DTV doing 180 day cycles, or paying for a Privilege Card.
No work permit is granted, correctly, because the work is for a foreign employer.
Wealthy global citizen
No income test at all. The test is assets and deployment.
You must hold USD 1,000,000 in assets in your own name before applying. That can include the USD 500,000 you invest in Thailand, so the real incremental commitment is USD 500,000 of liquid or investable wealth on top.
The Thai investment can be:
- Government bonds with at least five years remaining
- Direct investment in Thai registered companies, pro rata if jointly owned
- Thai property in your own name, pro rata if jointly owned
Property is the most popular option and usually the worst financially, because Thai property is illiquid and the visa requires the investment to stay.
Wealthy pensioner
Age 50 or over, and the income must be passive.
Passive means pension, rental income, realised capital gains, dividends or interest. Salary is explicitly excluded. Someone 55 years old earning USD 200,000 as a consultant fails this track and has to use work-from-Thailand instead, which then fails on the employer test. That combination is the most frustrating dead end in the Thai system.
Between USD 40,000 and 80,000 of passive income, you add USD 250,000 invested in Thailand.
How to choose
| If this is you | Track |
|---|---|
| Technical specialist, employer in a targeted industry, USD 80k+ | Highly skilled |
| Remote worker at a listed or large company, USD 80k+ | Work-from-Thailand |
| USD 1m in assets, willing to deploy USD 500k in Thailand | Wealthy global citizen |
| 50+, living on pensions and investments, USD 80k+ | Wealthy pensioner |
| 50+, still earning a salary | Not eligible for pensioner. Look at O-A or work-from-Thailand |
| USD 40 to 80k, no STEM master’s | Work-from-Thailand, if the employer passes the size test. Any master’s degree counts there |
Watchpoints
- Two tracks are income-based and two are asset-based. There is no hybrid.
- The work-from-Thailand employer test is the most common failure point in the whole programme.
- A STEM master’s is what unlocks the fallback band on the highly skilled track. On work-from-Thailand any master’s degree or higher counts.
- Property investment satisfies the wealthy track but locks your capital into an illiquid asset.
- Salary is not passive income for the pensioner track.
- All four tracks require the conditions to hold for ten years.
Sources
- Board of Investment, four LTR track criteria, https://ltr.boi.go.th/. Checked 2026-10-22.
- BOI, targeted industry list, https://ltr.boi.go.th/page/targeted-industries.html. Checked 2026-10-22.