There are a few unwritten rules of things which you should do or not do, if you want to live safely for a long time in Thailand.

There are already a lot of jokes about foreigners in Thailand, who fail because of the same mistakes.

How do you make a small fortune in Thailand? If you come here with a big one.

So here I want to list the Top 10 Dos and Don’ts for Expats in Thailand:

1. Do never ever tell anybody how much money you have available and that you don’t know what to do with it.
2. Do never ever open a bank account on another person’s name or with his/her access to the account.
3. Do never invest all your money in a business in Thailand. Always keep at least 30% in your home country and don’t touch it. If your business fails and you’re running out of (Thai) money, stop it early enough. You still have the 30% to go home and be safe.
4. If you want to buy a car or motor cycle, buy and register it only in your name, even if it seems to be more difficult.
5. If you lease a piece of land for more than 3 years, make sure the contract is officially registered with the land department and the tax is paid for the deal. Otherwise, the contact is invalid after 3 years.
6. You can only lease land for up to 30 years in Thailand. An option for another 30 years is not safe.
7. If you rent a house or business unit, make sure the rental contract is in your name. Even if the actual business is running on another person (wife/girlfriend).
8. Do never ask Thai people (friends) for advise about how do do a business in Thailand. They will answer you of course but they have no idea about how a foreigner can do business in Thailand.
9. Do not do business in Thailand if you don’t need to. If you come here for retirement and have a monthly pension, just enjoy…
10. Make sure you have an international Health Insurance for Thailand

In the end, it was more difficult than I thought, to get the 10 points together. However, if you follow these now written rules you should be safe for a living in Thailand. If you have other ideas about what should be included here, let me know in the comments.