---
title: "Flying Into Thailand on a DTV: Da Nang to Chiang Mai With Eight Bags"
slug: "thailand-dtv-entry-da-nang-to-chiang-mai"
description: "We got five Thailand DTVs from Da Nang in under four weeks at $340 each, then flew to Chiang Mai and were stamped in for 180 days. Full timeline and costs."
author: "Adam Clarkson"
lang: "en"
date: "2026-07-26"
published_at: "2026-07-26T23:28:43.000-04:00"
updated_at: "2026-07-26T23:28:43.000-04:00"
feature_image: "https://pub-7aaf5c6cc1c2496e8b9429b2cc0fe010.r2.dev/photos/large/8d803f99-065b-4d80-aa86-adf1f663d12d.jpg"
tags: ["Journal", "Holafly", "Chiang Mai", "Thailand", "Southeast-asia", "Asia", "Visa", "Family"]
canonical_url: "https://adamandlinds.com/thailand-dtv-entry-da-nang-to-chiang-mai/"
---

The last of our five Destination Thailand Visa approvals landed on July 16, and we were out of the Da Nang apartment the following week. Air Asia sent us through Bangkok, an immigration officer stamped all five passports for 180 days, and a short connecting flight later we were back in Chiang Mai for the first time in a year.

The whole thing cost $340 per person and took close to four weeks from my first submission to the last approval for the girls. This is the version with the actual dates, the document request that slowed us down, and what the border crossing looked like with a DTV in hand.

## What we submitted from Vietnam

I applied under the work category, which covers remote income earned from outside Thailand. Applications go through Thailand's e-visa portal, and you choose the embassy or consulate that processes yours. Ours went to the Thai consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, which is the obvious pick if you are already living in Vietnam.

The financial requirement is 500,000 Thai baht in your account, and they want to see it sitting there rather than dropped in the week before you file. I uploaded three months of statements to start, plus a letter from one of my contracts showing income arriving on a regular basis. None of the paperwork was unusual. It was the same stack any remote worker already has in a folder somewhere, just assembled in one sitting.

![Passport photo day in Da Nang, July 5. Plain white wall, small earring, entirely unimpressed.](https://pub-7aaf5c6cc1c2496e8b9429b2cc0fe010.r2.dev/photos/large/f1fd55d6-c90e-444d-8e59-897bd579616b.jpg)

## The timeline, day by day

I filed on a Monday. By the middle of the following week the consulate came back asking for six months of bank statements instead of three, which took about ten minutes to pull and send. The approval arrived that Friday, almost exactly two weeks after I hit submit.

Stage

What happened

Elapsed

My application

Filed on a Monday under the work category

Day 1

Document request

Consulate asked for six months of statements instead of three

Around day 9

My approval

DTV issued

About 2 weeks

Four dependents filed

Lindsay as spouse, three girls as children of a DTV holder

2 days later

Their approvals

All four came back the following week

Just under 4 weeks total

## How the spouse and children applications worked

Dependents cannot file until the primary holder is approved, because the application asks for the approved visa itself. That means Lindsay and the girls were waiting on me, and there is no way to run the five in parallel. Two days after my approval came through, on the Sunday, I filled out four more applications: Lindsay as the spouse of a DTV holder, and Lily, Cora, and Harper each as the child of one.

Their four approvals landed the following week, which put us at just under four weeks from my first submission to the last email. Nobody gets a family rate, either. A seven year old pays the same $340 as I do, and Thailand charges the full fee five separate times.

If you are working backwards from a flight date, do not plan on four weeks. Our extra-documents request was routine and it still cost us most of a week, and everything after it was stacked behind my approval.

## Eight bags out of Da Nang

We had been in Da Nang since May, which is long enough for an apartment to accumulate things. Our last big move, out of Osaka, went out the door with [ten checked bags](https://adamandlinds.com/leaving-osaka-after-three-months-how-a-family-of-five-moves-across-asia-with-ten-checked-bags/). This one was eight, and I am choosing to read that as progress rather than as evidence that we left two bags of stuff behind in Vietnam.

![One of our last nights out in Da Nang, tequila specials painted on the wall behind us.](https://pub-7aaf5c6cc1c2496e8b9429b2cc0fe010.r2.dev/photos/large/2af53316-96a3-4757-82e0-1e8360f3d8da.jpg)

Da Nang treated us well for three months and we will be back, most likely with a DTV in one passport and no visa run to schedule around. If you want the numbers from that stay, they are in our [Da Nang cost of living breakdown](https://adamandlinds.com/da-nang-cost-of-living-family/).

## Flying Da Nang to Chiang Mai on Air Asia

There is no direct flight, so Air Asia routed us through Bangkok. We cleared immigration there before the domestic connection, and DTV holders were sent to a separate desk with one officer working it and nobody in line. She looked at the visas, stamped all five passports for 180 days, and we walked to the domestic gate.

Our stamp runs to the middle of January. That is the part of the DTV worth understanding before you apply: the visa itself is good for five years of multiple entries, but each entry gives you 180 days on arrival, and the clock resets when you leave and come back.

You can extend a DTV entry once at a local immigration office for another 180 days, which puts close to a full year in Thailand within reach before you need to cross a border. We have not tested that yet and will write it up when we do.

## The first week back in Chiang Mai

The khao soi came first. Egg noodles in coconut curry broth with a nest of crispy noodles on top, pickled mustard greens on the side, and live music at the place we went to two nights ago. Last night was Mexican, because months of Vietnamese food eventually leaves you wanting a taco.

![Lily and a nearly finished bowl of khao soi at Charm Cafe, from our stay here last summer. The standard was set early.](https://pub-7aaf5c6cc1c2496e8b9429b2cc0fe010.r2.dev/photos/large/4a341171-fbf5-450e-8d18-1af904e3cacf.jpg)

It has been around 78 degrees and breezy, which after a Da Nang summer feels like walking around inside air conditioning. The girls have spent most of the afternoons in the pool, we have been working normal hours, and nobody has asked when we are moving again.

![Rainy season in Chiang Mai does this fairly often. The rain arrives, then leaves, then apologizes.](https://pub-7aaf5c6cc1c2496e8b9429b2cc0fe010.r2.dev/photos/large/d60327f3-4a5f-4653-aa63-9bb11266e2c3.jpg)

We have about a month here to find an apartment before the next stretch of travel starts. Europe comes first, then a transatlantic cruise out of Barcelona at the end of October, then a week at Disney with Lindsay's family. We fly back into Chiang Mai after that, and the plan is to land somewhere with keys and an address instead of a booking confirmation. If you want the version of this city we already know, our [Chiang Mai walking tour and budget guide](https://adamandlinds.com/chiang-mai-walking-tour-family-itinerary-budget-guide/) covers what we did with the girls last summer.

## Keeping the phones working across the border

Moving countries used to mean an airport SIM counter and a conversation neither party fully understood. We run a Holafly plan instead, so the phones connect on the tarmac in Bangkok, and the apartment listings and consulate emails stay reachable the whole way. One eSIM covers 160-plus destinations on a fixed monthly fee, which is the only reason our data bill does not spike every time we change countries.

### Holafly eSIM for Thailand

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Use code **ADAMANDLINDS** for 5% off your eSIM.

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Our full breakdown of what the Thailand eSIM costs and how it performed across Bangkok and Chiang Mai is in the [Thailand eSIM guide](https://adamandlinds.com/best-esim-thailand-holafly-coupon-code/).

FAQ

## Thailand DTV questions we get asked

Answers from our own five approvals, filed from Da Nang in July 2026.

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":\[{"@type":"Question","name":"How long does a Thailand DTV take to process?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Mine took almost exactly two weeks from submission to approval, including a request for extra bank statements partway through. The four dependent applications for my wife and three daughters took another week and a half on top of that, so the whole family was approved in just under four weeks."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How much does the Thailand DTV cost per person?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"We paid $340 per person, charged five separate times for a family of five. There is no family rate and children pay the same as adults. The visa is valid for five years of multiple entries."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Can a spouse and children get a Thailand DTV?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes. Dependents apply as the spouse or child of a DTV holder, but they cannot file until the primary applicant has been approved, because the application requires the approved visa. Each dependent pays the full fee."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How long can you stay in Thailand on each DTV entry?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Each entry gives you 180 days on arrival. We were stamped for 180 days at Bangkok immigration, and an entry can be extended once at a local immigration office for another 180 days."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Can you apply for a Thailand DTV from Vietnam?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes. We applied from Da Nang through Thailand's e-visa portal and selected the Thai consulate in Ho Chi Minh City to process our applications. You have to be outside Thailand when you file."}}\]}

How long does a Thailand DTV take to process?

Mine took almost exactly two weeks from submission to approval, including a request for extra bank statements partway through. The four dependent applications for Lindsay and the girls took another week and a half on top of that, so all five of us were approved in just under four weeks.

How much does the Thailand DTV cost per person?

We paid $340 per person, charged five separate times for a family of five. There is no family rate and the kids pay the same as the adults, but the visa covers five years of multiple entries.

Can a spouse and children get a Thailand DTV?

Yes, as the spouse or child of a DTV holder. They cannot file until the primary applicant is approved, because the dependent application asks for the approved visa itself, and each dependent pays the full fee.

How long can you stay in Thailand on each DTV entry?

Each entry gives you 180 days on arrival, and ours was stamped at Bangkok immigration on the way through to Chiang Mai. An entry can be extended once at a local immigration office for another 180 days.

Can you apply for a Thailand DTV from Vietnam?

Yes. We applied from Da Nang through Thailand's e-visa portal and picked the Thai consulate in Ho Chi Minh City to process the applications. You do have to be outside Thailand when you file.

### Related Reading

[We Got Our Thailand DTVs: Moving to Chiang Mai](https://adamandlinds.com/we-got-our-thailand-dtvs-moving-to-chiang-mai-for-a-year/) [Chiang Mai Walking Tour: Family Itinerary and Budget Guide](https://adamandlinds.com/chiang-mai-walking-tour-family-itinerary-budget-guide/) [Best Things to Do in Chiang Mai With Kids](https://adamandlinds.com/best-things-to-do-in-chiang-mai-2026-klook-guide/) [What Da Nang Actually Costs a Family of Five](https://adamandlinds.com/da-nang-cost-of-living-family/)

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through our links we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Holafly has been our eSIM partner since 2022 and we use it on every trip. All opinions are our own.