BAANLYY co-founder maps the visa, property and pet hurdles of moving to Thailand

Kirby Scofield is leaving Los Angeles for Bangkok with his two dogs after navigating Thailand’s visa, tax, property and pet-import rules firsthand. His experience is now shaping BAANLYY, a free relocation and property guide built for foreigners facing the same steps.

Why it matters: - Scofield’s move shows how complicated Thailand relocation can be for foreigners, especially when visas, property ownership, taxes and pets all need to line up. - BAANLYY is turning those hurdles into practical guides, which could make the process easier for future buyers, renters and movers.

What happened: - Kirby Scofield, co-founder of BAANLYY, is spending his last days in the United States on the Manhattan Beach boardwalk with his two dogs, Chance and Jaeger. - On Tuesday, Scofield and the dogs are scheduled to fly from Los Angeles International Airport through Istanbul to Bangkok on a trip that will take more than 30 hours. - Scofield said every major relocation step behind BAANLYY came from his own experience, including buying property, setting up a company, handling visas, managing taxes and moving two dogs to Thailand.

The details: - Scofield applied twice for Thailand’s Destination Thailand Visa and was turned down both times. - Scofield is working toward Thailand’s Long-Term Resident visa in the Wealthy Global Citizen category, which requires a USD 500,000 investment in Thailand. - Scofield said he has about USD 406,000 invested in Thai property today. - Scofield used Thailand’s Privilege visa because he needed to move immediately. - Scofield said immigration advised that order: move first with the proper visa now, then apply for the Long-Term Resident visa after qualifying. - Foreigners can own condominium units in their own name within each building’s foreign-ownership quota, but generally cannot own land. - Scofield owns condos in Bangkok and had his Thai-language purchase contracts translated and reviewed by a lawyer before signing. - Scofield and BAANLYY co-founder June Pichaikamolchat set up a Thai limited company. - The company is not being used to buy property now; Scofield said it exists so the founders can run other businesses in Thailand in the future. - Scofield said Thai companies face heavy scrutiny because of nominee fraud, so the business was structured by the book. - Scofield said Thai company accounting is stricter than in the U.S., with annual audits and matching receipts required for every expense. - BAANLYY hired Siam Legal to handle bookkeeping and audits. - Chance and Jaeger are snub-nosed breeds, at about 43 pounds each, which makes them difficult for many airlines to transport. - One airline initially appeared to allow the dogs, but the booking process later triggered a refusal because of their weight. - A pet relocation company found a route through Istanbul on Turkish Airlines after about a week. - The flight was delayed until November because tarmac heat in Las Vegas and Bangkok can be dangerous for snub-nosed dogs. - Only Los Angeles, Denver and New York JFK were allowed as departure airports for the dogs. - The booking had to be made within 21 days of departure. - Before the flight, Scofield had to complete vet work, rabies vaccination, a rabies titer test, microchips and USDA paperwork. - Scofield said people moving with pets should start planning a year in advance.

Between the lines: - Scofield’s move underscores a recurring problem for would-be Thailand residents: the biggest obstacles are often not the headline purchase or visa, but the sequence of compliance steps that come before them. - BAANLYY is being built as a response to that friction, with Scofield turning his own setbacks into reference material for other foreigners. - The pet-import process is especially restrictive, which suggests relocation planning can hinge on airline rules and seasonal weather as much as on immigration paperwork.

What’s next: - Scofield is set to complete the flight to Bangkok and continue building BAANLYY from Thailand. - BAANLYY is now offering free resources on visa options, Thailand Privilege visas, buying property through a Thai company, condo foreign-ownership quotas, rental income tax and compliance, and moving pets to Thailand. - The company also says it provides live homes for rent and sale, condo research, developer profiles, city and neighborhood guides, visa and relocation guides, and free planning tools in English, Thai, Chinese, Russian and Japanese. - BAANLYY says it does not own the homes listed by partners and does not take referral fees; visa, tax and property-law guidance on the site is cited to official Thai government sources.

The bottom line: - Scofield’s relocation story is now the blueprint for BAANLYY’s business: turn a difficult cross-border move into a step-by-step playbook for everyone who comes after.