Money blog: Thailand wants you to move there for work on digital nomad visa (2024)

Since the pandemic, almost 800,000 people have fallen out of employment into "economic inactivity", a catch-all definition that covers the nine million people of working age not able or looking to work.

That includes students, early retirees and stay-at-home parents and carers, but the biggest and most pernicious reason is long-term sickness, which now accounts for more than 2.5 million people, an increase of more than 400,000 since COVID, driven largely by mental health conditions.

Business correspondentPaul Kelsotravels to Middlesbrough to hear the stories behind the numbers.

Michael is fair haired and frail, with a face that tells a story.

Until seven years ago, his life was perhaps as he imagined it. He was married and working for a fancy food shop in his home town in North Yorkshire.

Then something happened. He is reluctant to share the full details but his marriage broke down, he lost the job, and was left with a choice: "It was to be homeless, or move to a bedsit in Middlesbrough."

Which is how we come to be speaking in the Employment Hub on Corporation Road, opposite Middlesbrough's Jobcentre.

A council-backed centre, it offers help and guidance to anyone looking to get back into work.

Young adults making the leap from education to employment; older people who want or need to earn again; and clients like Michael, who fall somewhere in between, derailed by illness or personal circ*mstances.

The prospect of an interest rate cut when Bank of England officials meet next week has been dealt a blow after data showed basic pay is still rising.

Wages continued to grow at 6% in the three months to April - more than double the rate of inflation, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% over the same period, up from 4.3% in the three months to March and the highest level since September 2021.

What does this mean for the Bank of England as it weighs cutting interest rates? Business reporter James Sillars has the latest...

The final set of employment figures before polling day will be monitored by the Bank before it decides on whether to cut rates - we'll get the announcement next Thursday.

The Bank has hinted an interest rate cut is likely in the coming months but it remains worried about sticky services inflation and the pace of wage growth fuelling more price rises in the economy.

There were 14 consecutive interest rate increases from December 2021 up until last summer, aimed at dampening demand to help bring price growth down.

The rate hikes drove up the cost of borrowing, with mortgage holders facing bills of hundreds of pounds more a month as low fixed-rate terms expired.

With the main consumer prices index measure of inflation running at 2.3% - above the Bank's 2% target - members of the rate-setting committee have acknowledged progress but are unlikely to follow the European Central Bank in cutting rates this month.

Even before the ONS data was released, financial markets projected just a 10% chance of a rate cut from 5.25% to 5% on 20 June.

Most of the money is on September. However, those predictions could yet shift.

The ONS is also set to publish this week the preliminary growth figures for the economy in April.

They are predicted by economists to show zero growth for the month, largely due to the impact of poor weather.

And next Wednesday, the day before the interest rate decision, the latest inflation figures will be published - another key factor for the Bank.

BP staff will have to disclose intimate relationships under a new policy.

The rules, which put employees at risk of being sacked if contravened, have come into force after thedismissal of former boss Bernard Looney.

Previously, employees only had to disclose relationships if there was a conflict of interest risk.

So-called "Super-ATMs" are going on trial in England to provide a cash lifeline to residents without a local bank branch.

Customers with multiple banks will be able to make deposits at one machine in a UK industry first.

The ATMs are already up and running in Athersone, Warwickshire, in Heathfield, East Sussex, and in Swanage, Dorset.

Fish and chicken bought from Sainsbury's will soon come in recyclable card trays.

The supermarket believes it can slash almost 700 tonnes of plastic packaging per year on its own-brand products.

Sainsbury's says it is a "UK retailer first" decision.

Jamie Oliver has backed a proposal to ban the sale of some energy drinks to under-16s.

The celebrity chef said the UK has some of the least healthy children in Europe and people would "be amazed" how many consumed an energy drink for breakfast.

Labour has pledged to stop giving younger teenagers access to highly caffeinated soft drinks as part of a strategy to improve child mental and physical health.

"This is really exciting for me. It means they're looking at the detail, it means they're looking at the science," said Oliver, who described himself as apolitical.

"Child health hasn't been put central to any manifesto in the last 20 years, ever, ever, ever. You've never seen it on a bus with a number."

Labour's plans would apply to drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre, meaning they would prohibit beverages like Monster Energy for under-16s but not Coca-Cola.

Oliver said children were "bouncing off the walls" in classrooms and teachers were struggling to control them.

"You would be amazed if you saw how many kids have breakfast in the form of an energy drink."

Speaking on X, Mr Oliver said: "When we've got some of the most unhealthy kids in Europe, we need to not have one thing, we need many, many things that are going to help make our kids fitter, healthier, have better outcomes and just flourish and be more productive as adults, and cost the NHS less."

Asda staff have been stabbed, punched and threatened with syringes by customers, according to new research.

One in three employees have been attacked at work, according to a GMB union survey of 1,000 members.

Delivery drivers said they have been chased by people in cars and confronted by customers in the nude.

Store workers have had watermelons and joints of gammon thrown at them.

Some three in five respondents said they had suffered injury or illness at work.

"These incidents are horrifying – no one should have [to] suffer this kind of abuse and violence at work," said Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer.

"This situation is only going to get worse as staff hours are slashed, leaving less people in store and those who are there more vulnerable."

An Asda spokesperson said all retailers had had an increase in violence and aggression towards staff in recent years.

"The safety of our colleagues is a primary concern," they said, adding the company had invested more than £30m over the past three years to upgrade store CCTV systems.

Employees have been provided with body-worn cameras, extra security guards have been hired and opening times amended in certain shops, they said.

"We work with all of our colleague representatives in the important area of colleague security and also back calls for violence or abuse against retail workers to be made a standalone criminal offence in all parts of the UK and hope this is a priority for any incoming government."

Do you work at Asda or another supermarket? Haveyou had similar experiences? Share your stories with us in the comment box above.

Like the idea of jetting off to live in Thailand?

Remote workers will now be able to stay in the country for up to five years on a digital nomad visa.

The destination Thailand visa, nicknamed the "digital nomad visa", allows foreigners to stay and work in Thailand for extended periods without worrying about immigration or tax.

Those with the multiple-entry visa are given the right to stay for 180 days a year, with an option to extend for another 180 days, for up to five years for the cost of10,000 baht (£213.75).

While the initial fee is £213.75, workers need to leave and re-enter the country every 180 days and pay an additional £212.20 each time.

Full details on how to apply are still pending, but some information on the requirements have been released.

To apply for the visa, you must:

• Be at least 20;
• Have enough money to pay for the visa;
• Prove you have at least £10,687in your bank account;
• Provide proof of employment with a registered company.

Until now, digital nomads could only stay in Thailand on tourist visas for up to 60 days but it is hoped the new visa will support the government's efforts to increase tourism.

The world's your oyster...

Thailand joins a growing list of countries offering digital nomad visas or similar. Here are some of the others:

• Spain - The remote work visa gives non-EU nationals the chance to live and work in Spain for up to five years;
• Portugal - Visa length is up to five years;
• Italy - Introduced in 2022, it gives workers the chance to stay in the country for one year with the possibility to extend;
• Croatia - Temporary stay is granted for up to a year;
• Greece - The digital nomad visagives you legal residence as a remote worker for up to a year, after which you can apply for a residence permit which allows you to stay longer;
• Estonia - Right for remote workers to temporarily stay in Estonia for up to one year;
• Montenegro - The digital nomad visa is a temporal permit for non-EU remote workers employed in a foreign company outside Montenegro. Nomads can stay for up to two years in the country;
• Malaysia - The DE Rantau Nomad Pass allows foreigners to stay in Malaysia for up to 12 months in the first instance, with the option to renew for another 12 months, allowing 24 months of stay in total;
• Indonesia - The visa allows for up to 180 days of stay but this may be extended further;
• Costa Rica - The nomad scheme allows international residents to work remotely for up to a year, with the option to renew for an additional year;
• Dubai - The remote working visa scheme is valid for one year.

By James Sillars, business reporter

It's a positive start to the day for shares in London.

The FTSE 100 opened 0.4% higher at 8,265 after declines in the previous session that saw bank stocks under particular pressure.

Markets globally were reacting to renewed fears that interest rate cuts in the United States remained some way off and the results of the elections for the European Parliament.

They showed a big rise in far-right groups and even prompted France to call a snap parliamentary election.

Raspberry Pi made its London stock market debut this morning.

The personal computer maker saw its shares climb more than 30% at the open.

More widely, the cost of oil has been on the march again.

A barrel of Brent crude will set you back $81.

The price rose 3% yesterday on forecasts of strong demand during America's peak vacation (that's summer holiday) season.

Analysts, however, see that higher level being short-lived due to concerns about US interest rates being higher for longer.

By James Sillars, business reporter

The prospect of a pre-election interest rate cut by the Bank of England has been damaged by official figures showing no progress in bringing down the pace of wage growth.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed basic pay rising at an annual rate of 6% in the three months to April.

That was flat on the figure reported by the ONS a month ago.

The measure that includes bonuses actually rose to 5.9% from 5.7%.

While it leaves pay growth at way more than double the 2.3% inflation rate,it will not help persuade the Bank of England that the time is right for an interest rate cut when it reveals its latest decision on 20 June.

Just 18% of companies in the UK are led by women, and while data suggests female entrepreneurs are on the rise, men still receive more funding and are entrusted with higher average loans to get them started.

In a new series every Tuesday, Money blog reporter Jess Sharp speaks to women who are bossing it in their respective fields - hearing their stories, struggles and advice for those who want to follow in their footsteps.

This week, she has spoken to Annabel Thomas, the founder of Nc'nean whisky distillery...

Annabel left her job as a strategy consultant in London more than a decade ago to pursue her ambition to change the way the world thought about whisky.

With women and sustainability at the forefront of her mind, she has gone on to create the UK's first net-zero whiskey distillery - and has hired a female-led team to do it.

It took four years of hard graft, fundraising and actually building to create the Nc'nean distillery in the Highlands, and then another three years to produce its first bottle.

'Everyone thought I was mad'

She was first inspired by her parent's farm and dreamed of turning one of its old buildings into a distillery.

After touring lots of distilleries, she realised the industry was still very traditional and no one was talking about sustainability.

"No one seemed to be thinking very creatively about the spirit," Annabel, 41, says.

"I just thought that there was a need for that and consumers were going to increasingly demand sustainable products, which they now are. Though, at the time, everyone thought I was mad."

'I didn't have a time machine' - the long process to get started

After deciding to take the plunge, the mother-of-two says it was a "long, slow process" to get the business off the ground, especially juggling the financial needs of her family and childcare.

In fact, she initially took a sabbatical from her job to get started and then went back and started working on Nc'nean at the weekend to make sure she was drawing a wage from somewhere.

Eventually, her business became a full-time job and she managed to launch a seed funding round to really get things going.

"The thing about a distillery that is different to many other projects is that you have to raise an enormous amount of money upfront," she says.

"You can't make something in your kitchen and try to sell it. We spent £5m building a distillery before we produced a drop of liquid - so it's quite a different profile to many other startups," she added.

Getting the funding was "pretty tough", she says, explaining it's hard to raise money when you don't have a product to show for it.

"You can't even say this is what the whisky's going to taste like, because I didn't have a time machine."

'You would never ask me that if I was a man'

It took Annabel two years to raise the funds she needed, and she wonders if it would have taken as long if she were a man.

"Maybe it would have only taken me a year if I was a man, but you never know," she says.

Initially, she says, she didn't think about the challenges she might have to overcome in such a male-dominated field, but it quickly became obvious.

"It didn't really occur to me until people kept asking, me, basically every single day, if I actually liked whisky," she explains.

"I thought, 'You would never ask me about that if I was a man - just because I'm a woman, you assume I don't like it.'"

Making it sustainable

Sustainability was one of Annabel's key drivers when she embarked on her entrepreneurial journey and her distillery is powered solely by renewable energy.

She was the first to create a distillery that has been verified as having net-zero carbon emissions from its own operations, and also the first to use a 100% recycled clear glass bottle.

"It doesn't sound like a big deal," she says modestly. "But actually 100% recycled glass saves 40% of the carbon emissions versus what within the industry would be called fake glass, which is largely like new materials."

When you look at a Nc'nean bottle, it has a kind of green tinge and a few bubbles in it.

The "big guys" would consider them imperfect, Annabel says, but she has decided to "embrace the imperfections".

"If it saves 40% of the carbon emissions, then we think that's the right thing to do," she says.

Nc'nean also replants everything it harvests, only uses 100% organic Scottish barley (the main ingredient in whisky) and feeds the leftover grain to the cows that live on the farm.

The challenges

Away from the struggles with fundraising, Annabel says childcare is one of the biggest challenges she has had to overcome.

With her setting up the company and her husband a lawyer, she says full-time childcare was the only option, but it was far too expensive.

"I don't think as a country we have the right support system," she says. "It's not economic for me to work. If I was running the country, things would look very different."

The issue also means getting the work-life balance can be hard, and she always feels like she's "not spending enough time with the family, and too much time on work".

"I think at least I have some control over my own diary now, which is really helpful," she adds.

Annabel's advice

Use your differences to your advantage - that's Annabel's top tip.

She urges women not to be "put off" by jumping into a male-dominated field, saying the key is to create something different.

Being a woman in such an industry was actually an "advantage", she says.

"You will find that you think differently to everyone else and that can only be a good thing for creating something different, which is ultimately important because you need to find your niche."

Within the whisky world, work is already ongoing to encourage women to join and she hopes that's the same in other industries as well.

Practically, she says, seeking out support groups is "definitely worth it" and surrounding yourself with people who know more than you do is helpful.

"None of our distillers have ever worked in whisky before and I like that because it brings a different perspective," she says.

Read more from this series below...

British house hunters should look at buying Scotland if they want to get the most for their money, according to new research.

A study by Hopkins Homes, a real estate and zero energy bill expert, found Scotland prominently featured among the most affordable areas, while perhaps unsurprisingly, London dominated the least affordable category.

The research assessed the affordability of 325 areas in Britain by looking at average house prices, the rate of price increase, the ratio of the average couple's earnings to house prices and average council tax costs, to give a final "affordability" score.

The higher the score, the more affordable the area.

Angus in eastern Scotland has come out top for affordability in Britain, according to the research.

There, prospective buyers are looking at an average house price of £164,076, while the price-to-earnings ratio sits at 2.31. According to Hopkins Homes, it has an "affordability score" of 85.

It was followed by West Dunbartonshire, also in Scotland, with a score of 84.1, and Aberdeenshire with 83.2.

At the other end of the scale, the swanky London borough of Kensington and Chelsea came out as the least affordable area to buy a home in Britain.

With average house prices sitting at a whopping £1.2m, buying in this area is out of reach for many, with the house price-to-couple's earnings ratio sitting at 16.18.

The affordability score for Kensington and Chelsea is just 40 - the lowest in Britain - and is followed by London's City of Westminster at 53 and Elmbridge in Surrey with 57.3.

The Hopkins Homes report says Britain's housing affordability landscape in 2024 "presents a diverse picture, with significant variations across different regions".

"When making house buying decisions, the analysis highlights the importance of considering factors beyond just house prices, such as income levels, council taxes, and overall quality of life," it said.

"Overall, the data underscores the importance of careful consideration and planning when navigating the UK housing market."