Legally, there are several answers. Personally, mine is much simpler.
I live here because Thailand is home.
If I didn't feel at home, I would hardly have stayed for nearly 30 years.
My daily food is Thai. I love the people, the atmosphere and, most of the time, the climate. Almost everything I own and everything that makes up my normal daily life is here.
There is one feeling I particularly recognise after an overseas trip. The aircraft lands at Suvarnabhumi, the doors open, that familiar warm air comes in and I breathe: home.
Going back to Holland is almost the opposite now. I enjoy seeing family and friends, but after a few days I start feeling like a tourist in the country where I was born.
Funny how life works.
Can a foreigner actually stay permanently?
Yes, although the word “permanent” needs some explanation.
Thailand does have genuine Permanent Residence. It allows qualifying foreigners to live in Thailand without relying on the normal annual extension system, but it is not automatically granted simply because somebody has lived here for many years.
Applicants generally need an established history of qualifying non-immigrant status and must fall within recognised categories such as employment/business, investment or family/humanitarian reasons. Thailand also operates an annual quota.
Thailand also offers longer-term alternatives, including the Long-Term Resident (LTR) programme for qualifying applicants, as well as other visa routes depending on age, work, investment and personal circumstances.
And then there are many people like me who have simply lived here year after year through the normal visa and work-permit system.
It can be done. Quite obviously.
Perhaps long-term residents deserve something simpler
This is where I think Thailand could eventually make another step forward.
If somebody has lived here responsibly for 10, 20 or 30 years, paid taxes where applicable, obeyed the law and made Thailand their genuine home, perhaps there should be a simpler recognised long-term resident status.
Not automatic citizenship and not special privileges. Simply some acknowledgement that this person is no longer a temporary visitor who arrived last Tuesday.
Of course there should be checks. Thailand has every right to know who is living here and to exclude people with criminal or illegal intentions.
But for genuine long-term residents, perhaps the paperwork could become easier with time rather than remaining something that has to be repeatedly proven.
Home is not really about the visa stamp
After nearly 30 years, I do not wake up every morning thinking, “I am a foreign resident of the Kingdom of Thailand.” I wake up at home.
That is probably the best answer I can give.
A passport tells you where you were born. A visa tells you where you are allowed to stay. But neither necessarily tells you where you belong.
For me, that question was answered a long time ago.
Thailand is home.