Article from the Thai Embassy website on "digital nomads". Comments, anyone??

[Nickelbeer]

https://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand/thailand-digital-nomad-visa-and-work-permit?fbclid=IwAR3maABgihpEwC7lgb4HcHWLfy05qhjfmltQx4wFY8tYAWhKhfFCJKRm0PI

[impulse]

Comment:  It's thaiembassy.com. 

 

Not .gov.  Nor .th

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by impulse

[Poet]

Note that this website, despite the deceptive domain name, is not any sort of official site or in any way connected to any Thai embassy or any part of the government of Thailand.

This is simply a click-bait article on a controversial subject designed to generate traffic. It was written quickly by someone plagiarizing similarly misguided articles already online. There is no new information here, just the same unsourced misconceptions that eternally orbit around this subject online.

It is a subject that some people find it hard to think rationally about, that is something I see regularly on this forum, but the reality is that there is there is no specific law against tourists doing work sourced outside Thailand for clients or employers outside Thailand. When someone online gets overheated and claims there is, politely ask to see the law. I have been hearing these arguments for decades and no one has ever been able to point to an actual law.

Equally, when hotheads warn people considering working remotely in Thailand that they will definitely be arrested and deported, politely ask them to provide a credible news source reporting on someone being arrested or deported for this anytime in the past half-century. Be clear that you are not talking about people deported for engaging in crime, porn, dating scams, boiler rooms scams, outraging the locals, annoying someone important, soliciting clients in Thailand, marching against the government, running a restaurant, competing in kick boxing tournaments etc.

The reality is that millions of people have been doing this in Thailand since long before the term "digital nomads" was coined. Every country in the world is aware of and completely okay with the idea that many visitors work on stuff they bring with them. As long as you are not taking work from a Thai, or performing a job that a Thai could do in a Thai place of work, or making trouble or bringing embarrassment to Thailand, they do not care.

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Poet

[kingofthemountain]

First thing important to note is this site isn't the official site

of the Thai embassy, it's a private company using this name

(I know it's a little weird for this company to use this name

as it can be missleading for a lot of people, but i think the main goal was to be at the top of the results when someone does a request online searching by name)

Edit: Impulse and Poet have already beat me to it lol

Edited May 3, 2021 by kingofthemountain

[Nickelbeer]

I didn't read carefully enough. It was sent by a friend who has lived here many years, so I tend to trust the  source. I quickly sent him an e-mail noting that unless the website has "th. or "dot gov" in the URL, then it does not represent anything official.

[tonray]

It used to be when you ran into expats during travels in Thailand, most of the characters you'd run into claimed they were "Digital Nomads" or "Internet Entrepreneurs" ...these days it seems the bulk of them are claiming to be "Crypto Traders"......What's next ? 

[Poet]

9 minutes ago, tonray said:

these days it seems the bulk of them are claiming to be "Crypto Traders"

Anyone you met, over the past year or so, who was involved in crypto is now almost certainly rich enough that they no longer need to work.

I am only tangentially involved, crypto is just were I put my savings, but my net worth increased by more than 100x. Frankly, it makes a mockery of my actual business ????

[tonray]

31 minutes ago, Poet said:

Anyone you met, over the past year or so, who was involved in crypto is now almost certainly rich enough that they no longer need to work.

I am only tangentially involved, crypto is just were I put my savings, but my net worth increased by more than 100x. Frankly, it makes a mockery of my actual business ????

Then why are they staying in the same 600 baht per night hovel that I'm at ? ha ha ha ha. Some mar be but the majority are blowing smoke.

[Poet]

13 minutes ago, tonray said:

Then why are they staying in the same 600 baht per night hovel that I'm at ? ha ha ha ha. Some mar be but the majority are blowing smoke.

Because we know that every dollar we spend now could be ten dollars by the end of the year.

For the first time in my life I have crazy money but I am spending like a pauper ????

[treetops]

The article is essentially accurate, and laws are so old or outdated they don't specifically allow or disallow it.  This sentence in the conclusion sums things up well:

 

"The reason why the authorities have so far allowed this is because there was no main concern. Thai jobs or Thai security were not threatened. There were no problems or nobody reported it. This position of tolerance may change in the future, if there are problems or if Thai law is adjusted."

[n00dle]

The scenarios are woefully incomplete and laughable.

 

Falling back on the foregener working in the family noodle shop is laughable, and essentially filler.

 

I freelance from thailand, all my clients are us, uk, aus, canada or europe and uae/ksr.

 

I would say there are many here like me doing work unrelated to thailand and in no way in competition with a thai.

 

 

 

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, n00dle said:

The scenarios are woefully incomplete and laughable.

 

Falling back on the foregener working in the family noodle shop is laughable, and essentially filler.

 

I freelance from thailand, all my clients are us, uk, aus, canada or europe and uae/ksr.

 

I would say there are many here like me doing work unrelated to thailand and in no way in competition with a thai.

 

 

 

Where do you declare your income and pay your taxes then?

 

[n00dle]

1 hour ago, kingofthemountain said:

Where do you declare your income and pay your taxes then?

 

I bill through an unincorporated business registered in hong kong.