TheRascal

Like those legitimately on ED visas who are now being scrutinised because of others operating within the grey area of immigration law, there is always going to be concern for some that the digital nomads might attract difficulties in the future for those in staying in the black and white area of immigration law.

Others got here the long hard way, so have some obvious animosity towards the more entrepreneurial types.

The thing I like about the expats in this country, they all have a great story on how they got here.

You're talking rubbish. Read my post above as I don't want to type it all out again, however, the gist of it is this. ED visa scrutiny is not down to online workers and online work has never ever in anything I've ever read been attributed to people working online.

er, um... Read my post again! I was defending you.

Up to you to be an auto-<deleted>.

I am an auto-<deleted>

Apologies, it's been a long day

Pyramid scheme, MLM, Ponzi scheme, whatever you want to call it.

Thailand is a great place for people committing fraud - the "investment broker" guys are legendary.

Except affiliate marketing is nothing like any of those.

You advertise a product (on your website or wherever) and you get a commission if someone buys via your link. You realise pretty much every major e-commerce retailer has an affiliate program right?

But yeah, Amazon are obviously at the top of a Ponzi pyramid.

just one example of what can be earned by one man and a laptop. 20% of respondents reported earning in excess of $1M per year:

http://finchsells.com/2013/10/10/how-much-can-you-earn-from-affiliate-marketing/

i really can't be arsed to drag up more info for you after you personally attacked me but this is for others who may (or may not) be interested.

He used to live in Bangkok, I met quite a few guys who are friends with him and do similar kinda stuff. There's some pretty big affiliate players in Thailand.

Like those legitimately on ED visas who are now being scrutinised because of others operating within the grey area of immigration law, there is always going to be concern for some that the digital nomads might attract difficulties in the future for those in staying in the black and white area of immigration law.

Others got here the long hard way, so have some obvious animosity towards the more entrepreneurial types.

The thing I like about the expats in this country, they all have a great story on how they got here.

You're talking rubbish. Read my post above as I don't want to type it all out again, however, the gist of it is this. ED visa scrutiny is not down to online workers and online work has never ever in anything I've ever read been attributed to people working online.

There is the collateral damage legit expats might get hit with when the digi-workers finally do get cracked down on. Mostly in the form of new restrictions to visas/extensions of stay. Already happened with the ED's.

Is it really online workers that caused this though? Do you think they are a big part of the illegal work problem in comparison to illegal tour companies, teachers without the correct visas, people working illegally in restaurants etc etc.

Not once have online workers been mentioned in reasons for cracking down on visas - if I'm wrong please share a link to show me. Teachers have, Koreans working illegally in restaurants have, Russians and Chinese running illegal tours have.

Most online workers I would guess are from Western Europe, Aus or America. Every friend I've known on an ED visa from one of those countries hasn't had an issue getting the 90 day extensions. I was on an ED visa (although not an online worker or a worker of any sort) and I got 90 day extensions no problem for the full year. Every time I was there I saw Koreans and Russians getting the 7 days (effectively - it's time to leave) stamp. I got chatting to a Filipino girl last time I was there, she told me Filipinos never ever get more than 60 days and sometimes only get 30.

I'm not saying online work is legal or not - it's at best a grey area with a few immigration officials saying it's no problem, however it's not the reason for visa crackdowns.

I've never known anyone other than bloggers refer to themselves as "digital nomads" anyway, and generally they are the ones earning little to nothing although there are exceptions.

On the 4th floor next to the SE-ED book shop there's this shop:

http://www.maccenter.co.th/mcc/Home.html

I've had work done to my macbook here and a number of my friends have too and they are excellent.

Im lucky, everything my missis makes is wonderful. except for the mess in the kitchen!!

if I had to pick a favourite then I would have to toss a coin over her massaman kai or khao soi kai.

perfect in every detail, not too sweet like in certain restaurants.

Two of my favourites, you're a lucky man!

Regarding the working don't post on this forum about it. There is thread after thread about online workers and some people have a real issue with them and think they should all be burned at the stake. Legally it's a grey area - some immigration officials have said it's fine but nothing is official. Work at home and keep it to yourself.

As for the roads, if it's such an issue then don't move here. Alternatively you could put on your big boy pants and come and check it out and see it's not as bad as you expect. There are some situations where non road transport just isn't feasible.

Are there a lot of road accidents? Yes, however something rediculous like 80% of them involve motorbikes - hardly anyone wears helmets. Also as someone else stated most accidents occur outside Bangkok. In a car in BKK your risk of an accident is very low. I've been here over 3 years and not been involved in anything at all and can only remember seeing one bump. Even if you did have a bump it's not going to be serious, have you seen the traffic here, most of the time it barely gets above a crawl!

I'm more bothered that since I replied to this I keep getting email alerts that have the words 'your child porn' in the title.

If you were Thai and moved to the west, how would you feel about a son named " Jim"?

I've got a pal here called Jim, I found it amusing. My gf however doesn't see the humour in it, as she put it: you see the same word with different tones. For us a different tone is a completely different word.

How do I become a digital nomad in CM? I have no objections to work from home or in an air conditioned shared workspace. I do not mind paying taxes or commissions as long my net income is about 150,000 baht a month.

Won't effect the Europeans or the British expats as currencies there are still weak. Those using USD will only benefit.

I didn't realise the £ was weak. Maybe not the strength it was but it's getting stronger and stronger against the baht.

In 2013 it dropped down to almost 42 to the £, during the protests and then coup it went to 55, checking right now it's at 54.8. Baht has consistently been getting weaker against the £ for the past few months after being stable around 50.

Thank goodness this girl has the courage to speak out concerns for the safety of the little baby. The baby will go to Spain with a gay couple barely married 3 years. In Spain there will never be any checks on this child's well being. They were married barely a year, when they endeavoured to get their first child. All the Thai girl wants is to at least be able to go and check on the little girl sometimes. She was made to believe this child would be going to America with a mother and a father. She has every right to be concerned for the child's well being. Since she brought the girl into this world, she has a duty to make sure the baby will be cared for correctly.

She said she would never have accepted if she knew the truth.

The contract is void, due to deception. Even I am a little worried about the future of this little girl.

Married less than a year and they endeavoured to get their first child! Downright shocking, especially since ALL straight couples are married for at least 2 years before they would even consider having a child.

When I've seen these things advertised it's when a company has been setup specifically to employ these people. The company is paid from overseas by an individual or company, the minimum advertised is usually 100,000 baht. They then take 30% for their management fee, taxes and office space expenses and in exchange they legally provide employment and give the person the documentation needed for a visa and work permit.

It's only legal until someone with more influence decides it's not. I had a digital nomad blacklisted for three years for failing to deliver on a contract. I am the legal owner of a company.

That's a bit different though, if you own a company here and someone has taken on work from your company and is getting paid in Thailand that's no longer a grey area, they are breaking the law.

Just how are they contributing to the local economy? By drinking coffee?

I'd guess they are contributing to the local economy in the same way that a tourist would but on a more long term basis. Renting a condo which is likely owned by a Thai, eating out in restaurants, paying for gym memberships.

It seems some people here seem to have a complete misunderstanding what online workers do. I too struggle to believe that most bloggers make much money, same with finding local stuff and selling it on eBay - but do you really think that's what most people are doing. I'd guess those are the kind of things people turn to when they get bored of teaching and have little other options.

I've met design and programming contractors, animators, affiliate marketers, search engine optimisers, videographers, people who remotely manage ecommerce sites and loads of other random stuff, most of whom are good at what they do but they want more freedom than being tied to a company.

The issue here is how bent out of shape people get about other people's lifestyle choices. Just concentrate on your own life and ignore people who just aren't disturbing you - in some instances it really does smack of jealousy, that these young bucks haven't paid their dues with a life of hard work before they moved here.

Maybe they are breaking the law but so is anyone who drives after too many drinks, hires a prostitute, drinks in a bar after legal closing time, broke a curfew when one is in place, drives too fast etc etc. Stop getting bent out of shape if other people do things that don't affect your life!

Already went with worldnomads as per the recommendations.

Thanks everyone.

I would think that most real "tourists" coming to Thailand would have a ticket back to their home country and the Thai Government knows this also.

Nothing in the definition about tickets back to anywhere. You should probably contact the Oxford Dictionary and tell them it's time to update - you clearly know better.

I don't have a re-entry permit. I plan to return but I'm going to stay in the UK for a few months and come back on a tourist visa.

I'm currently on my final extension of an ED visa. I am leaving Thailand at the end of the week, flying out from swampy.

Do I need to cancel my extension as some at the Nong Khai border or is this just limited to there?

That's great thank you.

My gf and I are going to the UK for a month for a holiday.

Does anyone have any tips on insurance companies and ideas of costs so that she's covered incase of emergencies?

What a bunch of racist pigs on this site.

I agree there are a lot of questionable attitudes on this site.

You refer to Farang as if Farang means white foreigner. This is false. Farang meas "flucking foreigner" black or white.

Disagree. It means white foreigner. It doesn't mean Black, Latin, Indian, Arab or anything other than white. One of my close friends was born in Colombia but lived in the UK most of his life, he visits Thailand - is he Farang? No, he's Kon Latin.

Terminal 21. Connected to BTS Asoke. London floor. Full of mens clothes shops.

I was up in Buriram last month, getting some work done on my bike. it's a great place - there is a buzz about the place, I don't think they speak Khmer

They do in some towns/villages. Not all.

Yep, as Joe advised they just gave me a 1 day overstay stamp plus all the forms to sign and a 500 baht fine at the extension desk.

Other than that I got the full 90 day extension after reading a few sentences to the officer out of a kids book I took with me. Fridays seem a lot more relaxed when they aren't in uniforms. One slight delay was caused by the fact that when I initially arrived it was in July, the entry stamp was correct but the stamp saying the visa was used was incorrect, stating the month as June not July. The lady noticed this and they messed about with it for ages, eventually ending with it being changed but it took them about 20 minutes extra just due to that small error.

I arrived at 7am and there were still 6 people ahead of me. By 8am The queue had snaked all the way round and was starting to spiral round again.