freeman01

Just in case for those interested, this can be done in Hua Hin as well on a tourist visa.

- Passport copy + copy visa / stamp

- TM6 card

- 2 photos

- Rental contract / hotel bills

- phone number

- 500 THB

the problem with the banks is the awful rate they give you, on top of the fees you lose a lot at the end.

I would be surprise if the Thai banks behave differently in this regards.

hmpff, I guess this is where crypto comes to the rescue ! www.bitkub.com

Can this be done using Transferwise ?

I don't get it, if you only stay 6 months total whats the issue with SETV and VE ?

The only problem i see is if you want to stay more time with border run and back to back visa, if you stay a few weeks to a month or more between visa its a walk in the park to get in.

For instance for me i drop my passport at an agent in Penang with refundable flight ticket and 10 days refundable hotel booking and bam i got SETV after a few days that you can extend to 30 more days when in Thailand with a simple visit to immigration, total about 4,000THB.

When you cross the border, if you get pulled aside you just have to show flight ticket out, hotel reservation, 20k thb and visa receipt from the embassy. With this no matter how angry the officer looks at you they will let you in. Pretty sure i could do this 3 times a year if no back to back stamps.

15k or 30k USD for an elite visa would be a huge waste of money imho, unless it is to stay all year long, and even then ...

Btw Malaysia is much more than just a Muslim country like some says, very underrated and well worth to visits, very friendly people they all speaks perfect english and the country has better infrastructure than Thailand.

I am kind of a similar situation except not on an Elite visa but I do stay a total of 183 days or more on a tourist visa to be eligible for the tax residency.

First of all, nobody cares what kind of visa you use to stay in a country so don't worry about that.

In most countries you become a tax resident if you stay more than 183 days, more than half a year. If you don't stay anywhere that long, your home country will be able to claim taxes. Overall it's the banking mafia that will define your residency more than anything as you won't be able to open a bank account without proper proof of residence most of everywhere.

For now every time I get asked my address in my home country I give my last address which is the one on my current passport. I can see this becoming an issue if I ever get into some kind of trouble with the authorities but otherwise nobody gives a f really.

It seems a work permit would only be required by the Thai immigration dept if you work with a Thai based company or with Thai people, so any online freelance job or whatever online with a company or people outside of Thailand is fine to do on a tourist visa.

Regarding taxes it's a bit of a grey area however.

As a Territorial taxation country, Thailand only tax on income generated or earn inside Thailand, anything earned outside and not remitted in the country in the current year is not taxed.

That said, from my understanding and according to the law, if you perform an activities that can get classified as work performed on Thailand territory, whether or not the salary is paid oversea and remitted into Thailand, is considered taxable income. Exception in case the income is already taxed in a country that has a double taxation treaty with Thailand.

From my research it seems most people just bury their head in the sand on this by not declaring anything anywhere while working online job in Thailand, earning income and keeping it outside of Thailand. Apparently nobodies ever gets in trouble doing this it seems.

Investment outside of Thailand or management of a foreign company apparently does not qualify as work or as a job and therefore is not taxed as long as the profit is not remitted in the current tax year.

Important f you are involved with crypto, whatever you earned from crypto is considered Thailand income as the blockchain is everywhere they said ... A capital gain tax of 15% is due on crypto trading profit and interest or income earned from crypto would be considered taxable income by the revenue dept not matter what.

1 hour ago, freeman01 said:

given VE entries and how easy you can get 6 months tourist visa

Meant 3 months SETV not 6, cant edit somehow ...

Curious how you got refused your SETV, was it all back to back visa ?

Which embassy ? Which passport and what age range are you ?

Will be requesting SETV a few times next year and that could really help!

2 hours ago, Pravda said:

 

Remember. This is the same guy who thinks bitcoin is a great investment, but can't afford 3000 Euro a year for a hassle free visa to live in Thailand.

Bitcoin that was me.

3,000 a year is not the same as 15,000 upfront for 5 years or 120 something thb a day as mentioned earlier.

As a digital nomad you would want travel around most of the time unlikely to come to thailand more than 2-3 times a year, given VE entries and how easy you can get 6 months tourist visa, an elite visa in this case would be the absolute most terrifyingly stupid way to waste your money.

This thread is golden, somehow after weeks or research on the matter i only found it now ...

Thanks everyone for the very details information, very much appreciated!

A bit of my own experience in case it helps anyone, I went to the revenue dept in Hua Hin to request a Thai tax id with the narrative of having income remitted to Thailand this year but they asked for proof and to come back with a bank statement and also a residence certificate.

As i didnt didnt have anything to show at the time I didnt go further yet, initially I was hoping it would just be a formality as many have stated on this forum but apparently it depends on which office you go... Welcome to Thailand ????

21 minutes ago, Escaflowne said:

I don't think it's an issue as the money only goes from and to French bank accounts. Plus, I cannot be a resident given my visa options.

You become tax resident after spending a total of 183 days in the country regardless of which visa you used to get in.

if you pay taxes in France then no worries because of the double tax treaty between the 2 country, if you don't however then this is something to investigate.

was an extreme example to make my point obviously, just to make people who might not be very knowledgeable financially that those 30,000 USD could be worth more than it seems at first.

Although since you asked, I would bet on bitcoin currently for insane gains long term.

To iterate on my post above, I believe in this case you wouldn't be breaking the immigration laws by doing this freelance job while staying in the country, simply because you do not take anyone's job.

But you would be breaking the Revenue dept laws if not paying taxes for a job performed on Thailand territory as per Thailand territorial taxation system.

If I am not mistaken Thailand will be entering the CRS treaty with european countries and many others in the coming years, when they do they will have access to bank account information in all CRS countries that are owned by Thai tax resident individual and then would be able to asks questions and make you pay in this case.

Interested to have anyone's constructive opinion on this.

1 hour ago, Mike Teavee said:

Small (but important) correction, you'll only be taxed on money earned this year that's brought into the country, so if you are bringing in monies earned in the previous calendar year, they're not liable for Tax.

 

E.G. if on 1st January you brought in all of the money you needed for the year, then doesn't matter how much you earn outside of Thailand during the year, it's not taxable. 

 

Hmm ... this is where this is a bit of a grey area actually.

Since you are actually performing an actual job as a web developer inside the territory of Thailand, you income could very well fall under Thailand tax even without remitting the funds in the country if you stay all year. This as opposed to activities such as investing or managing a company overseas that wouldn't fall under work activity I believe.

I am pretty certain they don't enforce that though, and even if they wanted to it would be very difficult to do, but technically I would be careful stating the opposite with certainty.

Note that the Immigration dept and the Revenue dpt aren't working together systematically but only on rare cases, I believe each have their own set of rules.

2 hours ago, Matzzon said:

I know this will sound insane for you. Have you ever considered that some people can think of 1MB as a very good investment for getting 20 hassle free years in Thailand?

I guess it´s up to each and everyone to decide what is of value in life.

(Note: I agree with you, that it would be much better to make investments with the money)

I am just stating my opinion obiviously. It's not insane at all, as long as you are fully aware of the alternatives before you make your choice.

Believe it or not I am actually considering it myself so I have given it a lot thoughts, but currently I am eyeing at those new bitcoin backed loans that are starting to pop here and there for this.

On 12/10/2019 at 6:55 AM, Roy Baht said:

I see in your previous OP you posted simply: "Suffice it say that my US passport was stolen." Could you give any details about the circumstances of the theft? That might help future travelers to Vietnam avoid a similar fate.

second that, would love to hear a bit of details of the theft when you have time, could be useful.

avoid Poi Pet border at all cost !!!

11 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

1MB (not 10) One of the best decisions I made with regards to my longevity in Thailand.

 

I can read these threads now from the safety of a life long visa, never having to apply for yearly extensions or deal with immigration (unless I stay longer than 90 days which I don't) or have any of the concerns so frequently raised on these threads. 

 

If you can't afford it, then of course, it's not for you - if 134 baht a day concerns you, then you perhaps need to re-thing your choices. 

 

Besides - with the additional services (AOT transport, Golf, Yearly medical etc) over 14 years (so far) the Thai Elite Membership approaches paying for itself.

You'll have to be very wealthy to seriously consider it at this age.

The ROI you can get on 30,000 usd over 20 years could be insane, well worth the hassle of doing border runs. For instance if you had invested 30,000 usd into apple stock in 2000 (at the top of the bubble, worst possible time then) you would be up over 5000% now, over 1,500,000 usd now.

Price of bitcoin in 20 years anyone ?

again, only consider this if you take a loan for it.

16 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Wrong. ...

 

What do you mean "wrong" ? that's exactly why that kind of law exist ????

The law is only an issue if it is enforced, otherwise it's just some words in a law books used to satisfy some <deleted> international treaty and some special cases ...

They will never put the effort and energy to deport anyone working remotely who are not threatening Thai employment, laziness is a common denominator of all law enforcement agents in all south east Asia.

I got rejected once at Cambodia border then took a flight to bkk the next day and got stamped in without issue. just make sure to have a flight out and 10 days hotels reservation printed and also 20,000 THB or equivalent to show as the officer will likely ask for those with the red flag on the passport.

To play it safe, I would get a 60 day tourist visa at the embassy, very simple with the papers mentioned above and it cost like 50 bucks.

11 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Realistically, if the Op wishes to stay in Thailand the Thai Elite is a viable option: 

1MB averaged out over 20 years is 134 baht per day... 

10M THB upfront at 30yo ... would be the worst mistake ever but maybe it's just me.

eventually if you can borrow money with very low interest, then why not.

2 hours ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

This might not work depending on your airline. Many, including the last I flew into Thailand with, ANA, won't let you get on the plane without seeing your onward ticket. They know that Thailand wants everyone to have one, and thus they've made a deal to check their passengers.

 

Thus, the 24 hour thing won't work, because if you're like me taking an international flight running up to nearly $1000 US, you're booking your ticket at least a month in advance, unless you want that price to double.

 

My solution and many others, is to buy a cheap throwaway ticket. Nok Air into Laos, for under 1000 baht.

I was advising for requesting a visa at embassy or crossing a border, but I don't see why it wouldn't work for airlines as well ? buy the ticket before boarding in and cancel when you are checked in ?

whenever someone asked for a flight ticket, book refundable ticket, show ticket, cancel ticket --> free refund, no fees ---> victory, you hacked the system !

hey 20-30 bucks goes a long way in asia !