tim73

Simply ask your school, they will take care of the paper work. Probably will take few weeks. I used to have ED visa for many years, now retirement.

Here is more informative topic for this:

http://www.thaivisa....it/page__st__25

You have to work and be part of Thailand based company in order to get work permit. Many work without work permit because they cannot get one in similar situations and Thai officials seem not be interested in remote workers.

They do not have any business in Thailand, only overseas. If doing it by yourself, you would need to setup a Thai company and employ four Thais for each work permit applied. It is a Catch-22.

Sure lots of people do it and don't get thrown in jail but anyone considering that course should at least be aware that they are at best entering a grey area and at worst outright breaking the law.. What Soutpeel and others are saying is just that. You on the other hand are just giving unqualified advice to people to go ahead and break the law.

BTW, we have google too.

Another "law&order" type, why don't you guys form your own forum and stop bothering us here. Which part of the quote is too hard to understand?! That quote was from a LAW FIRM! Then in that thread some guy even applied with his company multiple times for a work permit but was denied because he did not work directly for the Thailand based unit of the company. Still he works here and no problems from any officials to him. They did nothing KNOWING that guy is going to work in Thailand! Surely they would have arrested him if they gave a shit but did not obviously.

((flame removed))

From another thread: ""While Thai law does require anyone working in Thailand to have a work permit we have been told by the Labor Department that they generally do not require a work permit for those checking emails and doing some work from home remotely. However, if you are selling on Ebay and have boxes of goods in your home this would be looked at in a different light and we have been told that they would expect you to have a company and work permit for this kind of exporting." - that is from Sunbelt law firm.

So ignore guys like Soutpeel, they got some sick satisfaction from pointing out others that they are breaking the law when in fact they are not. Remote work is a special case and there are no Thai laws to cover it...at least yet.

Basically OP could be totally tax free worker. He is not officially working in either countries. Once you leave Finland then you are not subjected to Finnish taxes anymore. Probably better to setup a company to make it look more official to some tax paradise.

Another example of a law: You should carry your passport at ALL THE TIMES or you could face difficulties. How many visa holders actually obey that in Thailand?

Like Crille is saying, in reality it is not that simple to use Thai companies. If you got into trouble with them foreigners almost always are in the weaker position. The same thing with traffic accidents, in many cases "magically" the foreigner is to blame no matter what the Thai side did.

Just try living in Thailand for few years and learn Thai etc and see how it goes with EU based company. Or Cambodia business visa sounds much better.

Thailand companies pay 30 percent so it is not that low. Setup your company to some other EU place and withdraw money from there. No need to setup it Thailand. You do not get even anything for return of paying taxes. No health care, no public education, nothing.

tim73 doesnt know what he is talking about and is cutting and pasting extracts from other websites

Then enlighten us, if you know better or point to some links. My links were from actual law firms. Some vague comment "I started a company with one Thai person" does not really tell anything. How would a freelancer alone start a Thailand based company with reasonable costs? 50000 euros is not reasonable.

Ok, I got a little bit outdated/wrong info:

"Generally, businesses in Thailand are set up through private companies. In this type of business there is no limit on capital investment. Foreigners may in general own 100% of the shares of a private company but there are certain types of business that foreigners cannot own on a majority basis, under the Foreign Business Act and other industry specific legislation. In some cases it may be possible to apply for a licence or permission for majority foreign ownership.

Private companies need to have at least three promoters to register the company and a minimum of three shareholders must be maintained at all times. In addition accounting, auditing and tax filing procedures described in the Civil and Commercial Code, the Revenue Code, and the Accounts Act, must always be complied with.

Note: On 1 July 2008 an amendment came into effect reducing the required number of shareholders from seven (as it had been previously) to three. Existing companies with seven shareholders may reduce their number of shareholders to three, but this will have tax and legal implications and professional advice should be taken."

"Foreign Business Act Restrictions

According to Thailand Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (FBA), there are 3 types of business activities:

List 1: Business Not Permitted to Foreigners

List 2: Business Permitted to Foreigners under Conditions

List 3: Business Not Yet Permitted to Foreigners

The minimum capital requirement for foreigners is two million baht in general, and three million baht for those under List 2 or List 3."

http://bangkok.anglo...usiness.asp#FBA

http://www.siam-lega...ess-Act-FBA.php

Still, 50 000 euros plus fees for setting up a company...that is quite a lot. How there could be THREE shareholders if a foreigner owned 100 percent?! :---) Really TiT stuff....

Thanks for the advices, but my true problem is high taxes in my home country. I know that it's very possible to have a so called long holiday while doing some kind of job in Internet AND receive money to your bank account back in home. But if I wanted to pay taxes (or mostly avoid these insane taxes in Finland) to Thailand, you are saying that is impossible?

Any other solution for this? I'm quite sure someone else have had the same problem as I'm having.

Setup a company somewhere else in a low tax country and charge your customer from there. Perfectly legal in EU. Then withdraw from there your money for expenses in Thailand. I heard Baltics have quite low taxes? When you yourself are abroad the possibilities are much greater for tax planning than for an average Joe living in his home country.

You just have to dig up more. In most cases you could even avoid paying taxes completely because you are not in the EU anymore. Basically you could setup a company to Cayman Islands. Tax officials do not go after individuals abroad (except from Nazi USA which taxes on citizenship, not actual location) unless there are financial crimes involved like fraud.

It is just too difficult to setup a company in Thailand because you have to find four Thai partners. Legally they cannot even know each other when a foreigner setups a company. It does not even make any sense for freelancers to have four partners doing nothing and owning the majority of shares. I am myself retired, so for folks over 50 it is easier. It is sad that Thailand does not want to create a freelancer visa which would bring boatloads of money to Thai government in taxes.

It is totally grey area. If you do not have anything to do with Thailand business wise then you probably will be ok just with just tourist visas. Many, many people do that and they receive money to some foreign account. For example book authors are just fine, writing their books here while on tourist visa.

You cannot get work permit in Thailand for remote work. There is no such thing. You cannot even own your business in Thailand 100 percent, you have to find four Thai business partners who would own majority of shares. Some officials say remote work is illegal and require a work permit but it is catch-22. You cannot apply for one.

Then some officials say it is perfectly ok as long as you do not work in Thailand for Thai businesses or have nothing to do with Thailand. They think it is like a foreigner checking his emails in a hotel with his laptop while having a very long holiday. Basically he is working too but waste of time to go after them. Welcome to TiT :-)

Well, actually there is a twist to this story. How they do grounding inside the International Space Station or similar space vehicles? They do it by having that earth wire connected to same point or point connecting to same area of outer surface with near zero resistance pathway.

The "earth" itself up there could be anything from zero to millions of volts, compared to some other point in the atmosphere. So by that flower pot I suggested, the point of earth of that flower pot is basically making is the same thing as in a space ship. High in the condo you are basically a "spaceship". You are in a isolated environment. As long as the ground is less resistant than yourself or any other path to yourself, you are safe.

That house looks like it needs complete wiring overhaul unfortunately. Have you checked the wiring inside, it could be totally fuc_ked up! I heard in my house loud bangs from attic once in a while and slight dimming of the lights at the same time. It turned out to be a rat bitten wire making "lovely" sparks! Part of the roof foam insulation nearby was already blackened.

I don't know much about wiring but I think those wires even inside should be covered with something plastic, especially in the attic or anywhere rats and other small animals have easy access.

Good info here, I never thought grounding could be quite complex issue. So more metal (copper plates?) to the ground, the more deep, the better? Single rods not very good?

So the question remains, there is no good ground in years old condo since whatever and this balcony railing thing grounding sounds like you are going to electrocute anybody touching the rail if the malfunction happens! Especially if many of the other condo citizens are doing the same and the condo management do not give a shit for your requests of another line.

So what is your opinion, in that case, no good ground available, electricians or engineers? Is the flower pot with cement blocks the only choice? Or what would you do to create a ground?

Good that you have an RCD.

The problem is that the indicator light isn't 'measuring' anything, it is merely indicating that the outlet is wired correctly and that there is a path to ground. The light triggers at a few milliamps and gives no real indication as to the quality of the ground itself.

Is it possible to check the quality of ground by simple multimeter or does one need that earth loop impedance tester? I believe the neutral and ground line should show less than a volt or two at least. Maybe the fault wiring circuit is measuring that voltage difference because the led does not switch off for all connections in the ground line. So it has some kind of threshold.

Do you have an RCD? If you do not you would be well advised to get one installed ASAP.

Yes, there is RCD. So the fault wiring is measuring what exactly if it is not adequate to ensure RCD tripping? Isn't that supposed to mean, the installation is ok, there is proper grounding for surge protector?

I am CERTAIN that you can find a better ground in your apartment, do you have a metal balcony railing?

I tried metal gates, metal water tank and many other places and there is no access to ground, all paved. Not even a single tiny hole Unfortunately also, the water tank has rubber installation in its feet. No luck with the fault light except when I put 30 cm long metal thin rod into big flower pot with concrete blocks underneath. Concrete is used in the Ufer grounding systems so probably resembling that somewhat.

"In 1942, Herbert G. Ufer was a consultant working for the U.S. Army. Ufer was given the task of finding a lower cost and more practical alternative to traditional copper rod grounds for these dry locations. Ufer discovered that concrete had better conductivity than most types of soil. Ufer then developed a grounding scheme based around encasing the grounding conductors in concrete. This method proved to be very effective, and was implemented throughout the Arizona test site." - wiki.

By western standards this is potentially dangerous. But if they are selling these adapters in supermarkets it seems to indicate many Thais are actually using these adaptors to make ad hoc groundings (in welding shops etc). Because they cannot afford to tear down the carpets and install a new line all over the place. Most Thai houses do not have grounding installed even if the wall sockets have one for the ground. Most expats live in quite luxurious houses/condos with proper groundings so it is none of their concern.

That is why I said be really careful and in any case you should call an electrician first if possible. Anyway, it seems to work in my house. Probably it is that "not a good ground", 1600 - 1700 ohms like Crossy measured but the fault wiring light in the surge protector stays off.

I'll let others make the comments I feel like making right now.

But I do have one question for our OP - Since you appear to have 3 pin outlets, what makes you think you need to arrange an additional earth?

It is not connected to anything like in quite a lot of houses/condos in Thailand. Of course one should contact a good electrician if possible but it seems sometimes even they are in Thailand not very familiar with grounding issues.

So is it better to have an ad hoc ground wire to a flower pot with cement blocks underneath or be without it? It seems to be working for me and even surge protector seems to be ok with it (no fault wiring light).

Forgot to add. You need also few cement blocks underneath the flower pot. Cement is used in dry conditions like in deserts to create so called Ufer ground.

The whole point of an "earth" is to drain the errant electricty to "ground", not to put it in some "dirt". Potentially, you're making a big capacitor with no where to go. You also might be creating an intermittent link to the building rebar in the concrete via a wet path.

Not sure this is a good method.

There is no direct access to (1-2 meter deep) ground in many town houses or condos. There is no garden, it is all ceramics or asphalt. Water pipes are nowadays made of plastic and thus, no proper ground connection. So that is why big flower pot could be the only choice.

What to do if you live in a high-rise condo or house and there is no access to proper grounding (aka thick copper rod in the ground, put 2 meters deep).

WARNING: You should know what you are doing before trying these instructions. 220V is not something you should be playing without being really careful. I will not accept any liability or responsibility if you get electrocuted/hurt/killed when doing these instructions. Do not try this while being intoxicated or otherwise impaired.

1. Buy from a supermarket (Tesco Lotus) an adaptor with three spikes. The earth connector is the bottom tiny connector in the photo. The one with hole in the middle of it. Buy also some kind of thin metal rod (30-40 cm long) and a couple of screws.

2. Buy cable thick enough. I used speaker cable, 20 meters. 10 baht per meter. (adaptor.jpg)

3. Buy big flower pot, bigger the better and put a lot of dirt and flower into it. (Maybe your wife can take care of this (flowerpot2.jpg). It should be at least 30 cm deep and 40 cm wide. Not any tiny flower pot will do, it has to be quite big. Put it outside of your room to the balcony if possible and NOT in any case to the shower/toilet room.

4. Strip the wire insulation off from one end of the cable and connect it to earth connector in the adaptor. Make sure the connection is solid. Then insulate it properly with duct tape. DO NOT YET CONNECT IT INTO WALL SOCKET. See wall.jpg how it should look.

5. The other end of the cable goes to flower pot. Strip wire insulation off again and connect the wire first to the metal rod (use screws). Then push it all the way into flower pot dirt. Not to the flower nor flower pot itself but too the DIRT and put is as deep as it goes. Yes, no faking, this is very important part. (flower_pot_grounding.jpg). Make sure the dirt is moist (that is why there is a flower :-).

I have also Leonics TPS-series surge protector (costs about 1800 bahts) and it has a fault wiring (=ground wiring) red led light. It should be OFF and in the photo (surge_protector.jpg) it is actually (although hard to see that) OFF and protected light is ON. The surge protector has six connectors so you can use grounding for more devices than just one. Some extension cords also have grounding connected but you never know here in Thailand, whether it is connected or not. Surge protectors always have ground connector.

6. Connect the adaptor to the wall and then connect that three spike connector from your computer or from surge protector into it. (wall.jpg).

This is not actually "proper" grounding but better than nothing. It is not like you can just drop 50 meters of cable down to ground level and dig a hole for a rod For computer/monitors this will do but for electric ovens or similar high powered devices you must call electrician.

Be careful.

Pretty clear homicide case. Sometimes a murderer just block it from his memory, pretending nothing ever happened. If he were tortured before confession, the torturers would have not satisfied with bullshit about accidental manslaughter. If this were about money they would have done it behind the scenes, quietly.

Sometimes murderers keep trophies, body parts from their victims. Somebody said he was a bit of "street fighter", "tough guy". Even owned attack dogs? Compulsive liar maybe, needs to brag all the time.

So it is possible he actually showed the body to somebody recently, maybe while being drunk and bragging how "tough" guy he is and then, "Come and see what I got here!" Afterwards, he or she told this to a lawyer friend or a friend of a lawyer. Quite reasonable thing to do, if one is too afraid to directly go to police. Then this lawyer tipped off police.