As an artist or writer is it allowed to set up a home studio to paint or write and send the work to Europe to be sold.

This may involve getting a helper for the art or outsourcing some work locally. Can this be done legally on a tourist visa for short periods of a few months a year. Outsourcing all the work but having the artists work under direction is a viable alternative.

The same question for running an online business from Thailand where all the money is made in Europe but the computer work is done here.

Any advise would be gratefully appreciated.

Same as online workers.

Illegal without a work permit, but as long as you can fly under the radar and nobody reports you then you might be OK.

Getting a employee to "outsource" the work locally sound like waiting for trouble.

Where can you distingush working or not working, an example being someone works for a company in the UK, comes here on a tourist visa but checks their emails, maybe update their UK hosted website, they are working but can you say that is illegal without a work permit....flip side is, a Thai with their own business here visits the UK on a tourist visa...stating they cant work but does the same, are they therefor working illegally in the UK?...