Hi Guys! First of all I just want to thank you all for making this forum the greatest source of information for people living or want to live in Thailand.

I have used hours off search for what I can do on a business visa (Non Immigrant-, but I don't seem to get closer to an answer.

Little background. I have a Hong Kong based company, where I do consultancy work for European companies. This requires that I answer mails, and look at data for the customers. Recently work has been shrinking and I'm looking to set up some sort of web based shop. This would still be under my Hong Kong based company, where Thai distributors would sell to Thai customers. Servers are not in Thailand.

2 things that aren't clear for me regarding the Non-Immigrant Business Visa;

-How to define work

-How to define conduct in business

As I understand:

-I can't work in a bar, office, hospital etc. without having a work permit. (fine I'm not going to)

-I can't apply for a work permit if I'm not going to work for a Thai based company.

-I can attend a business meeting, or a conference and in this regard report back to the overseas company I work for.

Things that are uncertain:

-Can I under my stay in Thai, having a non-B visa make the work for my HK based company full time?

-Would I do anything illegal if I manage the Hong Kong based web page selling through thai dropshippers to Thai people, while staying in Thailand on a Non-B visa?

-Can I while in Thailand "hire" a freelancer for research work and meet with the person face to face?

-What about taxes to Thailand?

Sorry for the long thread but I really would like to do the things correct.

Best Regards

You can't work any where in Thailand without a Work Permit and the definition of work is very broad including attending business meetings, signing business documents and work related un-remunerated activities.

You can own a business, but not be active in it's running, without a WP - however you need a signatory for annual, etc documents.

The Category 'B' Visa expects you to apply for WP, even if you work for an overseas company or are self employed, in this case you must identify/enlist a Thai Partner Company to support the WP aplication.

There have been many long threads on this forum regarding ' overseas teleworking' and the general concensus is you would by law require a WP, but that you would be very difficult to spot.

What the OP intends to do would require a WP, if a legitimate undertaking, should not have a problem setting up a Thai ltd company and getting a WP that way