Rumors that bar owners are getting in trouble for letting customers sit with laptop? Is it true?

[Bujan]

I hear a lot of incredulous comments doubting the truth about his work not being related to Thailand, but I assure you , it is NOT related to Thailand.

I can't give any details because he wants to remain anonymous.

But let's say it would be analogous to running a contruction business in North America, delegating tasks to staff, doing business paper work, taxes, renting equipment, calling customers and vendors ect...

NOTHING to do with Thailand.

Up to you if you don't want to understand.

As said it has EVERYTHING to do with Thailand because he is WORKING in Thailand. Is this so difficult to understand ???

And runing a business using an unsecured wifi connection in a bar is NOT a thing to do.

Have a good day

[Nemesis7]

Why is your friend so scared unless he has reasons to be???

Can he not buy internet package or his on net connection and use it from home? Is is he a cheap charlie? trying to use free wifi...

[shadowmaster1971]

So if I fly in from Hong kong on Friday to BKK to do a weekend of golf, get off the plane turn my phone on and respond to an email from office in HK in relation to a HK matter I am technically working in thailand? because I doing in thailand?

Or if I hold a regional position say in HK or SG as where most regional positions are located and respond to an email from my BKK office whilst in in HK in relation to a matter relating to BKK I am technically working Thailand? because the matter relates to thailand despite being in HK?

[mogo51]

"I'm asking because I have a friend that is overly paranoid, he sells stuff on ecommerce sites from West to West, nothing to do about Thailand. He also has a business in the USA that he controls from over here, again, nothing to do with Thailand."

Actually, it has everything to do with Thailand, because that is where your "friend" is when he works.

So, as he is, (according to the letter of the law), working illegally, I would think that the RTP do have the powers to seize his laptop and any other evidence.

Well why would it matter? Whether it is lawful or not, is of no interest to RTP, they will do it anyway..

[billphillips]

I can't really come to terms with lugging a notepad around with me, it must be a "look at me" thing. I have a smartphone that can do everything a notepad can do and it's a fraction of the size and weight. Keyboard too small on a smartphone? Use a tablet or an iPad mini, it fits into a map pocket on your shorts or it's quite comfortable in your hand. It's also more discreet.

A bar is no place to run your business. If I were the bar owner I'd pull the plug as soon as I saw your friend coming, thus freeing up a rather large area for potentially more interesting and paying customers.

No smartphone or tablet and no internet at home smacks of a Cheap Charlie to me.

[mihalis]

Why would you take a laptop to a bar..............

[CLW]

Why he can't do his business at home? Every apartment has internet, may it be shared WiFi, personal cable internet or he uses 3G/4G. Problem solved.

If he can't afford this few Baht it says a lot about his flourishing business...

[NoshowJones]

He also has a business in the USA that he controls from over here, again, nothing to do with Thailand."

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This subject has been discussed many times on the appropriate Thai visa forum topic.

In fact, as he is performing the action in Thailand ,he IS working in Thailand if he is really controlling his business from Thailand.

And to do that he technically is doing something illegal unless he has a work permit.

Which h almost certainly doesn't. unless he works for Thai employer,, or has his own legally registered Thai company

However, t is very unlikely he will get in trouble for it, as the Thais don't seem to enforce the rules about working on the internet.

What he is doing is technically illegal however.

Your "friend" should just carry on doing it and keep his mouth shut, he is harming nobody, but it might be a good idea not to use his laptop in public.

[tonray]

He also has a business in the USA that he controls from over here, again, nothing to do with Thailand."

------------------------

This subject has been discussed many times on the appropriate Thai visa forum topic.

In fact, as he is performing the action in Thailand ,he IS working in Thailand if he is really controlling his business from Thailand.

And to do that he technically is doing something illegal unless he has a work permit.

Which h almost certainly doesn't. unless he works for Thai employer,, or has his own legally registered Thai company

However, t is very unlikely he will get in trouble for it, as the Thais don't seem to enforce the rules about working on the internet.

What he is doing is technically illegal however.

Your "friend" should just carry on doing it and keep his mouth shut, he is harming nobody, but it might be a good idea not to use his laptop in public.

Food Courts all over / Internet Cafes 10 baht per hour / no reason to sit in a bar unless he likes chatting up the ladies while working. Or maybe he is taking videos or pics of the girls with his webcam ? That sounds like a reason the owner might not want him around.

[tezzainoz]

"I'm asking because I have a friend that is overly paranoid, he sells stuff on ecommerce sites from West to West, nothing to do about Thailand. He also has a business in the USA that he controls from over here, again, nothing to do with Thailand."

Actually, it has everything to do with Thailand, because that is where your "friend" is when he works.

So, as he is, (according to the letter of the law), working illegally, I would think that the RTP do have the powers to seize his laptop and any other evidence.

According to this line of reasoning, this would mean that anyone who transacted business online in Thailand would be accused and presumably found guilty of working illegally. This would mean that anyone who checked their work email, took a client phone call or did something work-related while on holiday would be in the same category.

No country I have ever heard of operates such a policy. So lets not get paranoid.

[NoshowJones]

Maybe he sits there and tells everyone how much money he is making and the bar owner is sick to death about hearing it everyday.........

I don't think anyone would be so stupid, well not a westerner anyway.

[NoshowJones]

I hear a lot of incredulous comments doubting the truth about his work not being related to Thailand, but I assure you , it is NOT related to Thailand.

I can't give any details because he wants to remain anonymous.

But let's say it would be analogous to running a contruction business in North America, delegating tasks to staff, doing business paper work, taxes, renting equipment, calling customers and vendors ect...

NOTHING to do with Thailand.

it has because he lives in thailand while doing it

He lives in Thailand when he is having a shoit, is that anything to do with Thailand?

[BlindMagician]

I hear a lot of incredulous comments doubting the truth about his work not being related to Thailand, but I assure you , it is NOT related to Thailand.

I can't give any details because he wants to remain anonymous.

But let's say it would be analogous to running a contruction business in North America, delegating tasks to staff, doing business paper work, taxes, renting equipment, calling customers and vendors ect...

NOTHING to do with Thailand.

Read the comment made earlier. If your "friend" is doing some work, and is physically in LoS, then he could be liable to LoS law and its interpretations.

Tell your "friend" to post here himself, and not use a middle man.

[mikosan]

What he is doing is technically illegal however.

Poppycock and nonsense.....

No! If he is running his business from Thailand, regardless of where that business is located, he is 'working' in Thailand and needs a work visa. That is not to say he is likely to be caught and he's one of many, many, but that doesn't detract from the fact that he is working without a visa. Good luck to him, but surely it would be a better idea to 'work' from home with a rather more secure connection anyway?

[chicowoodduck]

I have mine up and running right now while getting a lap dance....lol...??. No one seems to give a hoot...?

[louse1953]

Tell the Cheep Charlie to get an air card or is he paranoid as well.

[SOTIRIOS]

....can never win....

..has nothing to do with winning....

...it seems like we are only welcome if we can have our blood...our life...everything...sucked out of us....

...and yes....many more people are conducting business on their phones and pads nowadays...

...by the way...thinking is work too...now what...

.it cannot be a 'protected occupation' though...because there does not seem to be any real thinking going on here....

[CLW]

....can never win....

..has nothing to do with winning....

...it seems like we are only welcome if we can have our blood...our life...everything...sucked out of us....

...and yes....many more people are conducting business on their phones and pads nowadays...

...by the way...thinking is work too...now what...

.it cannot be a 'protected occupation' though...because there does not seem to be any real thinking going on here....

Oh dear, please no discussion about the working rules for foreigners.

You can't change it anyway, we all know they're from yesterday.

Take it as they are or go somewhere else...

[bazza40]

OP, your friend is overly paranoid. There's no difference between a laptop, tablet or smartphone in terms of what they can be used for on the internet. Having said that, think it was Henry Kissinger who said even paranoids have enemies.

[Transporter]

I hear a lot of incredulous comments doubting the truth about his work not being related to Thailand, but I assure you , it is NOT related to Thailand.

I can't give any details because he wants to remain anonymous.

But let's say it would be analogous to running a contruction business in North America, delegating tasks to staff, doing business paper work, taxes, renting equipment, calling customers and vendors ect...

NOTHING to do with Thailand.

Then your friend is silly all wifi bar conceptions are open to easy hacking I could be into his personal stuff tax returns banking ect in minutes and I'm no hacker think what a serious hacker could do to his businesses.

It is safe if he is using a VPN and he is not doing paid work that is depriving a national of that same paid work so is not doing anything illegal.

[rmacee]

No one should be allowed to use a laptop in a bar or coffee shop - remember it's a bar or coffee shop not a bloody library..they grab all the bandwidth watching endless youtube sh*te and the likes ..then complain if a number of mobile users logon saying the system is slow ..

Mobile phone users only .. and u can also ban tablets as well.

[jmccarty]

It's likely a good idea to tape a 1/2 kilo of C4 to your friends notebook with a fuse tied to his belt. And also get one of those cold war era, false teeth with a hidden cyanide capsule to unlock in case he is suddenly seized! The way they will never catch him with his piratebay copies of East Enders or America's Got Talent!

[ggt]

Tell your friend to buy more lady drinks, every thing will be fine.

I was thinking...that if he had a girl in his lap instead of computer...no one would pay him any attention...

[tonray]

No one should be allowed to use a laptop in a bar or coffee shop - remember it's a bar or coffee shop not a bloody library..they grab all the bandwidth watching endless youtube sh*te and the likes ..then complain if a number of mobile users logon saying the system is slow ..

Mobile phone users only .. and u can also ban tablets as well.

If you ban tablets, the bar will go broke:

[FritsSikkink]

So if I fly in from Hong kong on Friday to BKK to do a weekend of golf, get off the plane turn my phone on and respond to an email from office in HK in relation to a HK matter I am technically working in thailand? because I doing in thailand?

Or if I hold a regional position say in HK or SG as where most regional positions are located and respond to an email from my BKK office whilst in in HK in relation to a matter relating to BKK I am technically working Thailand? because the matter relates to thailand despite being in HK?

1) yes

2) no

[FritsSikkink]

No one should be allowed to use a laptop in a bar or coffee shop - remember it's a bar or coffee shop not a bloody library..they grab all the bandwidth watching endless youtube sh*te and the likes ..then complain if a number of mobile users logon saying the system is slow ..

Mobile phone users only .. and u can also ban tablets as well.

no wifi in bars, talk to other people offline

[FritsSikkink]

Maybe he sits there and tells everyone how much money he is making and the bar owner is sick to death about hearing it everyday.........

I don't think anyone would be so stupid, well not a westerner anyway.

think again

[bigt3116]

I hear a lot of incredulous comments doubting the truth about his work not being related to Thailand, but I assure you , it is NOT related to Thailand.

I can't give any details because he wants to remain anonymous.

But let's say it would be analogous to running a contruction business in North America, delegating tasks to staff, doing business paper work, taxes, renting equipment, calling customers and vendors ect...

NOTHING to do with Thailand.

Then your friend is silly all wifi bar conceptions are open to easy hacking I could be into his personal stuff tax returns banking ect in minutes and I'm no hacker think what a serious hacker could do to his businesses.

It is safe if he is using a VPN and he is not doing paid work that is depriving a national of that same paid work so is not doing anything illegal.

Yet another clueless fecker, who has no understanding of Thai labour law.

[Rob13]

Yet another clueless fecker, who has no understanding of Thai labour law.

Why don't you explain it to him,big guy

[NoshowJones]

Maybe he sits there and tells everyone how much money he is making and the bar owner is sick to death about hearing it everyday.........

I don't think anyone would be so stupid, well not a westerner anyway.

think again

Maybe I should have said not most westerners.