As in Australia etc, many waiters and bartenders are the

best educated in the country who can't get a job in their

chosen profession, choose wisely.

That's not my experience of hiring waiters and bartenders in Bangkok.

About the IRS hounding me, I guess I could just not report my earnings to them, no?

Better give up your US citizenship first. Too many Thai-US dual nationals (or Thai green card holders) have been "just not reporting." With the amount of digital financial information available, new tax legislation, recently signed IGAs, upcoming cross-sharing of information and need to raise revenue by countries with aging populations, just not reporting is going to become very expensive for them.

You either pay now, or pay later. Best suggestion: give up your US citizenship if you want to go this route.

But the foreign earned income exclusion is about $100K per year and you can take a tax credit for foreign income tax paid on amounts over that $100K. So depending on your income level, how much tax you pay to the Thais, and other details of your personal finances, reporting your Thai-earned income to the IRS may not result in a tax liability.