"My Mate Nate" doesn't have a work permit - but lucky break means he won't be prosecuted for working

[Autonuaq]

A coin as far as I have seen them they all have the King on them.

 

And if understood well those coins are used. Used in Thailand on the rail track.

And you not hear anyone about this and the consequences is has.

 

What winders me is why there is nothing about Lese-majeste.

[zydeco]

38 minutes ago, dansbkk said:

As an American, he is required to pay taxes to the American Government, no matter where he is earning his money or where he is based.  Whichever company pays him for his clicks or advertising are required to report this income to the USA- IRS department.  He gets an exemption on foreign income and foreign income taxes paid, but if he is not paying foreign taxes, he owes the IRS for any income generated worldwide.  It may suck to be him if he has not been paying taxes to the American Government.

If someone turns Nate into the IRS, that person will get a percentage of the take on any taxes applied to Nate that Nate managed to evade.  There should be a rush to the IRS right now.

[Meljames]

12 minutes ago, tonray said:

Or perhaps they can just stop whining and go back to their home countries and work for a living ?

 

Haven't heard any whining coming from the DG crowd about this. Thai govt would do well to find a way to make these kids legal and bring in some tax revenue. A winning situation for both sides.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Meljames

[overherebc]

5 minutes ago, Autonuaq said:

A coin as far as I have seen them they all have the King on them.

 

And if understood well those coins are used. Used in Thailand on the rail track.

And you not hear anyone about this and the consequences is has.

 

What winders me is why there is nothing about Lese-majeste.

He didn't use Thai coins.

[hobz]

So if a tourist records a video in thailand and goes to the hotel room and adds a soundtrack to the video and posts it on youtube its considered working illegally? 

Ofcourse it will not be enforced unless you draw tons of attention.. Lol.

[anto]

13 minutes ago, Autonuaq said:

A coin as far as I have seen them they all have the King on them.

 

And if understood well those coins are used. Used in Thailand on the rail track.

And you not hear anyone about this and the consequences is has.

 

What winders me is why there is nothing about Lese-majeste.

He used foreign coins .Some from Hong kong .They have the English queens head  ,but nothing to do with the Thai Monarchy ,

 

Edited July 19, 2017 by anto

[chrisinth]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Now the Labour department has confirmed that he has been working illegally. Ranon Peetiwan said that though he was doing videos on social media he was earning money from the clicks of viewers of his YouTube channel that amounted to working.

 

And that work was illegal because he was in Thailand and he has no work permit and according to department records has never even applied for one.

 

This seemed to run contrary to what Nate himself has claimed.

 

But the American cannot be prosecuted for working. An amnesty is in place until January 1st, a total of 180 days. This was introduced after proposed 800,000 baht fines for those employing foreign nationals was considered too severe.

 

Ranon said that this was a very lucky break for Nate Bartling. He was entitled to apply for a work permit in the coming weeks but it would be up to officials whether he would be granted one.

The above extract from the OP is what I find interesting, but don't understand why it hasn't been picked up by other posters (I have only seen one reference to this so far) in the thread.

 

It reads (to me) that the amnesty until the beginning of next year applies to all illegal workers and not just the labour forces from surrounding countries as I had assumed. My logic would therefore think that workers without WPs, and employers, would be exempt from prosecution until the beginning of next year?

 

Or am I reading this wrong? I find that rather bizarre.

 

IMO this case against 'Nate' is going to open a can of worms, or rather set a precedent over the next few months ranging from illegal working to definition of uploading digital media for gain or personal reasons and whether this will be classed as 'work'. It will be more than just resentment against an egotistical American that can speak Thai and upload clips to You Tube...........

[bamukloy]

5 hours ago, Thechook said:

Why do you need a work permit to use your own computer in your own home to access and post on youtube?  YouTube is free to use and open to everyone and it's not as if you can hire a thai to do your hobbies, use your computer so you are entertained.  So farangs being amused and tapping a key on a keyboard is now another job reserved for thais in Thailand.  It's already illegal to mow your lawns, wash your car and take the garbage out, do we have to hire a thai to use my phone and call family?

Indeed, thank goodness they have water guns here, else would have to hire a thai to wipe your bum

[atyclb]

imo thai soap operas influence and do immense damage to society. nates pranks are minuscule and not significant compared to soap opera copycats.

 

he may very well  already pay taxes to the usa

 

 

claiming a few coins damaged the railway system is like saying stepping on the pavement damaged the road.

[hgma]

Not a follower and never saw a vdo in my life he posted, but to seek a working permit to post on you tube seems a bit..........

surreal?

[Shackleton123]

3 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I like the part where the Labor official is saying that the decision on whether to grant him a work permit will depend (at least in part) on whether his work serves as a good influence on Thai youth!!!

 

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but I don't recall that being any part of the criteria for eligibility for Thai work permits.

 

Aww....forget all that stuff about having Thai employees, paying taxes, submitting periodic accounting reports, etc etc...  What we REALLY want to see is, whether he's a good influence on Thai youth!

You do miss the point. A work permit is an agreement between the permit holder and the Thai Authorities. The permit holder agrees to assist and educate Thai personnel in the work he will do. The object of the agreement is that Thai personnel will learn in this way, and reduce the need for future Work Permits for foreign workers. A "good Influence" expresses that in plain language.

[Restinpeace]

1 hour ago, speedtripler said:

 

What about a person who receives dividends + logs into the new York stock market to manage his own assets? 

 

If I bought Facebook shares today  and sell it tomorrow for a profit is that work? 

 

 

 

Of course it's not considered working in Thailand. None of the investments are based within Thailand and neither is the brokerage software you are using. However, if you're recieving dividends from thai mutual funds or something like that then I can see them taxing it for investment purposes but it still wouldn't qualify as working unless you're actively trading Thai stocks specifically in which case Thailand maybe has laws for that.

[tgeezer]

Has anybody questioned his visa status? It appears to me that he is doing something which many foreigners under fifty would envy, living in Thailand and making a lot of money, well done to him.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[speedtripler]

2 minutes ago, atyclb said:

imo thai soap operas influence and do immense damage to society. nates pranks are minuscule and not significant compared to soap opera copycats.

 

he may very well  already pay taxes to the usa

 

 

claiming a few coins damaged the railway system is like saying stepping on the pavement damaged the road.

There is a difference in "could have"  and did damage the tracks 

For obvious reasons you do not want people putting things on the train tracks "just to see or video what happens" when the rain rolls over them

 

Every country would not approve of this idiotic behavior even though people have been putting penny's on train tracks probably  since trains were invented 

[Restinpeace]

58 minutes ago, dansbkk said:

As an American, he is required to pay taxes to the American Government, no matter where he is earning his money or where he is based.  Whichever company pays him for his clicks or advertising are required to report this income to the USA- IRS department.  He gets an exemption on foreign income and foreign income taxes paid, but if he is not paying foreign taxes, he owes the IRS for any income generated worldwide.  It may suck to be him if he has not been paying taxes to the American Government.

 

This is correct if he's receiving income from ads/youtube then he is making income as a U.S. citizen and is liable for U.S. taxes. If he's earning what I think he's earning based on millions of hits he's on the hook for probably somewhere north of 35+% in federal tax as a single unmarried male. This doesn't include state taxes either which can be extremely high if he's from any of the democrat states.

 

So he can wave goodbye to roughly half of his online income and whatever IRS penalities for not filing which can be really steep in the six figures range for the type of potential income he might be generating. If Thais really wanted to screw him over they can get a Thai-American with good english and U.S. citizenship to report him to the IRS.

 

Even if he gets married to a Thai lady he's still considered single in the U.S. so he'll be in the highest tax bracket until it's official in the U.S.

 

He would have been far better off paying Thai tax.

 

 

[Restinpeace]

5 minutes ago, speedtripler said:

There is a difference in "could have"  and did damage the tracks 

For obvious reasons you do not want people putting things on the train tracks "just to see or video what happens" when the rain rolls over them

 

Every country would not approve of this idiotic behavior even though people have been putting penny's on train tracks probably  since trains were invented 

 

If he broke into a trainyard and "tampered" with train tracks in the U.S. it would be considered a felony. He would be seeing real jail time in federal pound me in the butt prison.

 

These areas are strict no go zones now due to terrorism.

[Toshiba66]

I apologise upfront if I am taking this too far.....but!

 

If I have 5 million baht in my SCB Term Deposit Account do I need a work permit to receive the interest paid quarterly?

 

I am just saying. Where does it start and end?

[Meljames]

4 minutes ago, Restinpeace said:

This is correct if he's receiving income from ads/youtube then he is making income as a U.S. citizen and is liable for U.S. taxes. If he's earning what I think he's earning based on millions of hits he's on the hook for probably somewhere north of 35+% in federal tax as a single unmarried male. This doesn't include state taxes either which can be extremely high if he's from any of the democrat states.

 

 

He's eligible for the foreign earned income exemption. He's claimed he has a Thai based company that produces the videos. 

[JAG]

 
What about a person who receives dividends + logs into the new York stock market to manage his own assets? 
 
If I bought Facebook shares today  and sell it tomorrow for a profit is that work? 
 
 

Given that Facebook is regarded in certain circles as the root of all evil, you would probably be scourged in public before being summarily bundled, clad only in your boxer shorts an clutching only your passport, over the nearest land border....
[emoji3][emoji16]

[speedtripler]

Just now, JAG said:

Given that Facebook is regarded in certain circles as the root of all evil, you would probably be scourged in public before being summarily bundled, clad only in your boxer shorts an clutching only your passport, over the nearest land border....

 

Could be worse, could have been apple.... 

[George2]

He's your average unfunny YouTube personality who makes money from kids who view his youtube videos. All this controversy about him only helps him. What I find funny is the authorities' crybaby response to this. Trying to deport a man for being a bad role model on YouTube? Really? And trying to claim he's working illegally, should every travel blogger require a work permit to travel here and record their visits?

 

If any first world country tried to deport a minority for disrespecting western culture everyone would be up in arms about racism.

[speedtripler]

11 minutes ago, Restinpeace said:

 

If he broke into a trainyard and "tampered" with train tracks in the U.S. it would be considered a felony. He would be seeing real jail time in federal pound me in the butt prison.

 

These areas are strict no go zones now due to terrorism.

 

In Europe you could be charged with trespassing if you even walk on the tracks  ( and this was even a law 30 years ago before everyone was a potential terrorist  ) 

Edited July 19, 2017 by speedtripler

[JAG]

Digital Nomads would be wise to band together and form a company legally with shared expenses for setup and admin. Profit shares could be distributed per how much revenue you contribute. Get work permits and make it all above board instead of working holed up at Coffee Today or Starbucks. It would filter out those who did not really generate a significant amount of revenue and maybe have a minimum monthly revenue expected (average) of 50K baht to qualify as an employee.

Hmm, but I thought that the idea of the digital nomad lifestyle (speaking as a digital pigmy) was to be freewheeling, unhindered by the sort of organisation you described.

[Restinpeace]

9 minutes ago, Meljames said:

 

He's eligible for the foreign earned income exemption. He's claimed he has a Thai based company that produces the videos. 

Up to $50,000 I believe. If he's making more than that he's liable for U.S. tax. Millions of youtube hits brings in a tidy sum so his tax issues probably haven't been fully realized yet.

 

His situation is particularly complicated because in order to claim tax exemption he would have to be receiving via online sources directly to his Thai media "company" he founded.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Restinpeace

[Meljames]

9 minutes ago, Restinpeace said:

Up to $50,000 I believe. If he's making more than that he's liable for U.S. tax. Millions of youtube hits brings in a tidy sum so his tax issues probably haven't been fully realized yet.

 

His situation is particularly complicated because in order to claim tax exemption he would have to be receiving via online sources directly to his Thai media "company" he founded.

It's over 100k per year these days and if he's  self-employed he can claim deductions. He has no problems with the IRS.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Meljames

[anto]

20 minutes ago, Toshiba66 said:

I apologise upfront if I am taking this too far.....but!

 

If I have 5 million baht in my SCB Term Deposit Account do I need a work permit to receive the interest paid quarterly?

 

I am just saying. Where does it start and end?

The interest will be taxed before you get any of it .

[ben2talk]

6 hours ago, Thechook said:

Why do you need a work permit to use your own computer in your own home to access and post on youtube?  YouTube is free to use and open to everyone and it's not as if you can hire a thai to do your hobbies, use your computer so you are entertained.  So farangs being amused and tapping a key on a keyboard is now another job reserved for thais in Thailand.  It's already illegal to mow your lawns, wash your car and take the garbage out, do we have to hire a thai to use my phone and call family?

Youtube is NOT free to use. It is an advertising platform... people pay to have advertisements displayed and other people work hard to get lots of subscribers so they can earn money from people being exposed to those adverts and they earn more if people click on the adverts.

 

3 hours ago, imagemaestro said:

 "his work has exhibited inappropriate behavior that may not be a suitable role model for Thai youth. However, if he were to atone for this and change his ways then a permit might be granted, pointed out Ranon."

Are we running a country here or a 1930's Agatha Christie novel english upper class private girls school ?

Thai's baby their kids until they're at least 30 years old... I pity my son when his grandparents visit, they drone on and on about how dangerous the road outside is... it's a dead end and you might see a car roll down there at 10km/h now and then.

 

 

There are two lines - 'Official' where kids can't breathe without permission. This fits the education system where they're not allowed to think for themselves. Even 'correct' answers cannot be ticked correct unless they are exact clones of the ones given as examples. (e.g. 'it's a book' is wrong, you must write 'it is a book, one volume'. Even the word for 'is' must match exactly the one mentioned in class.

 

People must apologise when ordered to do so - a completely strange and utterly ridiculous concept until you realise that they really do believe that this behaviour works. Force them to say 'sorry' and they will feel sorry? 

 

Contrast this with 'Real' where you see kids completely ignored - adults do their thing, drinking or cooking, and kids just get out of the way - go outside and play next to the highway and grow up to be murdering hooligans.

 

The system is only 'workable' because 99.99% of the time they turn a blind eye. Police directing traffic outside schools turn blind eye to the hoards of mums n kids with no licence or helmets... Police catching bikes turn blind eyes to car drivers on their phones. Police driving to the police station turn a blind eye to the guy blocking the fast lane - forcing the police to slow to 80km/h on a motorway with cars undertaking at 120km/h.

 

It really is amazing, fantastic, nightmarish... words fail. More akin to a bad mushroom or acid trip than any reality I can describe.

 

[Meljames]

9 minutes ago, ben2talk said:

Youtube is NOT free to use. It is an advertising platform... people pay to have advertisements displayed and other people work hard to get lots of subscribers so they can earn money from people being exposed to those adverts and they earn more if people click on the adverts.

 

 

Making ad money from your uploaded videos is a choice. Keep your YT channel un-monetized and there's no WP issue.

[owl sees all]

4 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Does this then mean that any foreigner can now work without being arrested until January?

I think this must be right.

 

Well, well, well. I didn't know. I'm off to tend the cows.

Edited July 19, 2017 by owl sees all

[speedtripler]

Just now, owl sees all said:

Well, well, well. I didn't know that. I'm off to tend the cows.

 

Now I can start taxi driving