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Comment by namuol | Hacker News Reader

In general, it is legal to work remotely in Thailand, unless your clientele/employer are Thai. The purpose of the law [1] was to prevent foreign workers from displacing native Thai workers, and "digital nomads" do nothing of the sort.

This becomes clear if you pay attention to the punishments imposed by the law; they concern Thai employers, not the alien workers, alone.

[1]: http://www.thailandlawonline.com/translations/foreign-employ...

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That's simply not true.

Doing work for any employer in Thailand, paid or unpaid is illegal on a tourist visa.

Lets quote the act you link to:

"To be able to legally work in Thailand the foreigner must have a valid non-immigrant visa and a work permit issued in his name allowing him to perform a specific job at a specific location for a specific company in Thailand."

Now a naive look at this paragraph might leave you with the impression you can be self employed or work for a foreign company.

The fact is that it's impossible to work for a foreign company in Thailand. They need to open local offices and incorporate here. It's also impossible to become self employed without opening a Thai company if you are a foreigner.

So the leading paragraph is correct. You need a work permit to work for a Thai company because all work must be conducted through a Thai company.

Actually, there was an episode of the "Travel Like A Boss" podcast, which is about digital nomadism, where the host and others were taken downtown by the Thai police after a raid on a co-working space. After the police found out that they were paying to do work at the co-working space on unrelated businesses and weren't being paid by the co-working space they let them go without charges [1].

1. http://www.travellikeabosspodcast.com/episodes--show-notes/e...

I'm aware of the story. Just because Chiang Mai has chosen not to enforce the law, doesn't change the law itself.

As with all things in Thailand, what is ok today could be prohibited tomorrow.

By that logic, I was once let off on a speeding ticket, so speeding is therefor not illegal and no one should obey speed limits.. right?

It's OK to work while on holidays.

Eg. you can check your email and do a bit of work to keep things going at home, it's not legal, but it is understood to happen and you'll be fine.

Full time work however is NOT allowed without a working permit.

Your link at [1] even confirms that at pretty much the first line. There is no specific exclusion for "remote work".

>Full time work however is NOT allowed without a working permit.

If you're being paid through an account back home and are working in a villa you've rented, it would be very hard for them to prove you're actually there working full time, would it not?

This is not about how hard it is for Thai immigration officers to prove you are working without a permit. I was just pointing out that it is illegal. Making it hard to prove doesn't make it OK.

You really would not want to end up in a debate with Thai immigration on this topic either, no matter if they have proof or not.

Digital nomads are huge benefit to local economy. I can't imagine country would start enforcing some outdated piece of legislation against them. In other words, even if it's illegal, it's not enforceable.

Outdated legislation which is no longer enforced is common everywhere. For example Alabama has a homophobic law which says this must be included in every sex education program:

"homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state."

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/alcode/16/40A/16-40A-2

Illegal != Enforceable

While I have visited the USA several times I can not comment on US law. I have lived several years in Thailand and can guarantee that illegal action by intent like working without a work permit is enforcable. You are trying to apply a Western point of view, digital nomads are not considered to be an economic benefit by Thai law officials.

A Digital nomad paying no income tax, quite likely claiming back the VAT on purchases (because they're ostensibly on tourist visas), and often specifically in the country because its very cheap, are not having a huge effect on the economy.

REAL tourists have a HUGE effect on the economy.

REAL businesses that make the effort to operate legally, employ local staff, pay taxes, etc, have an effect on the economy.

Doesn't make it any more or less legal though.

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