News Forum - Phuket proposes visa and work permit scheme for digital nomads in Thailand

[LoongFred]

8 hours ago, Saltire said:

So is this optional? I doubt it.

Yea it will be required just like other visas. Might required heath insurance equal to an AO plus a minimum of 1M baht in a Thai Bank. Also, they’d have to pay income tax. This should be good to shake off those pretending to work. 

There has to be something in it that benefits Thailand.

[alex12345]

Thailand thailand again with these high rollers you want to recruit, if you want a real digitial nomad influx just give it to people have online jobs starting with an income of $1500 a month, its more than enough to live on in Thailand and they will spend their money here, most teachers in thailand earn less than that, but you let them live here... maybe you should actually ask for foreigners for their opinion on it.

[Soidog]

2 minutes ago, alex12345 said:

Thailand thailand again with these high rollers you want to recruit, if you want a real digitial nomad influx just give it to people have online jobs starting with an income of $1500 a month, its more than enough to live on in Thailand and they will spend their money here, most teachers in thailand earn less than that, but you let them live here... maybe you should actually ask for foreigners for their opinion on it.

Give it long enough and Thailand will have to find ways to attract foreigners. Thailand is an ageing society with a falling birth rate. They will hold out as long as they possibly can, but eventually they will need to accept even Thailand is part of an interconnected world. Won’t happen in my lifetime, but it will happen.

[oldschooler]

9 hours ago, Saltire said:

So is this optional? I doubt it.

You can do both here without any visa.

DN’s aren’t going to take any special visa exposing their presence working here. 

Especially not when nine month tourist visas available …. 

 

[Soidog]

21 minutes ago, oldschooler said:

You can do both here without any visa.

DN’s aren’t going to take any special visa exposing their presence working here. 

Especially not when nine month tourist visas available …. 

What are the nine month tourist visas you refer to? 

[oldschooler]

5 minutes ago, Soidog said:

What are the nine month tourist visas you refer to? 

STV but that’s not on embassy websites anymore but the SiX Month METV is back now …. My old goto to avoid Longstay visas …..

[Soidog]

Just now, oldschooler said:

STV but that’s not on embassy websites anymore but the SiX Month METV is back now …. My old goto to avoid Longstay visas …..

Yes I thought the STV had stopped and that was the only one I could think of. But yes, the 6 month METV is the other option which you can extend. I’m not sure of the details of that visa but maybe worth a look next time. I’m here until early June and then back for some work before returning here in early September. Hopefully by then it will be a case of walking in like before???…

[Pinetree]

13 hours ago, Marc26 said:

I was sort of joking, should have added 5555

But your comment wasn't ignorant?

You obviously have no idea that the work world has changed

So many people are working good jobs remotely................

I was kind of joking too.

There is a background to this for me.  My son left Aston University in UK with a first in computer engineering.  His plan at age 21 was to be one of the first so called digital nomads.  His reasons were not work, ambition or future. it was more about roaming the world without fixture or roots for the foreseeable future. While that would have been fine for a year or two, in my advice to him, it wasn't sustainable. He did his two years roaming about, then formed his own IT company.  He has been very successful and that has somewhat formed my view.  The older DNs that  I seem to come across here never seem to have really left that first stage thinking.  I appreciate that this is a massive generalisation and that the world is changing rapidly, spurred on by Covid, but that formed the basis for my rather tongue  in cheek comment.

[Marc26]

2 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

I was kind of joking too.

There is a background to this for me.  My son left Aston University in UK with a first in computer engineering.  His plan at age 21 was to be one of the first so called digital nomads.  His reasons were not work, ambition or future. it was more about roaming the world without fixture or roots for the foreseeable future. While that would have been fine for a year or two, in my advice to him, it wasn't sustainable. He did his two years roaming about, then formed his own IT company.  He has been very successful and that has somewhat formed my view.  The older DNs that  I seem to come across here never seem to have really left that first stage thinking.  I appreciate that this is a massive generalisation and that the world is changing rapidly, spurred on by Covid, but that formed the basis for my rather tongue  in cheek comment.

I think you make a good point

 

I think it was more traveling than working

 

But I think there is now a different mindset

Both with the workers and companies 

 

I'm trying to do 4 months away, but only in our bases......Boston and Thailand

 

Then maybe my last 3 or 4 years in Florida simply for the no state income tax

 

3 guys on my desk no longer come to the office at all

 

I have come all throughout covid but want they flexibility 

 

Thailand may be only sticking point for w

compliance/regulatory issues

[Pinetree]

10 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

I think you make a good point

I think it was more traveling than working

But I think there is now a different mindset

Both with the workers and companies 

I'm trying to do 4 months away, but only in our bases......Boston and Thailand

Then maybe my last 3 or 4 years in Florida simply for the no state income tax

3 guys on my desk no longer come to the office at all

I have come all throughout covid but want they flexibility 

Thailand may be only sticking point for w

compliance/regulatory issues

My son has 20 employees and they work a basic one day in the office routine, the rest is working away, be that home or on the road. .  They are now a systems engineering company, so a lot of time on the road doing installations/ maintenance .  He needs the central office to provide the central glue that sticks them all culturally and managerially as one company as well as for server/ spares/ system builds  location, marketing etc. 

[Rookiescot]

Ah good luck to them if they can do it.

Sadly I was unable to live this kind of remote working lifestyle using my skills. 

You can't carry heavy things remotely. 

[Marc26]

46 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

Ah good luck to them if they can do it.

Sadly I was unable to live this kind of remote working lifestyle using my skills. 

You can't carry heavy things remotely. 

I mentioned above

 

I am so jealous of my finance girl 

 

I see her sending emails at 9-10pm

She has a job that just needs to be done 

Never needs to really be available, only to answer an email within a day

 

So she is obviously working whenever she feels like doing so

 

 

That is awesome to me......

[LoongFred]

15 hours ago, alex12345 said:

Thailand thailand again with these high rollers you want to recruit, if you want a real digitial nomad influx just give it to people have online jobs starting with an income of $1500 a month, its more than enough to live on in Thailand and they will spend their money here, most teachers in thailand earn less than that, but you let them live here... maybe you should actually ask for foreigners for their opinion on it.

I'd make it double at $3000/mo minimum.  That way you get those who can contribute to Thai society. However, they would have to prove that they can pay for any healthcare and tax them. 

[dirkzett]

14 hours ago, LoongFred said:

I'd make it double at $3000/mo minimum.  That way you get those who can contribute to Thai society. However, they would have to prove that they can pay for any healthcare and tax them. 

I work for German, Dutch, Chinese and Indian clients, my (own) company is located in Estonia, my accounting also. There my company pays taxes on my income and there my insurances and licenses are paid.
I myself am German and work my orders somewhere in the world, where it suits me.
What is the reason again why I should accept that the respective host country has any right to demand taxes from me or even to know what I earn or own?

[Marc26]

6 hours ago, dirkzett said:

I work for German, Dutch, Chinese and Indian clients, my (own) company is located in Estonia, my accounting also. There my company pays taxes on my income and there my insurances and licenses are paid.
I myself am German and work my orders somewhere in the world, where it suits me.
What is the reason again why I should accept that the respective host country has any right to demand taxes from me or even to know what I earn or own?

Is this a serious question?

 

You think you can just live somewhere and not pay your fair share?

 

You are using all the infrastructures of wherever you are staying 

Those infrastructures that you are using are funded by taxes.....

 

[Janneman]

11 hours ago, dirkzett said:

I work for German, Dutch, Chinese and Indian clients, my (own) company is located in Estonia, my accounting also. There my company pays taxes on my income and there my insurances and licenses are paid.
I myself am German and work my orders somewhere in the world, where it suits me.
What is the reason again why I should accept that the respective host country has any right to demand taxes from me or even to know what I earn or own?

Within Europe it is pretty easy (for europeans). Fly to say the Azores, rent a house for a year, and do whatever you want to do. No questions asked. And no visa needed. Technically you should report to the local authorities that you live there. Even then, you will not pay taxes. But once you go to a country where you need a visa things become very different. Is a digital nomad a long-term tourist? Are they considered immigrants? Do they need a working permit? Do they have to pay taxes on income earned elsewhere? I do not know, most governments do not really know. 

But I do know that once a government will start issueing special visa for digital nomads, demanding working permits, and imposing taxes, most digital nomads will start looking for another place in the world to visit.

[Freddie]

What you are all describing fits like a dovetail into a free zone scenario. Thailand has tried a few times to launch free zones but like many governments dont fully understand the process.

Thailand could attract thousands (potentially hundreds of thousands) of offshore traders operating in Free Zones.

In places like Phuket it could easily provide a significant economic flow. Nobody has filled the hole and void caused by lack of tourism whereas Fred Zones can provide a second revenue stream.

[Noble_Design]

Question - why are digital nomads sometimes derogatorily referred to as digital gonads? 

Edited March 23, 2022 by Noble_Design

[dirkzett]

On 3/23/2022 at 3:59 AM, Janneman said:

Innerhalb Europas ist es ziemlich einfach (für Europäer). Fliegen Sie auf die Azoren, mieten Sie ein Haus für ein Jahr und tun Sie, was immer Sie wollen. Keine Fragen gefragt. Und kein Visum erforderlich. Technisch gesehen sollten Sie den örtlichen Behörden melden, dass Sie dort wohnen. Auch dann zahlen Sie keine Steuern. Aber sobald Sie in ein Land reisen, in dem Sie ein Visum benötigen, werden die Dinge ganz anders. Ist ein digitaler Nomade ein Dauertourist? Gelten sie als Einwanderer? Brauchen sie eine Arbeitserlaubnis? Müssen sie anderswo erzielte Einkünfte versteuern? Ich weiß es nicht, die meisten Regierungen wissen es nicht wirklich. 

Aber ich weiß, dass die meisten digitalen Nomaden nach einem anderen Ort auf der Welt suchen werden, den sie besuchen können, sobald eine Regierung damit beginnt, spezielle Visa für digitale Nomaden auszustellen, Arbeitserlaubnisse zu verlangen und Steuern zu erheben.

There are many countries outside the EU, in Asia e.g. Philippines or Malaysia, many Caribbean countries and from Latin America, which do not want taxes on worldwide income. For all of them I need a visa. So it has nothing to do with visa.  It is the aggressive greed for money of Thailand's authorities and the childish control addiction which demands that.

 

It is the same stupidity that requires a pensioner to deposit 800000Baht, give him a so called 1 year visa and require him to report every 90 days.
 It is the same stupidity as allowing a foreigner to start a business, giving him a work permit for one year and then requiring him to make a visa run every three months.

It is just stupid.

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by dirkzett

[HiuMak]

On 3/23/2022 at 4:23 AM, dirkzett said:

I work for German, Dutch, Chinese and Indian clients, my (own) company is located in Estonia, my accounting also. There my company pays taxes on my income and there my insurances and licenses are paid.
I myself am German and work my orders somewhere in the world, where it suits me.
What is the reason again why I should accept that the respective host country has any right to demand taxes from me or even to know what I earn or own?

If you say you work in Accounting, that means you should know the concept of permanent establishment.  It does not matter and will be taxed. For work visa, it is a legal pass to work in Thailand and you should be taxed accordingly. Why should locals be taxed and foreigners working in Thailand not be taxed?

 

 

[HiuMak]

2 hours ago, dirkzett said:

There are many countries outside the EU, in Asia e.g. Philippines or Malaysia, many Caribbean countries and from Latin America, which do not want taxes on worldwide income. For all of them I need a visa. So it has nothing to do with visa.  It is the aggressive greed for money of Thailand's authorities and the childish control addiction which demands that.

It is the same stupidity that requires a pensioner to deposit 800000Baht, give him a so called 1 year visa and require him to report every 90 days.
 It is the same stupidity as allowing a foreigner to start a business, giving him a work permit for one year and then requiring him to make a visa run every three months.

It is just stupid.

Many of these countries are tax haven and also if you do not declare of work in these countries.

Tax is stupid and just a way of taking money by the government. Have tax planning and pay minimum

[LoongFred]

12 minutes ago, HiuMak said:

Many of these countries are tax haven and also if you do not declare of work in these countries.

Tax is stupid and just a way of taking money by the government. Have tax planning and pay minimum

So let me get it straight. You want to live in Thailand, use it's facilities, and infrastructures, but not contribute. You seem  very entitled. Why would Thailand want you here? I thing everyone must contribute something and guests should contribute more. Sorry if this seems harsh, but you must pay to play.

[HiuMak]

2 minutes ago, LoongFred said:

So let me get it straight. You want to live in Thailand, use it's facilities, and infrastructures, but not contribute. You seem  very entitled. Why would Thailand want you here? I thing everyone must contribute something and guests should contribute more. Sorry if this seems harsh, but you must pay to play.

I don't disagree to pay tax. Everyone does in Thailand and it is a way the government use these money to build the infrastructure. Excessive tax is just greed and for peasants like me, i just do my tax planning to avoid paying more tax. 

Foreigners like me are already paying more. For example arrival tax in the airport just increased by 300Baht.

[LoongFred]

1 hour ago, HiuMak said:

I don't disagree to pay tax. Everyone does in Thailand and it is a way the government use these money to build the infrastructure. Excessive tax is just greed and for peasants like me, i just do my tax planning to avoid paying more tax. 

Foreigners like me are already paying more. For example arrival tax in the airport just increased by 300Baht.

Good you agree to pay taxes. Unfortunately, you and I are not in a position to tell the government how to spend the taxes. The 300 baht entry fee is really nothing compared to the taxes you pay in the UK or US. Thailand doesn't want to attract peasants, it already has enough home grown in that category.  They want those who can pay and contribute.

[Soidog]

People need to stop making silly point scoring comments about tax and contributing to Thailand. If you are from the UK then you don’t need to speculate or concern yourself with taxation. It’s already firmly agreed between the UK and Thai governments in an agreement going back to 1981. I work and earn money while in Thailand and I pay my taxes in the UK. The same goes for Thai people working in the UK who work and earn money and choose to pay taxes in Thailand. You either pay it in the UK or pay it in Thailand. If you want more details then read the attached.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/507424/uk-thailand-dtc180281_-_in_force.pdf