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How many days can you work remotely in Thailand without facing tax issues, and is the LTR visa suitable for remote work?

remote worktax lawsLTR visaThailand visa ruleswork permitsexpat advice
August 25, 2023
a year ago
Pradeep **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
I am new here, don't know whether this topic is discussed.

How many days can we work remotely in Thailand without any tax laws being applicable? I will pay tax in my home country India.

Is there any special visa for remote work, I heard of an LTR visa, is it easy to get and what about tax laws for that?
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The original post asks how many days one can work remotely in Thailand without incurring tax obligations, specifically while paying taxes in their home country (India). It also inquires about the LTR visa for remote work, questioning its accessibility and relevant tax implications. The comments provide varied insights: some suggest the LTR visa allows remote work without tax liabilities if certain criteria are met, while others note that legally, one requires a valid visa and work permit to work in Thailand. The conversation highlights the ambiguity in Thai labor laws regarding remote work and discusses broader definitions of work, as well as the potential for strain due to local regulations.
LONG TERM RESIDENT (LTR) VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
Nishant ************
What work do you do?
a year ago
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Peter *********
Gold chain visa for Indian people lol 😆
a year ago
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Paul *******
If you're worried and can't qualify for the LTR visa, you're better off living in Laos or Cambodia and working remotely from there. The reason I say this is because while there is almost no chance of anything going wrong if you work from your computer in your hotel room, house or condo, there's always this sense of something breathing down your neck.

You see, Thai labor law has a rather broad definition of work and therefore, even flushing your own toilet could be considered as work.

There's none of this nonsense in Cambodia and Laos. I've seen westerners sell crepes on the streets of Luang Prabang and Phnom Penh. If a westerner tried that in Thailand, the police and military would be called in!

You have a lot more freedom in neighboring countries and visas are easier too.
a year ago
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Nishant ************
Paul James how about Malaysia?
a year ago
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Paul *******
@Jo *********
 Yeah that's true. Just that you never hear of this in neighboring countries unless a foreigner is obviously trying to take work from a local and doesn't have a work permit.
a year ago
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Jo **********
@Paul ******
 the definition is very broad as you said. They basically on a practical level do want you taking employment positions from Thai people
a year ago
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Jo **********
@Paul ******
 i don’t think it’s a problem here either. Just the fear mongering facebook police believe it is.
a year ago
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Jo **********
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Manfred **********
May? Zero days

Can? Depends on your skills
a year ago
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Martin *****
Go for it without workpermit. Worse case scenario. 100.000 baht fine. Up to you
a year ago
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Paul *******
@Martin ****
Technically, even if you don't make money from it, it's considered working.
a year ago
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Paul *******
@Martin ****
Nonsense. Working from your laptop from home is fine.

Otherwise even what we're doing here in this group would be defined as work and illegal! Do you have a work permit allowing you to make comments here?
a year ago
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Martin *****
@Paul ******
 . Do I make money with it?
a year ago
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Martin *****
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Frank **********
Can I start an OnlyFans account and work. 5555. Just kidding.
a year ago
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Us *****
What the heck are you talking about? Whatever hobby you do online on your time off from being a tourist is your own business.
a year ago
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John-Paul ******
@Us ****
 Correct! Great use of the word "Hobby". As long as you are not overtly 'working'.... or making noise about it or pissing anyone off.... have fun enjoy the fruits of the "hobby".
a year ago
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Paul *******
@John-Paul *****
Right, although even working 12 hours a day from the privacy of your own home should be fine. As long as you keep quiet about it and it doesn't involve Thailand in any way.

Also, it should not be an activity that is immoral or illegal in Thailand. I wouldn't recommend running a porn website from Thailand, even if the activities are not connected with Thailand in any way (though they usually are).
a year ago
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Paul *******
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Duncan *******
Legally - you cant work without a proper visa and work permit.
a year ago
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Jo **********
@Duncan ******
 your saying that the 10,000s of people that come here for business meetings or working while holiday need a visa - no.
a year ago
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Duncan *******
@Jo *********
 Business meetings are different - op is clearly working online while here and that is illegal without the appropriate visa/WP. You are confusing what is legal and what they care about - they don't care about people replying to emails and they mostly don't care about people working remotely as long as it's for a foreign company and they're not taking Thai jobs.

**************************************************************************************
a year ago
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Jo **********
@Duncan ******
 it’s a very gray area I was the Asia Pacific regional director we had a lot of people working in Thailand remotely. They were employed in Singapore or Japan as there work contract place. Our legal counsel looked into this and it was ok. of course it depends.
a year ago
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Jo **********
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Jo **********
people will tell you that you cannot work here remotely but you can as long as you keep it quiet and minimal. Mostly that work is not something a Thai could do and there links to Thailand in any way. They crack down on teaching on line in Thailand to foreign countries
a year ago
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Paul *******
@Jo *********
 I can't see how someone would be caught for teaching English online from Thailand provided they do so from their own home. I suppose that could be considered work though, but is up to the interpretation of immigration. As soon as this activity takes place in public (which is a stupid thing to do) then yes it can definitely be considered work.

Also, a lot of foreign YouTubers do videos on Thailand. Some even warn about not working in Thailand, while they are technically doing so!

I'd say, making a few phone calls and sending emails, doing research for a foreign company, having nothing to do with Thailand should be OK. Just do it from home. Never from a Cafe or public place (although picking up a work call is OK, you can't be that paranoid).

Everything else, including YouTube videos - even if they're positive and all, technically it's working.
a year ago
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Jo **********
@Paul ******
 spot on.
a year ago
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Jo **********
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Paul *******
@Jo *********
 You are providing inaccurate advice. It is totally illegal to do any work in Thailand without the apprropriate work visa. If you are caught by police or immigration (and many are every month) then you face heavy fine, jail time, expolsion and banned from returning to Thailand.
a year ago
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Paul *******
@Paul ******
No one is caught for answering a work call. Police can't even understand English nor would they know if you're talking to your dad or a client. Don't be ridiculous.
a year ago
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Paul *******
@Paul ******
 Maybe you are3 the village idiot and cannot read the news. In Thailand many are caught by police or immigration for working illegally without an apporopriate visa. News will inform you of these people being fined, jailed and thrown out of the country.
a year ago
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Paul *******
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Jo **********
@Paul ******
 absolutely not . I work in association with a Japanese company that’s sends numerous people for many different reasons. The company had dialogue with ministry of manpower/labor and it is allowed. 1000s come here monthly from foreign companies. They come in visa exempt. They could be doing marketing, visiting a branch office, or setting of regional office, attending a conference or anything related. There are people like you that believe that sending an email or answering a work call while on holiday will put you in jail. This is your nonsense
a year ago
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John **********
@Jo *********
 there are certain things that people can do without a work permit for a short time visiting an office, answering an email and attending a conference are examples. But what you can't legally do is perform a job of work which has a very broad definition in Thai law and requires a work permit
a year ago
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Jo **********
@John *********
 agreed but some people on this page are treating others like prisoners of war
a year ago
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Andy ********
@Jo *********
 does "keep it quiet" include coming onto social media and telling the world you are working?
a year ago
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Andy ********
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Jo **********
LTR visa means you can work in Thailand remotely without paying taxes. Getting the LTR is not difficult if you work for a big company in a specific role for 5 years. You need to show documents including last 2 years of tax returns. you need to make 80k USD
a year ago
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Jo **********
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