What are the best visa options for American expats working online in Thailand?

I think I just provided the evidence you can. However you're maybe correct that the Elite visa runs in the background and I never mentioned that the criteria is different for Elite holders only that they will help facilitate the process. At a cost of course.

You cannot get a work permit on Elite, it's basically a long tourist visa. They say as much there- "In order to obtain a work permit, a non-B visa is required."

So you are still going to have to meet the conditions for the regular non-B and the work permit- there is no suggestion that Thai Elite can bend the rules here in any manner, just that they will help you with the documentation. Which you can do yourself or by hiring your own lawyer/agency for a lot less than 500,000-1,000,000. (And note there they suggest "rates are available on request" there would even be an extra charge for this facilitation service.)

I have not heard from any Thai Elite holder who actually got a work permit through this route. The language is very wooly but it guarantees nothing, it's not a part of this visa.

Further, when the Elite people "help" you to get it, you will not be on your Elite visa any more, it will be replaced by the regular non-B you get instead. I think the Elite visa will remain in the background, so if you subsequently lost the non-B within the 5 or 20 years you could go back to the Elite (sans WP) but 500,000-1,000,000 is an expensive way to go about getting a non-B which you qualify for anyway.

Foreign online workers cannot legally work in Thailand, there is no visa / Work Permit to allow it, but as I said previously the Thai immigration police largely overlook it. But that does not mean it can be done openly.

Visas are applied for and prosessed at Thai Embassies and Consulates around the works. Extensions of Stay are processed inside Thailand at Thai Immigration offices.

Jennifer. There are several postings here on the Smart Visa... And unless you are a big time investor it just does not apply. The Smart Visa is not remotely applicable for Digital Nomads (as was rumored months ago) unless you are going to invest 20 Million Baht and start an online services company employing both Thai and Foreign workers.

Elite is basically an extended tourist visa, you can't work on it. You can get a Thai residency cert from immigration here even on a regular tourist visa or visa exempt, what I understand the US embassy does is just an affadavit, they basically just stamp that you swore whatever in front of them, they do not verify anything.

Please share. I am interested in this route too