End of May when I flew out. Everything closed a wrapped up. Only one duty free shop and one restaurant open. That was it. For water and the like ... only vending machines.

Ownership of a Thai company does not in itself lead to either visa or work permit. If it were that simple - many would just incorporate something.

Just got a written statement from the BOI: „We, Thailand Board of Investment, have not worked on the proposal on freelancer anymore. This issue has been changed to be taken care by the other agency instead. The government has set up task force to develop new type of visa and is having a new initiative for new types of visa which will be suitable for long term residents, and a visa for remote worker or digital nomad : Work-From-Thailand Professional (unofficial name) will be one of the significant parts of this initiative. The project is still in process.“

Or starting at the relevant part:

Another member shared a very recent video here before. No clue why he or someone else removed it. Be that as it may, in the following video, a senior officer at the BOI confirmed that a new SMART visa related to this is indeed in the making to be ready "in months rather than years". It seems the smart people there have understood, while still trying to make the junta share their economic reasoning:

@Michael *******

I fear you are right on all accounts. Either they don't care or are not competent enough, I assume. Sad.

@Michael *******

The original article seems to be equally „recent“, though. Shame that the press never seems to follow up on things dismissed or tabled by this government. 0

@Michael *******

I see. Hard to get reliable news sources around here. Still hoping they wake up and see the benefit of attracting long-term visitors especially now. Even a broken clock is right two times a day, right? 😇

@Michael *******

I see. It is just that the article I linked seemed to be from just two months ago … so I was hoping maybe this is a current development.

@Stuart ********

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