Apologies, I thought you were asking for examples of what I disagreed with. I assumed it would be pretty clear from my initial response that I disagree with many of the replies. It was also clear in my reply to you. Another stellar example of the whole "not in good faith thing" I was talking about.
That it's not enough money to be worth anyone's time (if you're in BKK or Pattaya, sure, but that could absolutely fund property expansions in other places), that work permits costs 300k, that it's impossible to find a route to work, that everything is always a scam, plus all the gross misogynistic crap like "you're better off starting an OnlyFans" and "you must be broke and horny."
There's absolutely a high level of risk involved, and it's not something I've done myself. I do know plenty of people who've found success with it though. I just think it's worth answering people's questions in good faith instead of calling them a fool or trying to con them into crypto.
Unfortunately, you're going to get a lot of salty old white men giving you grief on here. It's true that you have to be extremely careful what you invest in but it's definitely possible. My advice would be to travel more and stay at plenty of hostels. Build relationships and friendships with hostel owners and don't rush into anything. Take advice from people with experience, not the keyboard warrior farangs who've likely been scammed out of their cash chasing bar girls in Pattaya. If you're lucky, there's a possibility you'll find someone you can trust but you won't find them by posting online. However, investing doesn't mean you'll automatically get a work permit as this in itself can cost around 60k thb, requires the hostel to have x amount of Thai workers, and can vary from province to province. If the right opportunity arrives, you'd be better off finding a more suitable long-term visa. Don't invest anything you're not prepared to lose, and be aware that there's a strong chance you won't be able to get anything in writing which does leave you open to much more risk.
I literally did this run with the company in Pai 4 days ago and it wasn't a requirement then but it is now. This guy and his company is well known and respected, and he's shared the conversations between himself and his customers (with their permission) proving that yes, they are currently enforcing this requirement, at least at the Golden Triangle crossing.
Yep, a few weeks ago - assuming this is for a tourist visa, it's no appointment necessary but they do close on national holidays. The website's list of requirements is correct for the most part; however, I had the required 20k baht but because my hotel reservation (which they ask for proof of) was payment on arrival, they factored that in and told me I needed a bit extra in the account, I think it was around $600USD in the end. It was processed in 2 working days for me but can take longer. My advice is give yourself a little longer than you think you might need in Hanoi to get it sorted to be on the safe side.