When I applied as a remote worker they did look at income coming into my bank account. I think it was for two purposes 1) confirm the remote work is real 2) make sure have money to live on
But the bigger focus was on the bank balance and other paperwork showing my company approval to work remotely and the company registration documents
It doesn't matter if cooking, remote nomad work, muay thai or underwater basket weaving... can only apply for DTV outside of Thailand. You must be in the country that you apply. Some allow tourists to apply, others only allow permanent residents or citizens.
It is a chance for them to ask questions, get clarification or otherwise evaluate your application. It is better than being denied without a chance to clarify.
As mentioned by Brandon, the extension process isn't yet known.
The way around this is to leave the country briefly and then re-enter and get another 180 day stamp. No paperwork, fees, etc. Just the cost of the travel. Can do this as many times as you want during the 5 year visa validity.
You can go anywhere outside of Thailand, return to Thailand and get a new 180 day entry stamp each time. No additional paperwork, bank statements or anything. Just walk through immigration the same as any other time. Inform them of your DTV and show printed copy of the PDF letter (if you don't have the sticker).
Watch as they stamp it to make sure they put the 180 days and not accidentally 60.
a lot of this depends on which country their tax basis is.
I do agree that getting approved for the DTV would be easier if he had an LLC.
And, at least in USA, it wouldn't change their taxes at all if set up as a single member LLC either. But we don't know where their home country is so that might not be true in their home country.
Anonymous participant my understanding is that it isn't clearly defined yet... which is crazy because the year is over but what I've heard is that it is based on the income that was actually brought into Thailand with the exception of countries that have taxation treaties. Each country is different for this. Some allow a Thai tax deduction for the amount of taxes paid in other jurisdictions