[ATMwalking]

Yes, Lil is bang on for the first part.

If you are in thailand for more than half the year than you are tax resident. If your earnings are from outside of Thailand and you don't remit funds in the same calendar year, then you are excluded from thai tax. You'd then want to look at the double taxation treaty between Thailand and the country you are earning the money from and also perhaps your country of citizenship.

For the working remotely, I really don't buy into it being an issue. That assumes the foreign company paying you does not have an immediate permanent establishment, revenue, or any sort of a nexus in Thailand.

I know the work permit rules aren't crystal clear like the taxation rules. I think it is more because they are out of date. This means it could be read that remote working should have a work permit. This isn't the intent. The argument that you are required to get a thailand work permit for not working in thailand is too strange of an interpretation. Even in thailand that doesn't make sense.

Take a day trader for example. There is no interaction with Thailand. No impact. There was the case of the tsunami volunteers. With the volunteers you could argue they were taking work away from thai tradesmen. In the day trader example it just doesn't hold. You are a ghost within thailand. Sort of there but not having any real verifiable or material presence.