Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Tax Policy in the context of the Destination Thailand Visa. For those who are unaware, the Destination Thailand Visa is this new Visa that has been rolled out by Thai Immigration that's going to allow 6-month intervals of stay for those who obtain this visa and wish to use it.

Why do we bring it up in the context of tax? Because I think it has largely been built in order to allow for folks, foreigners especially, to spend prolonged periods of time in Thailand without necessarily putting themselves under Tax Residency here in the Kingdom. So if you don't do your basically 180 days, from when I have read of the regs., it has always said 183, but as a rule of thumb for all folks out there and the way I think of it too, is 180 days, but the visa on the DTV grants 180 days. So you are clearly never going to in one interval of lawful status on the Destination Thailand Visa, find yourself under Tax Residency here in Thailand and thereby might end up stuck with some sort of tax assessability or tax liability here in the Kingdom. Again the visa seems to have been designed to keep you out of that, if you are just using it for one period of lawful status in a given calendar year, each year here in Thailand. So that sort of seems like what it is designed for. 

As discussed in another video made contemporaneously with this one, actually a few, work authorization is prohibited in Thailand insofar as working within the Kingdom, deriving any type of revenue or monies or anything in the Kingdom. That said, this Visa has gotten away with the old kind of nettlesome issue of folks that just, we are here in Thailand but they may have had a job online or they may work abroad but be working remotely in the United States. In the past, this was always a nettlesome issue because work authorization was always presumed and the definition of work in Thailand is quite broad, this specific Visa has created something of an exception; it has carved out an exception for "working remotely". So if you are just working online, you are talking on the phone but you are not working in Thailand. And don't get cute about this. This is a major concession in terms of relaxing Thai Work Authorization and they are taking it seriously insofar as, as we have discussed in other videos, they are actually jailing people now or threatening with jail, folks that are working without a proper Work Permit. I think that's going to become more prevalent as time moves forward because authorities are going to say "hey look you have an option to live in Thailand if you are working abroad, if you are working remotely. We have given you many options now.” If you are coming to Thailand to work in Thailand well that's a different story; you still need a Work Permit; you still need to deal with all the rules regarding a Work Permit.

So again that is what we are dealing with on that. Meanwhile on Tax Policy, the duration of the Visa itself seems to have been designed in order to facilitate folks being in Thailand at least one prolonged period of time per year without falling into Tax Residency status here in the Kingdom of Thailand.