Hi.
I am planning to apply for a Thailand retirement visa (Non-Immigrant, O-A) soon.
The prohibition of employment "of any kind" on this visa is clear. Less clear is how the Thai Immigration Office would define "employment."
I have very little banked cash. But I earn 80% of the required monthly income from permanent U.S. Social Security, and well over the remaining 20% monthly from an annual consulting contract with a Russian company based in St. Petersburg. This "work" is done strictly by email, Skype, phone and fax. None of the work involves, or will involve, any Thai company or interest, directly or indirectly. Moreover, the Russian firm does not business of any kind in Thailand or with any Thai interests. The contract has already run for two years, is currently valid through the end of 2015, and annual renewals are expected indefinitely. All of these details are specified in a letter signed by the company president, with official Russian certification stamp, and the president is happy to answer any and all questions about the contract.
The question: is doing telephone consulting business for a Russian company with no connection to Thailand considered to be prohibited "employment" for purposes of obtaining the O-A visa?
Logic would dictate that this is not "employment" under the visa rules, first, because the same logic would then forbid anybody on the O-A visa from writing a book or article and selling it anywhere in the world, taking a photo for the same purpose - etc. But more importantly, because such a restriction would also be illogical since it would actually be detrimental to Thailand.
And yet, I am fully aware that "logic" is not always the operative word when it comes to decisions of this kind. The best answer to my question I've been able to get from the Royal Thai Consulate General in Los Angeles is (and I'm not making this up...) "It depends, but I don't know what it depends on."
Does anybody have any actual experience in this regard? Thanks for your guidance.