TL;DR
นับวันตามปฏิทิน (1 ม.ค.–31 ธ.ค.) — ครบ 180 วันเมื่อใดก็ตามในปี = Tax Resident; Paw.161/2566 (มีผล 1 ม.ค. 2567) เก็บภาษีรายได้ต่างประเทศที่ 'นำเข้า' ไทยทุกปีถัดไป; Paw.162/2566 ยกเว้นเฉพาะรายได้ที่เกิดก่อน 1 ม.ค. 2567
180-day count is per calendar year. Once crossed, Paw.161/2566 taxes ALL foreign-sourced income remitted to Thailand in any later year. Paw.162/2566 exempts only income accrued before 1 Jan 2024. DTA tie-breakers and LTR Royal Decree 743 are the two lawful exits.
The statute (Revenue Code § 41) in plain English
A natural person is a Thai tax resident in any **calendar year** they spend **≥ 180 days** in Thailand. Arrival day and departure day each count as a full day under Revenue Department practice (Or.Por. 91/2024).
Residency triggers worldwide-income exposure on foreign-sourced income that is **brought into** Thailand. Income earned and kept abroad is not (yet) taxed — but it becomes taxable the moment it crosses into a Thai bank account, card swipe, or crypto on-ramp routed through a Thai exchange.
Paw.161/2566 (effective 1 Jan 2024) closed the historic 'next-year remittance' loophole: remittances in any year after the year of accrual are taxable as long as you are a resident in the year of remittance.
Mid-year arrival worked examples
**Example A — Arrive 1 July, stay through year-end.** 184 days (counting both ends). You are a 2026 Thai tax resident. Any 2026 remittance of foreign income earned in 2024 or later is taxable here, subject to DTA credit.
**Example B — Arrive 5 July, depart 30 December.** 179 days. **Not** a resident. No Paw.161 exposure for 2026 remittances of post-2024 income. Many digital-nomads target this window deliberately.
**Example C — Three trips: 90 + 60 + 40 = 190 days, spread across the year.** Resident. The rule aggregates all days in the calendar year, not consecutive stays.
Paw.161 vs Paw.162 — the savings-rule lifeline
**Paw.162/2566** carves out a permanent exemption for foreign income whose 'right to receive' (accrued) was **before 1 January 2024**. So a foreigner who accumulated USD 2M in a US brokerage before 2024 can remit those 2024-vintage funds to Thailand at any future date without Thai income tax — provided they retain clean documentary proof of pre-2024 accrual (year-end 2023 brokerage statements, IRS Form 1099 from 2023, etc).
Anything **earned from 1 Jan 2024 onwards** falls under Paw.161 and is taxable in the year of remittance. Best practice: open a dedicated 'pre-2024 wealth' offshore account and keep it surgically separate from post-2024 inflows.
DTA tie-breaker pathway (61 active treaties)
If you are also a tax resident of another country (e.g. UK 'split-year' or US 'substantial presence'), the relevant DTA tie-breaker cascade applies: **permanent home → centre of vital interests → habitual abode → nationality → mutual agreement**.
A favourable tie-break to your other country does NOT exempt Thai-source income (employment performed in Thailand, Thai rental income, Thai dividends). It only re-allocates taxing rights on foreign-source income — and you must obtain a **Certificate of Residence** from the other tax authority to invoke it on the PND.91 return.
Eight evidence items the Revenue Department asks for
1. Immigration entry/exit stamps (full passport scan, dated)
2. Boarding passes or airline-issued PNR statements
3. Foreign brokerage year-end statements (2023 for Paw.162 carve-out)
4. Bank SWIFT MT103 messages for every remittance
5. Foreign employment contracts + payslips (translated, certified)
6. Foreign Certificate of Residence (for DTA tie-breaker)
7. CRS / FATCA self-certifications previously filed with the foreign bank
8. LTR Visa endorsement letter (if claiming Royal Decree 743 exemption)
คำถามที่พบบ่อย
Does the 180-day count reset if I leave for a week?+
No. It aggregates every day spent in Thailand within the same calendar year. Leaving briefly does not subtract earlier days. On 1 January it resets to zero.
I held my crypto in cold storage since 2022. Is it Paw.162 exempt?+
The accrual date is when the gain was realised, not when the token was bought. If you sell post-2024 and remit, Paw.161 applies. If you sold and held cash abroad in 2023, Paw.162 protects that cash on later remittance — but you must prove it.
Can my LTR Visa exempt me from Paw.161?+
Yes — LTR holders under Royal Decree No. 743 enjoy a statutory exemption for foreign-source income regardless of remittance year. See /en/tax-residency-180day-crs-foreigner and our LTR cluster for the four LTR sub-categories.
What is the penalty for under-declaring remittances?+
Revenue Code § 22: 100 % surcharge + 1.5 %/month interest, capped at the principal. Criminal liability under § 37bis for wilful evasion: imprisonment up to 7 years. Never sign a backdated COR.
