That's right tourist visas can't help forever. But "permanent residency in Thailand seems to require a degree" cannot be true, rather working visa requires it.

That's right tourist visas can't help forever. But "permanent residency in Thailand seems to require a degree" cannot be true, rather working visa requires it. Other migration ways such as investment visas are not so strict about degree. All you need is about half or a million dollars. I don't have it yet but it doesn't seem so hard to me, and I believe i chose the right path. It's harder path because less people choose it. Countries' job, I guess, is to keep dangerous or unqualified people away, and degree was one of a few way to estimate how good is a person. This metric is more of a legacy than real reason to go to university imo. @phillmv has his point, being famous can get you visitors on your website, but you still need to sell your services. A friend of mine, JS consultant, lives the same life not being that "famous".