Why did they chose Thailand with their strict laws and a total dictatorship for this experiment? I would have rather picked a country without the death penalty!

In any way, most countries will have an issue with tax-free homes in their territorial waters and also non-citizens doing this in their country. This was a huge gamble with their lives or a life long sentence in a Thailand jail. 

Just imagine what the environmental impact would be if 1000s of people did this in your country.