Your Business In Los - Boom Or Bust?

[simon43]

As it's more for fun and not for serious digestion, I've posted this in the General section.

I'm sure TV members who live/want to live in Thailand have come up with a whole range of weird and wonderful ways to make a few baht. Hopefully, some of these businesses have actually been successful But I'm sure some of your ideas have fallen by the wayside.

Let's share the details of our successes and failures! I'll get the ball rolling.

- Mobile phone SMS services business (never really took off, too much competition from existing companies like Sanook.com)

- Coffee shop in Emporium (moderately successful until ex GF disappeared overnight with complete stock!)

- Tourist bar in Sukhumvit Road, BKK. (moderately successful but closed after relocation to Phuket)

- Salsa bar in Sukhumvit Road, BKK (successful! but closed after relocation to Phuket)

- Hotel in Phuket (recent venture and doing very well!)

- Newspaper distribution in Phuket (just starting and outlook is good)

You can see that I've been busy! I enjoy living in LoS but still need to pay my bills. That's why I never lose heart if a business is not a success.

Can anyone better this??

Simon

[Nawtilus]

Well, nothing like having a go, so good on you for that and not complaining about <deleted> that does not go so well.

How big is the hotel in Phuket, I always wanted to do this, but the ones I like are laways to expensive lol.

[simon43]

Hi, the hotel is small, really just a guesthouse, (at least by legal definitions). It has 5 bungalows, each with 2 double rooms. Plus swimming pool, restaurant, bar, staff building.

We built it to meet US standards for accessible hotel accomodation for disabled guests.

I never really mentioned the final build/furnishing cost in a previous thread. Now that it's open, I have totalled up the cost. All in, it was about 7 million baht.

Right now, I have to build up knowledge about our hotel, via internet etc (and my sponsorship of the Phuket forum). But most nights we are anything between 60-100% full. (Right now it's 70% but still time for more customers to arrive!)

Simon

[Nawtilus]

Sorry to hijack your thread, I will let it get back to normal after this, whereabouts is it, 7 mill sounds cheap for close to the beach etc ?? How much do you charge ??

Good luck with it, high season now and it should be full, the other seasons will be the real trial for you.

[simon43]

Just by Phuket Airport (you can click on my banner in the Phuket forum).

It was a cheap build for a couple of reasons:

- My Thai wife helped to negotiote 'Thai' prices for building materials

- I speak Thai and get on very well with all suppliers. Usually my wife could not better the price that I would negotiate!

- It's not on the beach, maybe about 500 metres from the sea.

Simon

PS - Rooms are 2,000 baht/night,.

We would be full if we were already open 1 year. But it takes time for people to know about us and for reputation to get passed around!

[Sing_Sling]

Bio-Diesel production . . . doing ok but the floods and recent cold weather put a dampener on the profits.

Entering the rubber/latex market next month. According to all prognoses (and hope) this should be a winner.

[OneeyedJohn]

I've got a pretty good list and just having had dinner I don't really need a bad taste in my mouth, but here goes:-

BTW some of this stuff was financed whilst in UK ( even sillier )

1. Bought small herd of cows for wifes sisters husband , they had already disappeared on ur arrival as had the husband.

2. Had JCB dig 3 ponds for intended prawn farming, that never got started.

3. Bought 1000's of fluffy white baby chicks, that refused to put on weight and died before we could sell them.

4. Started breeding Wild Boar in an enclosure they eventually destroyed, breaking out into the rice paddies costing us compensation for damage to rice. Had them all slaughtered before my wife and I slaughtered each other.

5. Had my brother in law look after my bull and cows in return for living with us, and then found the deal was 50/50 on all calves.

6. Pink pigs...breeding or fattening, they just empty your wallet.

All of above have made me lose money, but the wierd thing is they all seemed so practical at the time

[simon43]

Bought small herd of cows for wifes sisters husband , they had already disappeared on ur arrival as had the husband.

[\quote]

Brilliant!! :)

Don't let your failures get you down! The big one is always just around the next corner!

Simon

[Gary A]

I won't divulge details but I tried three great ideas. Number One - BUST, number two - BUST and number three - BUST. The third one was supposed to be the charm. It didn't happen and there WON'T be a number four.

[mazo]

Just sold my apartment block lease in Pattaya for six and a half million baht i got back what i put in. It did not lose any money but with the new baby it did not make enough to give all 3 of us a good quality of life in Thailand long term. And it was on a 3 plus 3 plus 3 lease and i was never happy having that much money invested in a rented place. I never had any major problems running the place no mafia kick backs or police harassment but i was ripped off a lot in small ways everyday it has not put me of runing a business in Thailand in fact i learnt a lot. We are going to live back in the uk soon to live and we will return to thailand to start a business again later but this time knowing a bit more than we did before and next time there will be no way i will rent a property to run the business from we would have to own the building for peace of mind

Edited January 12, 2007 by mazo

[sukanyacondo]

Started condo rentals back in april no problems so far been pretty full but then we offer something lacking a lot here "customer service" as an example we have a new tenant staying today and we will take them by bus to the airport to show them the best way for them to go to work. We will charge nothing for this and probably buy them dinner too. Anything they need within reason we will do quickly. Also bought some land with Teak trees on for future investment off the wifes family who dont like long term investment. People are the same the world over some good some bad. Steer clear of the bad its the same here. ps 1 condo empty from Jan 20th HURRY HURRY ha ha ha ha

[jetzie]

can a forieigner set up a small stall or shop ?

[cdnvic]

can a forieigner set up a small stall or shop ?

Nope. But alot of foriegner's wives own them.

LIST OFOCCUPATIONS PROHIBITED TO FOREIGNERS IN THAILAND

Under Thai Law BE2522 foreigners are prohibited to engage in any of the following. It should be noted that the law does NOT define work as doing something in return for financial reward.

Manual work.

Work in agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry or fishing excluding specialized work in each particular branch or farm supervision.

Bricklaying, carpentry or other construction works.

Woodcarving.

Driving a mechanically propelled carrier or driving a non-mechanically propelled vehicle, excluding international aircraft piloting.

Shop attending.

Auction

Supervising, auditing or giving services in accounting excluding internal auditing on occasions.

Cutting or polishing jewellery.

Haircutting, hairdressing or beauty treatment.

Cloth weaving by hand.

Weaving of mats or making products from reeds, rattan, hemp, straw or bamboo.

Making of Sa paper by hand.

Lacquerware making.

Making of Thai musical instruments.

Nielloware making.

Making of products from gold, silver or gold-copper alloy.

Bronzeware making.

Making of Thai dolls.

Making of mattresses or quilt blankets.

Alms bowl casting.

Making of silk products by hand.

Casting of Buddha images.

Knife making.

Making of paper or cloth umbrellas.

Shoemaking.

Hat making.

Brokerage or agency excluding brokerage or agency in international trade business.

Engineering work in a civil engineering branch concerning designing and calculation, organization, research, planning, testing, construction supervision or advising excluding specialized work.

Architectural work concerning designing, drawing of plans, estimating, construction directing or advising.

Garment making.

Pottery or ceramic ware making.

Cigarette making by hand.

Guide or conducting sightseeing tours.

Street vending.

Typesetting of Thai characters by hand.

Drawing and twisting silk thread by hand.

Office or secretarial work.

Legal or lawsuit services.

Source: Alien Occupational Control Division, Department of Employment Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. (via orchidofsiam.com)

[steveromagnino]

can a forieigner set up a small stall or shop ?

er.... yes they can, but cannot work as the attendent. Owning the thing is fine.

And besides which, who would seriously want to be earning 7000b a month???

[altman]

well this is very small potatoes compared to you guys, but....

was going to open internet shop and had great potential, but landlord turned out to be a prick so i walked away with very small loss.

opened massage shop and doing well. (high season though so will wait for low season and average it all out to see what it really does)

have land available so am considering planting mangoes, (because i happen to love mangoes and they give great shade for a hammock)

for what it's worth i was self employed in the states before coming here, but i always did what i wanted rather than what i thought would make the most money. that way i was never dissapointed.

i hope to be able to continue doing the same here....

[loong]

have land available so am considering planting mangoes, (because i happen to love mangoes and they give great shade for a hammock)

The big red ants love the Mango tress as well. So don't expect to be able to relax in your hammock!

[guardian]

LIST OFOCCUPATIONS PROHIBITED TO FOREIGNERS IN THAILAND

Under Thai Law BE2522 foreigners are prohibited to engage in any of the following. It should be noted that the law does NOT define work as doing something in return for financial reward.

Auction

Source: Alien Occupational Control Division, Department of Employment Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. (via orchidofsiam.com)

I've sold quite a few items online in Thai auction sites. So, according to above definiton, am I as a foreigner, prohibited from doing so?

[Neeranam]

Mobile phone SMS services business (never really took off, too much competition from existing companies like Sanook.com)

I remember you posting that you were getting over 1,000,000 baht a month from that business - if that is not taking off, what is?

[simon43]

Neeranam, I said that Thai sms services never really took off for me. That's true. But my existing sms services in the UK were (and still do) make very good money, (typically 800-900k baht per month).

However, I rechecked Thai sms opportunities a few days ago. 4 years ago, the revenue share from the Thai mobile networks was cr*p. Now, it is about 48% which is viable for me. So I might well be launching some sms services in LoS very soon!

Simon

[Neeranam]

Neeranam, I said that Thai sms services never really took off for me. That's true. But my existing sms services in the UK were (and still do) make very good money, (typically 800-900k baht per month).

However, I rechecked Thai sms opportunities a few days ago. 4 years ago, the revenue share from the Thai mobile networks was cr*p. Now, it is about 48% which is viable for me. So I might well be launching some sms services in LoS very soon!

Simon

I beg your pardon. Does it really matter if the Thai ones don't work?

[simon43]

I beg your pardon. Does it really matter if the Thai ones don't work?

[\quote]

Actually yes! In the UK, the legislation for sms services is getting so tight and complex that I have seen my monthly revenue drop every year. If someone makes a complaint about my sms services then the regulator suspends my service whilst they investigate the complaint. Last September, my UK service was suspended after one complaint. The regulator took 3 months to investigate it and gave me a 100% clean bill of health! But no compensation for the 2-3 million baht that I lost out on whilst the service was suspended!!

Why do I need so much money? Because I have a greedy ex-wife in the UK. Because I have 3 lovely kids in the UK, Because I have a greedy Thai family in LoS (hang on, that's the other thread...............)

Simon