SunbeltAsia

Los Angeles is not considered friendly as well on giving any type of visa.

Hmm, my last visa in LA wasn't too painful, but obviously given the choice Hong Kong is simpler. maybe I'll try both..

The odds are very high, the Hong Kong won't give a one year multi entry visa.

The Ambassador may of recently changed at the LA Embassy. We had one client get approved several weeks ago for a business visa and one other poster stated he had no problem getting a "o" visa there this week. LA may be getting more friendly now. That was not the case for the past several years.

I have to extend my Work Permit and Non Immigrant 'B' this month.

My non Immigrant 'B' was good for 3 months and my WP was accordingly stamped for 3 months when I collected that.

When I was at the Labour Dept here in Nonthaburi they said that first I extend my visa in BKK and then go to them and they extend my WP.

Is that the case? Is it really as straightforward as that? Are there any extras to pay?

Each 30 day work permit extension will cost you, government fees of 850 Baht After you get the one year extension, it will be additional 3.100 Baht in government fees.

The extension based on business will be 1,900 Baht. You will have lots of paperwork that will be needed to be filed for this extension.

For more information you can contact www.lawyer.th.com , the sponsor of this website .

Thanks we_zaa

www.lawyer.th.com

they are not going to be working at all during their saty here. They will be doing an internship to go from a novice diver to an instructor rating. Timeframe of about 9 months.

Normally easy to get a non imm b educational visa for this type of program form the Thai embassies in the west, just need a supporting letter from the thai company.

appears to be slightly more difficult in this case as on one hand the information is that you shoudl always try and apply for the visa in your own country but then the informatino from the Laos emb/cons seems to be that they do not issue non imm b multiple entries and a single entry will be no good for the time frame involved.

The best bet is to get a 90 day visa in K with the company docs.. Get the work permit then apply for the multiple visa in KL the second time round showing the work permit with all the company documentation.

I've heard consistently terrible things about doing it in Hong Kong. I've accepted the fact I'm either flying to London or Los Angeles..

Los Angeles is not considered friendly as well on giving any type of visa.

The Subway in Carrefour in Pattaya is mostly empty, occationally with one or two farangs eating; I've wondered for the last year how they manage to stay open with that level of sales.

How many sales a day does a Subway have to make to stay in the black?

Depends on the fixed costs.

But I like to add that its quite common for a rental of 250,000 Baht per month to have a lower rental expense than say a hypothetical 50,000 Baht rental location. Could be a difference of 12% or more. With much higher volume at the 250K rental, that is a big difference. Quite common for someone to pick a location because of low rent and it becomes the highest rent cost. Big mistake.

have been served twice at sub on suk and its pretty average,I think its the way to dainty slices of meat and non english speaking staff.

A number of people have in fact stated they felt the sandwiches were" much better than" or " same" what they have had back home. Just depends on individual taste.

Hire higher English speaking staff like back home and were looking at double or triple labor costs( if you could even keep them)

All Subways have to follow the same formula of the amount of meat. In Thailand we are already at very high food costs because of this. It cost much more for many meat items in Thailand than it does in the USA or Australia. Example, turkey cost us over 500% more than the States or in Australia, with our retail price being lower! To top it off, with the wheat tariff, our bread cost is higher than anywhere else in the world. We do however have the advantage in tuna, chicken and ham. Bottom line we can make a profit even with daily specials of 69 Baht( which includes 7% Vat) mainly because of labor costs.

Hi,

My name is Pablo and I am officially married to a Thai in Bangkok. I currently have a tourist visa, but since I travel every 3 weeks out of Thailand for work it is becoming very inconvenient. I work for a consulting firm in projects outside of Thailand. Since this company does not have a presence in Thailand, I cannot obtain a letter of employment to support my stay in Thailand. Basically I live here because my wife is here!!!

Since I am married to a Thai, I thought it would be easy to get a non-immigrant visa that would allow me to re-enter the country throughout the year. Well it does not seem to be that easy!!

I would like to get some advise on how to go about getting a multy-entry visa valid for a long period. I already opened a bank account here with more than 400,000, have an official wedding document, but what else do I need?

Thanks in advance for your advise.

Pablo

Pablo,

Trying to understand why you are having roadblocks?

It could be as you are a national of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Sudan, Algeria, Libya, Yemen, Egypt and Palestinian State. Then as a passport holder of this nationality, you must file the application for the visa at the Thai Embassy/Consulate where you have your permanent residence.

It could be because you have not gone to the Thai Embassy/Consulate with the proper paperwork such as a copy of your wives ID, marriage certificate, showing money in the bank. However if this happen, if you just ask for a tourist or even a transit visa, you can change this visa for a non "O" visa inside Thailand. You then would get the extension of stay based on support of a Thai national with multiple entries.

The other option, is for you to get want is called " One year visa with multiple entries" You can only get this visa at a Thai Embassy/Consulate outside Thailand. This visa has the requirement to leave Thailand, at least once every 90 days and then you could reenter back the same day. In your case, with you leaving every 3 weeks, then would not be a problem. The advantage is you do not need to maintain 400K Baht in a bank account for this visa. You do not need to bother getting reentry permits and even getting approved for a extension of stay The disadvantage is not all the

Thai Embassy/Consulates will give you the one year visa. The other is after three years you could not apply for permanent residence. In your case, you will not qualify as you need to be working for a company inside Thailand, making at least 75,000 Baht per month. Of course you are making this amt of money but the company does not have a presence inside Thailand, hence no taxes, you are paying to Thailand)

If the Thai Embassy/Consulate only gives you a 90 day visa then you could go with the first option of applying for the extension here. In this case be sure to get a single reentry permit while your application is " under consideration' every time you must travel outside Thailand. After you get approved, get the multiple reentry permit. If you don't do this, your visa is cancelled and you must start back at the beginning.

If you want to apply for the extension of stay inside Thailand. Our company helps with the process. Our professional fee to obtain the extenstion of stay based on support of a Thai national is 6,500 Baht plus 7% Vat.

www.lawyer.th.com

Good answer there. But are we doing a disservice to the more efficient consulates, if we over-advertise them? They are not breaking Thai law, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs might crack down on them for being more reasonable than a place like Los Angeles or Phnom Penh.

General guidelines: an honorary consulate in your country of origin, per your passport. As far from Thailand as you can get (except maybe Malaysia).

Each Consulate/ embassy have the discretion on how they interpret the laws. Could be why Houston no longer gives 1 year multi entry visas for retirement.

The MFA, I'm 100% sure monitors this site. It is the best way of knowing what is going on.

i orig. recieved my marriage visa in bangkok..would it be wise to go back to bangkok to renew it..since we gave them pictures of the house..marriage cert copies..etc..also when i renew my fathers retirement visa..does he need to be there ?..can i do this at the thai..cambodian boarder..without problems..i can just use his bank book and a letter from the bank showing the 800,000 can't i..do i need pictures for him..thanks

You can't do this at a border. If you insist on doing it outside Thailand, you have to go to a Embassy or Consulate. In Cambodia as I already pointed out will not give your father a "O" visa based on retirement. Other Embassies/ Consulates will but not Cambodia. If he is renewing his retirement visa, why does he need to go to a Consulate/ Embassy? He can do this inside Thailand.

When someone is not in good health, we have had the ok to just present the passport for the renewal. But it must of been noted in the passport the first time, that it will not be renewed in person on any renewals.

You need all the documents above.

I would just do everything in Bangkok, if your extensions were handled here before.

As for the red comments, good point. We have a super duper copier that just makes copies of everything in our office. Sometimes forget all the copies a individual needs to make copies of. Full time office girl does it for us.

www.lawyer.th.com

Not planning to come back to Bangkok anytime soon.

Do you have any plans for a Subway here in Koh Samui? I think a subway in Chaweng would make as much cash as a Bangkok location

Bingo. One of the best locations left. That area and Tong Lor in Bangkok.

My guess after a rough calculation and depending on location: 20-30 months

Gerd

Bingo Gerd. The norm though is more closer to the 30 month number but of course you still have your assets, deposits and goodwill after the B/E point. A 40% ROI is always a good number to strive for.

And for the record, when I was living in Bangkok I ordered Subway like 3-4 times a week and had it delivered. Always a positive experience and good food.

Good to hear. When you coming back to BKK, Poor Farang?

Hi again!

Excellent - what i was hoping to hear!

i've been told today thought for the non immigration B visa for 3 months (the first step) i only need to take, myself, my passport and a letter from the school to a thai consulate outside of Thailand; that i won't need to show my education background i.e. a degree until applying for a work permit/teachers licence.

Is this right? how up to date is your information? its giving me a headache - the rules seem to change daily!!

Thanks again, Louise.

My info is from last week. Every Consulate/ Embassy is different. When you are asking people, they are telling you their experience in Singapore or in the UK or somewhere else . Not Laos. Or they are talking about not applying as a teacher. The Laos Embassy requires to see your diploma and employment contract. 99% of the Embassies/ Consulates will never ask you for it. If you have this, take it To Laos.

If you rather believe someone else, it is not required in Laos. Then don't take it. In Thailand as they say " It is up to you" Who knows, maybe you will get lucky. ( NOT) But I know a number of people went to Laos and was rejected, without having a copy of the diploma and the employment contract.

From a PM. this evening...

Dear greg

thank you for following up my enquiry concerning necessary documents for non-imm b visa. sunbelt asia appears to be a very efficient and helpful company and from my limited experience with them i would have no hesitation in recomending you, or if i needed to, using your services myself.

I was successful with my 'b' visa thank god, however another teacher i came here with was missing a document and was denied it...despite having a whole pile of documents. missing a 'sor chor 10 and 17' or some such thing! i will check wot it is exactly and email u the info so you can tell people in future. dont know about any other consulate, but obviously the one in laos needs this because they gave him a printed form with wot they needed and highlighted wot he was missing (the sor chor).

as u can imagine he was pretty pissed off, its a long way to come only to find out ur missing a document. also it seems they wont issue multi entry 'b's, dont know why.

anyway, thanks for yr help and i wish u all the best

regards

---------------------------------------------

Before you were told to bring the school license (Sor Shor 2) and A permit / certificate to be a School Manager (Sor Shor 5) or Principal (Sor Shor 8) along with everything else.

Which worked for this client. But for a friend they wanted as well, the form Sor Chor 10, form Sor Chor 17

so take that as well.

Or if you rather, just the letter from the school.

Also the Ministry of Education does not look how valid your degree or TEFL certificates is You will need to show the orginal degree though to the Ministry of Education officer. Laos is one of the harder Embassies to get a visa from if you are a teacher. You better take a college degree as well as the TEFL cert., just to be on the safe side.

If you want to be legal, you are going to need a teacher's license, a work permit and a one-year visa.

If you want to be illegal, you have no teacher's license, no work permit, and no one year visa.

This is the first step of many to be legal.

www.lawyer.th.com

I need to renew my non-Immig B multiple entry visa before 06 July. I have had 3 successive visas, which I obtained in New York. All the paperwork, etc., is in order and legit for my company... I just need to know where is the best, and most hassle-free place to go nearby which will issue a multiple entry one-year visa?

Thanks

New York no longer issues one year "B" multiple visas. Most people have reported Denver or Houston to be friendly with a 48 hour turn around when sending Fed-Ex.

www.lawyer.th.com

1. I can pay myself a low wage from the business eg 15,000 baht - paying tax from this amount as I already have the 400,000 in my bank account.

In theory this is correct as there is no minimum salary for a work permit but here are the roadblocks which may appear.

It is the Labor Dept which decides if your work permit is approved. If you are getting a very low salary say 6,000 Baht per month, this is normal for a trainee.

For a MD, in most cases, they feel this person should be getting 30,000 Baht per month or more.

They will however approve some work permit applications with a 15K per month salary, it depends on the officer.

The second roadblock is if you are doing a share purchase agreement and replacing a previous MD. The Labor Dept is less likely to approve your application if the previous MD was making a higher salary of 30K per month and now you want to pay yourself only 15K per month. They may feel you are " milking Thailand" by avoiding to pay tax.

On the other hand if you pay yourself 45,000 Baht per month. Then you will not need to show the 400,000 Baht in the bank account on any renewal. The extension of support of a Thai national will be the evidence of your tax payments instead of money in the bank.

. I can use some of the 400,000 to provide a loan for my company - paying it into my company bank account - this can then be used to top up the money for the following years extension.

This is your money and you can use it as you like. However here is the next roadblock, if you don't go the 45k route per month. The officer on the renewal of the extension, may feel that you don't really have the capability to support a Thai national as this was a loan from a friend, because after you were approved you withdrew the 400K. Some officers have felt this was fraud. How did you support your wife? is a question they will ask. You state with a work permit.” How much was your salary?” would be the their question. “15K” is your response. You can see where this is leading. Why should they renew your extension? What evidence have you provided you are supporting your wife? On a salary of 15K, they will not feel this is high enough.

Immigration would much rather with the bank evidence on the renewal, you show them that you are taking $ out of the bank every month to support your wife, with evidence of ATM withdrawals from the bank passbook. At the end of the year, you top it back up to 400K with money from overseas and then reapply. Of course with the 45K scenario with the work permit, then you don't need the 400K in the bank anymore.

The last roadblock. When you apply for the extension of stay based on support of a Thai national, you cannot touch this money while its under consideration to approve you. If you apply and then take out the 400K within the 40 day under consideration. The odds are very high, you will not be approved.

www.lawyer.th.com

the one at downtown CM near nightbazaar is owned by a Farang and is 100% customer-free (except myself ) whenever I am there....

He seems to do pretty good. He averages around 200 customers a day and in high season, he has much higher numbers. This is a good location.

What sort of money are we talking about for a Subway Franchise?

On average, leasehold improvement, rent deposits, equipment, signs, franchise, 3 months operating capital, 2 week training and travel/ hotel cost to the training center, etc . etc. Everything from A to Z is around 4 million Baht.

.

I was a bit surprised when I read about the JUNGCEYLON procect.

Will they finally be opened this year???

Don't think so, even though this money group is now involved.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.as...rch=yes&Id=4820

This group ( City Development) is out of Singapore. They just enter into a JV to build a nine-rai Hilton Millennium Hotel on the Thon Buri side of Bangkok They also acquired the Exchange Tower located at the intersection of Asoke and Sukhumvit road, and reopened it, after it was closed for 5 years. They also are doing this project called the Millennium Residences on Suk Soi 18

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.p...00&page=1&pp=20

I had long time ago already a working contract with a company in this procect but had to cancel it because of all the delays.???

Our space is near Starbucks at the main entrance. We purchase the Subway franchise in 2004 for this location and gave the deposit to the Landlord then. Just waiting for Junceylon to finished. Hopefully it will be this High Season, it will be done.

For your SUBWAY outlet I wish you and your partners a good start and a lotof success.

All of our locations have been profitable every month but they are all in Bangkok. This will be the first location outside Bangkok for us. Now in Phuket, their are already three other Subway franchises even though we were the first to buy the franchise for Phuket, but because of construction delays. We may be one of the last to open

I've tried only once SUBWAY in Pattaya some months ago but I was disappointed.

Staff took out the bread far to early from the oven and and garnishings have not been according to the menu.

Sorry when I mention this; I am a Chef more than 30 years now, experiences from Fast food chains in Europe up to high class restaurants/hotels in many countries.

Many companies here in Thailand do not spend enough time to train and explain all procedures when it comes to operate such an outlet.

But I think I don't have to tell you this, you are running already some shops..

Sorry to hear the staff in Pattaya that helped you, didn't do it to specs. Maybe it was a bad day for them or they were taking the easy way out. One of the biggest hurdles in Thailand is staffing. I'm positive whoever helped you was long gone after a month. Still that one negative experience affected you to try it again. Fortunately my wife is very good in staff relations and we do not have a high turnover at our locations.

I like you to invite you to one of our stores and try another sub as our guest. Odds are high, you'll be full and very happy. Just pm me and I'll make sure we meet up.

As for garnishes, you can have as much as you want. You tell them as they make it in front of you, how you want it. Lots of tomatoes or no jalapenos. What type of sauce you like. The key is its made fresh so you are the conductor

http://www.thailandsubway.com

I appreciate the replies. Sunbelt states that KFC are open to individuals. Well I guess that needs to be defined. Sorry I am not the brightest apple in the bucket.

I plan on joining in with 2 Thais, and one other falang. All of us combined may be able to afford this, and ofcourse we would have to form a business partnership to do this venture.... but obviously I know little about it.

I know little about the food business, it is just that I have an area in mind that is ripe for a KFC, and if I don't get one put in that location, someone else will. In fact I would doubt if people are already planning one in this location. So I want to move on this project and get some information squared away.

So if you all know anymore information, please share.

Thanks

Yum Brands has granted the rights for KFC to Central restaurant Groups(CRG) by signing a master franchise to Thailand. A master franchise can have sub franchisees ( what you are looking to be) or the master franchise can develop the stores themselves. CRG is developing the KFC brand themselves in Thailand and not looking to have franchises for KFC. Feel free to e-mail them yourself and find out at [email protected]

By the way, CRG also has the master franchise rights for Thailand with Pizza Hut, Auntie Anne's, Baskin Robbins and Mister Donut.

Sunbelt, what is your sucess rate for starting BOI companys? It would suck to spend that cash only to find out that the company wasnt aproved.

You can apply for BOI approval before you set up the company. We have a 100% success rate, with some very large projects them have been approved. We have a good idea , if you will be accepted but to be on the safe side, go for BOI approval before you invest.

www.lawyer.th.com

On a similar topic what do you guys think about a Subway franchise as a business. I've noticed a lot have popped up in Bangkok & Pattaya in the last 3 years, they must be doing good business. Are they mostly servicing farangs or are Thai's eating there?

Would it be profitable outside a major tourist street or area?

KFC is not available as a franchisee for individuals in Thailand.

At Subway, were doing “ok to good.” Food costs have skyrocketed to very high levels in a restaurant business. The States the food costs ares 15% lower for an average Subway store versus Thailand.

Location is key. The 5 locations that I'm the biggest shareholder in, are all in very good locations. 4 of them catering to foreigners. One location that caters more to Thais is in Siam Paragon next to Starbucks.

We will be opening our 6th location in the Jungceylon Complex in Phuket.

If your location is bad, you will have a hard time making money.

As for Thais, we have spent a good amount of advertising towards the Thais this year and the number of Thais are increasing. It won't happen overnight that it will be 50% Thais eating a day at Subway.

If anyone is interested in a Subway franchise info kit, just P.M. me.

http://www.thailandsubway.com

That sounds nice, But my current state is tht I have a non immigrant ED visa and it is about ot expire on the july 15th 2006. I am expecting a job and can my employer extend my visa without me going out of the country.

What are the documents are necessary for processing if my employer is the United Nations which I think does not need an work permit for its emploees to work.

Representatives of member countries and officials of the United Nations are indeed exempted from the Work Permit requirements .

As for the paperwork required, your Employer will handle everything for you.

"If a business buys equipment, house, car it must then depreciate the cost of the equipment, house, car over a life defined by the Thai Revenue Department."

Can you explain this further? Are you saying it is spreadout over many years?

yes

Durable Building has 5% depreciation per year.

Passenger car or bus with no more than 10 passengers capacity depreciated at the rate of 20% but the depreciable value is limited to one million Baht

Computer.: ( SME... Your company has less than 5 million Baht registered capital): initial allowance of 40 % on the date of acquisition and the residual can be depreciated over 3 years

So is it better for the MD to pay a very small amount as rent to stay in the company estate or for him to use it free and pay taxes on it for personal use?

"G" is correct, on paper it doesn't matter.

So once everything is done and setup It sounds like you really need to get someone to take care of the books and be marking down all of these expenses and finding as many breaks as you can. Does your company provided these services as well? What can someone expect to pay for service like this?

A very thin line between tax avoidance and tax planning. Our expertise is not in tax planning and certainly we don't advocate tax avoidance. For filing, our firm is better and much cheaper than most but nothing compared to Western Standards. Even the big firms don't come close to Western Standards even though they charge professional fees like it. I don't know one good firm to reco for tax planning, most have their hands full just getting all the filing done on time.

Thai accountants as rule don't think outside the box and when it comes to tax planning, its " how much do you want to pay this year?" We don't advocate that type of advice so our accountants just file the withholding tax, Vat, Social Fund filings every month. At least with our firm, you'll find at the end of the month, the light is still on at 2 or 3 a.m. in the morning and six out of 11 accountants are still hard at work.

Most foreigners use Quick Books UK version and do a PL/ Balance sheet themselves every month and give this to the auditor. Its cheaper and much faster. I know big name companies that charge over 70K per month for a simple monthly trail balance on a SME and they are 15 months behind.

may very well do that, just to make sure, altough I believe no one in the police or in MoC will give any written approval, and a verbal one does not mean a lot.

PM me with the name of your company. What is good today or next year, may not be good in 5 years as the regulations change. If you want to be 1000% secure and get something in writing or with you owning the shares 100%. This will mean an Alien Business License. An application for a Foreign Business License is submitted to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) together with all required documents and information.

Factors considered by the Committee when reviewing applications are:

The advantages and disadvantages to the nation’s safety and security;

Economic and social development;

Public order, good morals, art, culture and traditions of the country;

Natural resources, conservation, energy and environment, consumer protection, size of the enterprises, employment; and

Technology transfer and research and development.

It takes on average 90 days or more to get approval.

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but, do the remaining 21 days have to be on the original 60 day entry or could you use the 30 day extension and then apply?

You can apply on the 30 day extension as well.

www.lawyer.th.com

Does the OP realy mean 30 day of extension from a "60 day Tourist Visa" or does it mean only "permitted to stay 30 days" (like same most western countries get)? IMHO for me not same.

Can you realy convert "permittet do stay" also?

The OP states

That's what I'll do--tell the Thai Embassy in Washington, that I changed my mind and I want a tourist visa instead--then get the "O"visa in Thailand. Thanks!

This sounds to me that he is going to ask for a 60 day tourist visa. Otherwise why would he even contact the Embassy, at this point?

Can you realy convert "permittet do stay" also?

a 30 day transit visa yes but not a 30 day tourist visa exemption stamp

www.lawyer.th.com

Is it possible to change the Non-immigrant ED visa to a business visa for a one year extension.

No need to change. You simply apply for the extension of stay based on business.

But as I stated before you are able to even get a work permit with this type of visa/ extension. Your Employer would must rather hire you with this type of visa extension on ED than a "B" He does not need to have 4 Thai employees for your extension of stay based on education or pay you the minimum salary for your nationality. Much easier for a student to get a part time job and be legal.

www.lawyer.th.com

So lets say my internet company is bringing in 1 million baht a month in Revinue (mostly profit)

At the end of the year that equals about 12 million in profit. Can the company buy a nice house, a Benz, a speedboat, a few big bikes, a Jet ski, and a few big bottles of beer chang thus making the profit less then 1 million baht, which would then only require 15% taxation?

Whats the best way to take advantage of as much money as you can?

If a business buys equipment, house, car it must then depreciate the cost of the equipment, house, car over a life defined by the Thai Revenue Department. You simply can't go out and spend 12 million on assets and deduct that as a immediate write-off.

If the house is to be used by the MD and he is not paying rent, he needs to pay personal tax on that benefit. If the car is for his personal use, that is as well to be put as a benefit and taxed( if its strictly for business travel, then that’s another issue) The bikes and jet skis were these for clients use on weekend, for employee use or the Md's personal use? Personal use and it’s a benefit to be taxed. Beer.. you are only able to deduct entertainment expenses up to 0.3% of gross receipt but not exceeding 10 million Baht

Many small businesses have a advantage over a individual as they can deduct tolls, gasoline, maintenance on a car if its for business use. A trip to Singapore can be written off if it was to meet clients.

At the end of the day, everyone has their own stance on taxes. We have always strongly advocated to pay our fair taxes due and not take advantage of offshore billings, etc. . Every business I’m involved in, we pay taxes. This is what the government looks at, " is your company making money and giving them nothing in return?"

By the way, nobody can be El Presidente and just spend money, unless he has the votes to do so. The MD has to to be accountable to the shareholders.

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but, do the remaining 21 days have to be on the original 60 day entry or could you use the 30 day extension and then apply?

You can apply on the 30 day extension as well.

www.lawyer.th.com

Hi

Thanks for the advice. You said Degree or Diploma.......does that mean a diploma is enough and you don't need a degree for the 3 month non immigration B visa? I have a diploma, a TEFL certificate, a letter from the school and a contract. How does the law stand now??

Thanks, Louise.

This works. You are good to go.

www.lawyer.th.com