TTom911

Thanks for posting!

I see several references to "offshore" here.

Even if a business is "online" it means (hopefully) one has customers and collects income (and maybe writes a receipt..), has some employee or need a work permit for oneself, e.g. in Thailand... all that require a local registration. Whether or not that subsequently ties into a kind of a "holding company structure" with an offshore company at the top, how transfer prices and cross-charging can be "optimised" to minimise taxes, that would very much dependent on the nature of the business at question but would be a different/extra subject altogether.

But "offshore" is NOT THE SINGLE ANSWER for any online business if there are clear (all the more if they are traceable...!!) "local business activities", e.g. in Thailand. "Local business activity" requires "local incorporation", unless one wants to try and "flaunt the system" completely, which I don't think is a good idea. The easiest thing for the competitor to bring the business down is tipping off the authorities and let them have a "little look at the farang...". That is almost 100% certain the first thing the competition might try and do coz it' sooooo easy... If that happens then such "flaunting activities" would be discovered in minutes, would be bullet proof in court with little effort and would send the business (and the owner/management) down the pan immediately.

"Making clever and legal use of the system" is professional, trying to "flaunt the system" is bad business practice and foolish, hands the gun straight into the hand of the competition and will backfire sooner rather than later, in particular if the business is successful, no one MIGHT care if the business is bad anyways, but that's not the plan, right!?...).

Thats at is least my humble view.

Thai roads would be a bit safer if he wouldn't have been so lucky, I am afraid... "one man's luck is many other people's pain, probably"... or is that too harsh...?

Hi, it's maybe a tricky question, but I would be interested to hear, based on your own personal experience, which would be "good companies" (accountant/law firms) to work with for incorporating an LTD and have them represent "the Thai national stakeholder" part of the board/ownership which is required by law.

I am talking of a SMALL, uncomplicated startup business. Very simple, all critical operations is being taken care of by myself in the future, no investment required, the company is expected to run cash-flow positive from day one, but still, incorporation and "thai stakeholder/board membership" is required even for the smallest of LTDs.

With "good" I mean "good in terms of COST EFFICIENCY (!!) as well as service and reliability/trustworthiness.

I am happy to accept PMs instead of public replies, if you feel that is more appropriate.

THANKS a million !

You only state the capital amount. You do not have to fund all of it. You can fund as little as 100k.

Thanks for the input. Being a foreigner, does this also apply (meaning, only having to pay up a fairly low amount, as you state)?

HI,

I am planning to setup a company to run an online marketing business. I have the entire system (website) to operate and run the business in place, no further major investment is required, no major "infrastructure", even no office, really, needed as all is run online. So, from a factual standpoint not much money is needed to run the business.

I understand that a company requires a certain capital to be put in, registered and also Thai stakeholders need to be "on board", literally.

Thinking of a Ltd (or any other form of incorporation with as "little formal and admin overhead" as possible), what is the amount a foreigner has to factually put cash into a bank account (and what would a Thai "partner" have to put in in terms of cash) to qualify for registration? And for how long would any such amounts need to remain in that account (given that the running expenses will be very low and will from an operational standpoint not need much cash reserves)?

Thanks of any input.

This is the best bit : Yutthana confessed he adores the police but could not pass the admission test Heck just how dumb is he !

I guess his actions provide the answer how dumb he is...

Unless there is a physical need to set up the business in Thailand, why not take advantage of a British-based legal system and establish in HK?

I thought about "offshore" (and still considering Singapore/Hong Kong as the "main hub" for the operation), but operating in Thailand requires work permit, bank account, etc. etc. etc. and all that requires a company to also (not necessarily "only") be registered here.

Thanks !

If this is not going to be in Thailand then why open a Thai company? Open an offshore company. If you are wanting to open a Thai company then you need to have someone you can completely trust. If you are from the US you can own the company 100%.

Good Luck!

Thanks, sure, I thought about "offshore" (and still considering Singapore/Hong Kong as the "main hub" for the operation), but operating in Thailand requires work permit, bank account, etc. etc. etc. and all that requires a company to also (not necessarily "only") be registered here.

Thanks !

Go for people you trust.

In the event you don't know anyone a legal firm is probably the next best bet. At least they are bound by some form of legal ethics and code of conduct.

Minimize your risk by ensuring their shares are preference shares which pay a reasonable fixed rate dividend, but with limited/reduced voting rights, so you retain control of the company, but it is still a valid commercial business deal.

From a practical point of view you will also need Thai directors to sign things. Hence it can be easier if these people are also the preference shareholders. Legal firms again can do both too.

My Thai wife is a director and shareholder in this way. It came about thru the friendship and trust I have with other expat friends. They get the additional trust factor of myself in the equation, and my wife gets the added comfort that I know and trust the people from her perspective - bearing in mind it is also a risk to the Thai person.

My wife receives a monthly fee as well as annual fixed dividend at a good rate.

Cheers

Fletch

Thanks, agree in principle. It is not that I am distrusting by nature but given that I am / we are in a totally different culture with (at least in my case) no firm "roots" or long-term friends/acquaintances it's a bit of a "shaky" situation... Hence my interest how others did approach this.

Thanks for your input !

Hi, assume you want to start a web based business in Thailand, don't need any investment/money, can run in effect all critical/core operational business matters by yourself and all assets (software etc. in this case) is even not hosted in Thailand and also fully managed by yourself. Still, the laws of course require that a significant portion of stakeholders in the company you want to setup must be Thai (I don't want to argue or lament about that, coz that's the rules which we are not going to change). People to whom one is personally "attached" is often the first thought when it comes to deciding who shall become these "stakeholders"... Completely unknowns (like accountants, lawyers, etc.) would be a different approach...

Either way, both are a BIG jump into the unknown and without wanting to forecast any doom or gloom, things can, and all too often do not change for the better over time... I just want to take a realistic approach to this subject with no other, second agenda...

While all the "factual aspects" of the business (assets, IP, etc.) are well under control and protected as I described above, how should one go about when selecting who these other "stakeholders" in "your" business shall be and what practically relevant steps shall be taken so that you don't end up with the short end of the straw if push comes to shove?

Would be interested in practically relevant views and personal experiences to learn from.

Hi, I wonder would anyone have some experiences/recommendations of Thail language teachers/schools, in particular in Khon Kaen, to share? Also, what the costs/tuition fees for reasonably good teachers would normally be?

Not necessarily being a "language genius", I am thinking of maybe 2-3 lessons per week over 6 months or so to get my head a little bit above water... .

Would be interesting how some of you got on with your Thai leaning efforts.

Udon grandmothers stretch them as babies. It's a traditional thing to ward off ghosts and predict lottery numbers.

They have to stop doing it before the grandmother gets to 35 years old though. After that is bad luck.

HILARIOUS

(what else/better answer can one give to such post........)

ohhhh, you poor Windows buggers....

maybe one more reason to consider the "better alternative"... ?

OP, I haven't read all these posts because they are many, but if it hasn't been mentioned already...I would give the payment directly to the owner of the Benz and make him sign an affidavit saying that the debt has been paid in full for the benefit of the gardener, then ask the Benz owner to not reveal who paid.

Matthew 6 says: 1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

This way you can make merit (Buddhism) or store up riches in Heaven (Christian)...or whatever else might be motivating you to give, and the gardener will not be back knocking on your door looking for another handout.

Wrong approach to my humble opinion:

- don't patronise the farmer, allow him to save face and "settle his own affairs". Give him anonymously and if he messes it up then you can't do anything about it, it is his very own choice, even a Thai poor farmer is still a grownup and can handle this himself, if you give him the means. Charity is not about getting involved in other peoples business, it is about "helping them to help themselves"

- in short: help (quietly), if you feel like, but DO NOT (!!!) GET INVOLVED otherwise for more reasons than would fit on this page...... !!!

I would do it, Karma will pay you back big time.

There is too much selfishness in this world as it is, I think we all in Thailand own something back as what a great place to live and enjoy and we are getting it for 20% the cost of our own country.

Wow, what a dumb post. Sorry. Karma? Is that like the the story of the guy in the sky who watches over all of us?

We foreigners owe Thailand exactly FA. We pay to play. Matters not what our currencies buy us here. We don't owe the Thais anything because their country is relatively uncompetitive and poor. Where do you get these strange notions?

at BEST one can feel very sorry for your petty, narrow-minded views, PaullyW. You seem to one those people to best stay well and far away from................. why not just keep such rubbish for yourself...!

In this case you would not be giving the money to the poor gardener, but to the Benz owner.

One option would be to let them to settle things out of their own. When that is done, offer the gardener a job, which could help them financially.

This leads us to 4 options:

1. do nothing (incl. DO NOT POST HERE), because it's your right to do things in your life as you see fit...

2. do nothing (BUT COME WITH LOTS OF "SMART SUGGESTIONS" here)... well... no further comment

3. do a little bit of "quiet charity" if you feel "it's the right thing to do"... you don't expect any rewards... you just follow your "heart/instinct" as a human being

4. you become a "mentor", give them work and the lot... has more far reaching implications and responsibilities, cant be done "quietly"

Beyond the "try your best", "work hard", "strive to succeed", not event the smartest, most diligent, most hard working genius on the planet will get anywhere with "some luck at the right time"...

If you can contribute and be "somebody's luck" with just 8.000 THB and believe that this will make a difference... what are you waiting for? Just "do it" (yes, I agree, do it anonymously) and maybe you will be surprised to see that YOU might feel even better than the poor farmer afterwards...

A little bit of kind hearted charity does not require/deserve this kind of "is it worth it... do they take me for a ride... let them sort themselves out" kind of thinking... Just do it, quietly, and say a prayer that it might help them many times over....

what's the "moral", if there is any...?

Thailand is a very complex place to stay longer term ... so many negative views shared here do unfortunately have their very real merit... and at the same time we can easily be proven wrong... Enjoy the "sweet moment"... nothing feels better here than being PROVEN wrong and EXPERIENCE the good of Thailand... let's praise the day...

GOOD STORY, trivial start, so real, then proven (hopefully) so wrong,at the end so true, so GOOD... if that makes sense to anyone...

Yeah, I´m kinda struggling to find something to "take away" from all this. I guess I should have picked up on the boyfriend´s silence and tried to have a talk with him without his girlfriend, but hind sight is always 20/20.

At least I´m walking away with some hope in Thailand and it´s people. Of course far from all Thais are bad, but it´s good to know that there is one less douche-bag out there than I believed yesterday.

It's just a good experience... what better could there be... EJOY... I am really yearning for all my "hard earned" negative views here to be proven utterly wrong... I would be happy to admit and declare "defeat"........

Things like these are a step in that (the right) direction...

Sudden changes in the situations my dear friends.

Have been checking for a new apartment today, but didn´t really find anything that felt ok. In the meantime we decided to move the bed away from the wall towards our neighbors so that we at least can sleep (a great undertaking since we had to re-arrange the entire room). Anyway, just as we were finishing up someone knocks on the door. It´s Mr. Soldier himself, offering his heartfelt apologies for everything that has happened, saying that it´s his girlfriend who was the driving force behind it all, and that he feels she has gone overboard when she started threatening us.

The soldiers who visited the apartment building were in fact friends of her brother that she called over here to give us a fright. He claims to have put a stop to this, and says that we are welcome to knock on his door if we ever think they are too noisy. He did however note that he works most nights, and that it is largely his girlfriend who have been causing all the noise.

He gave us his cell phone number to call if she doesn´t listen when we tell her to be quiet and he is away working.

A pretty amazing turn if you ask me, and completely unexpected. Though I did note that the boyfriend was mostly keeping quiet while his girlfriend raged at us earlier. We will probably change apartments anyway since we feel like a change of scenery, but we don´t really feel any rush now.

Great thanks to everyone that took an interest in my little drama, and a special thanks to draftvader for his help in finding new accommodations.

Buy him a beer, or two, or three, man... if you message me ur bank account I send you a few (I mean, "just A FEW"... bucks in support.... 5555

Great that he had the "courage" to come and apologise... NO FACE LOST in the exercise, I'd think... I REALLY like that story :)

what's the "moral", if there is any...?

Thailand is a very complex place to stay longer term ... so many negative views shared here do unfortunately have their very real merit... and at the same time we can easily be proven wrong... Enjoy the "sweet moment"... nothing feels better here than being PROVEN wrong and EXPERIENCE the good of Thailand... let's praise the day...

GOOD STORY, trivial start, so real, then proven (hopefully) so wrong,at the end so true, so GOOD... if that makes sense to anyone...

6 months after you move out you may of course wish to revisit the parking lot there to reminisce, I'm sure his Fortuner with big rims and army decal on the front grille would be there.

Would be a shame if upon reminiscing you accidentally scratched along the side of it with your scooter.

as a joke over a beer it may (!) be ok ... 555

In practical terms, don't get even near that kind of "revenge thinking"... if that would become a habit and mode of operation you will be in trouble sooner or later... and may get an ulcer on the way....

Do it "Thai Style", just smarter: SMILE (...and move on to bigger, better, more interesting things...)

hey, OP, should you "swallow pride and move on" (like a few here suggest you should), please keep us updated on how that goes down with your (Thai, i guess...) GF/partner..... That would be interesting to know.............. Hope you don't get from one trouble into the next one , just for being smart......... but that would not surprise me, unfortunately........ Hope you also have a GF/partner as "smart" as you......

if it REALLY annoys you too much, get out and find another place. Anything else can lead to any trouble imaginable - or to no trouble, but the problem is you will only find out when it's too late... Be smart, don't try to "win" where the chances are almost certain that you would loose, in one way or another... It doesn't not mean you would be a coward, just that you are smart....

"Because its a Thaksin initiated policy.. And the hatred of him and desire to break down every policy he implemented is likely to be very strong if a non Shin aligned party holds power."

hot air, rubbish talk by people who don't have to (and never will) take responsibility at the end... pure polemic...

in these tourism/economic matters every government, whichever colour, will take a very pragmatic approach at the end and will not change rules just out of "hatred" if it brings the country money and no unreasonable problems. And I believe it brings in money with little problem and easy control. Thailand has millions of other things to worry about, they will not play stupid on that (and if they really play stupid then things probably got to a stage that you happily leave the 500k behind and go somewhere nicer...)