seeker108

I just got confirmation from the Honorary Consulate in Alabama that they today received my application for the non-imm B, multiple-entry visa and they were sending same back today. Should be here Friday. Fast, courteous service and they were very helpful throughout. I can definitely recommend using this office along with the Denver and Houston offices that have already been recommended.

I also have received a formal proposal from the Chiang Mai office of Sunbelt Asia. All seems quite reasonable and as expected. I am now awaiting a response to some clarification questions.

So far getting the B visa and setting up the business has been painless and I hope it continues in this way. For those who are considering this route I will update as this develops.

Good news Sunbelt Asia about the 1 Thai employee rule for consultants. That will help to be on the 1 year extension track right away.

Thanks gentlemen.

I have received a formal proposal from the CM office of Sunbelt Asia. All seems quite reasonable and as expected. I am now awaiting a response to some clarification questions.

Hmm, does no one here know of a bright and reliable Thai looking for a change of job?

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... I wouldn't want her to change her job ...

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Fair enough! I assume she is good and either working for you or is your GF or wife.

Oh well, I'll keep looking.

Hmm, does no one here know of a bright and reliable Thai looking for a change of job?

The ones I meant have glass-lined collection tubes and a stainless steel tank, average cost around 6000-8000B. (I can't imagine a solar water heater costing 38,000B!).

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This is just the information that I have been waiting to hear for years. I was hoping that China or someone was going to come out with an affordable version. Thermomax Ltd, out of England were pioneers in this vacuum glass (quite similar to vacuum tubes for the long fluorescent lights), solar hot water technology.

http://www.thermomax-group.com/PRODUCTS/SOLAR/productsS.htm

And, sabaijai, if you think 38,000 baht is pricey, try 160,000 B for a similar unit installed in US or UK or EU.

Wow, 6,000 to 8,000! TIT on the positive side again. I hope someone here finds out if these are yet available in CNX or who is the main supplier for these Chinese units in Thailand. Heck, if no one else is doing it, I'll open the first shop in CNX myself!

Though hard to believe, from what sabaijai says, it seems that these Chinese units match the capability of the Thermomax units. Thermomax is very well known for being able to produce heat even on cloudy days. This is due to the glass tubes letting in maximum radiation and the vacuum keeping the heat from escaping, once in.

Thanks sabaijai for this info and thanks trawler for starting this thread.

meadish, any chance you can still return your water heater and get some kind of refund? This sounds too fabulous to pass up, especially with all energy costs on the rise.

The work permit procedure is the most complicated, because it involves several trips back and forth to city hall, and as a beginner it is easy to misunderstand and/or misinterpret requirements (now and then you may also be given misleading information by the government employees who do not always know what they are talking about - the turnover of employees is rather high, and as a result their work experience leaves a few things to be desired), which leads to even more trips back and forth for you, and more documents that need to be copied, signed, stamped and physically presented at the Labour Department.

It is definitely possible to handle the process yourself. However, in the end only you can decide what your time and peace of mind is worth. I suggest that if you are busy anyway, you should hire a professional.

This goes for most aspects of the whole process, in fact.

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Thanks for this reply Meadish! I had a feeling there must be some convoluted aspect to the process since the fee for this (at least in BKK) is more than double the fee for registering the business. I was hoping that maybe in CNX it might flow more easily. It seems not.

seeker

Hi all,

I am getting ready to set up a Thai limited company and get my work permit on this basis and would like to hear from others who have gone through either or both of these processes in Chiang Mai to know how easy or hard it is in Chiang Mai. Also it would be good to have any advice or tips in this regard based on your experience locally.

Greg, the owner of Sunbelt Asia down in BKK has been extremely helpful with the basic information of what is needed in general in Thailand and now, knowing that I will be setting up in CNX, has referred me to their CNX office for help with the actual processing. If the CNX office turns out to be even half as helpful/knowledgeable as Greg then I will be using their services to help with most of the setting up process.

It would still be nice to know what I and others might be able to do on their own to reduce some of the expense and what is not worth the trouble to do on your own and better to have a legal firm handle. The Sunbelt Asia processing fees seem more than reasonable for the time involved, except maybe getting the work permit, though I have no idea how complicated this process may be.

As a prliminary to coming back for this purpose I am about to receive my non-imm 'B' visa from one of the honorary consulates in the US. Doing this is quite easy and can be done easily by oneself. In addition to all of the usual documents for an 'O' visa you simply need to provide a letter on your own business letterhead stating that you are going to Thailand to look at establishing a business there.

As I go through the process of getting set up I will in turn keep all here informed on what I find.

seeker

Just a quick update for those who are following this.

As I am getting set up in Chiang Mai, Greg has referred me to Phil at the Sunbelt Asia office there, since they will be more familiar with the local situation and requirements. I am just now waiting to hear from that office to get a list of all costs and start the process.

I will keep you all posted on the progress. Again thanks to Greg from Sunbelt's BKK office.

seeker

See the following topic.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=50759

You simply need to set up a 'small' Thai limited company. If you are married before you set this up then the total legal and governmental fees in setting up the business should run you between 20,000 and 30,000 baht. Apply for the non imm B visa for your entry into Thailand then getting your work permit should be no big problem.

Sunbelt Asia has been very helpful to me in getting set up, and their fees are extremely reasonable and well worth it to be sure evrything is done properly.

Very clear and correct post Axel.

This does not mean that some have not gotten away in the past with coming in without an outbound ticket and without a proper visa. And still some may get lucky in the future. However in these days of tighter security and closer scrutiny you very much run the risk of being put back on a plane to where you originated or to your home country if you no longer have proper documents for re-entry to where you started from. Then you have to buy a new ticket and start again.

Regarding tickets I have been in charge of buying airline tickets for an international non-profit organization for 20 years and one constant rule is that all rules are subject to change. Usually (but by no means always) your best deals can be bought from a good consolidator. However, some times the airlines run a sale that consolidators can not touch. Usually, these days, a one way is cheaper than a roundtrip if you only need to go one way, but again not always. Return ticket prices are usually also pegged to the time validity of the ticket, the shorter validity being the cheaper deal. Validities can range from a weekend to 1 year (though most international tickets are usually valid for at least 30 days.

So, when buying tickets always check with at least 2 reputable consolidators and at least 2 airlines. Check both over the phone and online. There are sometimes deals online that are not available over the phone. And if your visa staus requires a roundtrip ticket, get it, unless you are fine with throwing away the cost of a ticket and the time involved in being deported.

Hi all,

I've been digging into some of the old posts on threads similar to this one and I see how rules have changed from time to time. However, one constant I see is that Greg (Sunbelt Asia) really knows what he is talking about. Same goes for a couple of others who post here regularly. I'm glad there are guys like you out there helping the rest of us falang to navigate these muddy waters.

Quick question: what is this "Alien Business License" and what are the implications for the 'big' and 'small' companies? Sounds like I as the MD of a 'big' company will need to get this. Also it sounded like in the past, at least, that with this they really did look for the 2 million baht to be on hand. I hope this is more of a past history situation.

Greg, George and other wise gurus of this forum I wonder what you gents would think about having a blog on TV somewhere that lays out all of the basic information (kept updated by the gurus as the environment changes) and answers the most common questions about setting up the various kinds of companies. Then uninformed newbies like myself could be referred there so that you don't need to keep answering the same basic questions. You could then just focus on reinforcing what it says there or delving into some finer points here. just a thought to save you time and maybe help the newbies more quickly get over that hurdle of the unknown.

seeker

Solly, solly... Too early in the bloody morning here

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Understandable.

ROME is the place of issue.

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George, that is Crossy's passport you are looking at, not the OP's

Hi Andy,

Sorry I can't answer this question as I have an American passport (in this the info is on the lower middle, right hand side of the page with your photo).

However I would like to suggest you look at the following thread:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=50759

The reason is that based on your situation, the best visa for you may be the non-imm "B" visa. You only need provide a letter to the Honorary Consul in Hull or Birmingham, etc. that you are going to Thailand with the intention of looking into setting up a business there. That way if the employment offer does not happen, you can the easily set up your own business and freelance (the above thread has the details). If the employment offer does happen, no worries as the B visa is fine for that also. Cost for "O" or "B" is the same. Be sure to get the multiple entry.

seeker

Depends on your nationality and the salary required per month via Immigration for an extension of stay based on business .......

Social Fund is 5% of the employees salary( capped at 750 Baht per employee) which has to be matched by the corporation.

www.lawyer.th.com

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Thanks again Sunbelt Asia for all of your brilliant help here. I hope that all of the wonderful information here helps remove the "fear of the unknown" hurdle for hundreds of others as it has for me and they all come flocking to you with their requests to set up a company.

seeker

P.S. For those who are not yet in Thailand, don't forget that setting up your company is easier if you enter Thailand with the non-imm B visa rather than the non-imm O visa.

I'm following this thread with very close interest (as I suspect are many others)

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Hi Steve, I am glad to hear that you also are finding this useful. I know in my first stays in Thailand I never even considered setting up a business simply because of the hurdle of not knowing what was involved and suspecting that it would be outrageously expensive even to find out what was involved. Now with all of the helpful information on Thai Visa in general and especially with the helpful information that Sunbelt Asia has posted in this thread I find that I can easily and affordably set up a company in Thailand

The obvious downside of the "B" compared to the "O-A" is the need for 90-day visa runs - but that's no big deal as far as I'm concerned.

This 'downside', as you note below, is only with the 'small' company as the 'big' company does allow you the one year extension to your B visa.

It's the basic annual running costs of the next (company) stage that I'm still unclear about. I have in mind what Seeker108 describes as the "small" company i.e. without Thai employees and therefore without the facility to apply for annual visa extensions. Depending on how things developed for me, I might then go on to "big" company at a later stage.

So, like Seeker108, I'm looking forward to seeing just what those costs are.

It seems from what Sunbelt Asia has said that your annual expenses for the 'small' company will be Baht 19,800 for income tax on your salary (whether you earn Baht 33,000 monthly or not, if you want to be able to renew your work permit. I suppose if you end up making no income and you don't care about renewing your work permit, then maybe you will not have even this expense).

Other than this, from what we have heard so far, it seems that your only other possible expenses will be paying someone (like Sunbelt Asia) a somewhat nominal fee to do your various filings for you, if you do not wish to do this yourself or do not have someone in your office who is capable of doing it for you. If you are not producing any goods then VAT probably will not apply to you.

Again, I am a real newbie with this, so if anyone else can think of any other possible expenses for the 'small' company, please let us know. There must be something else. This seems too reasonable considering that you can now earn as much money as you are capable of while residing in paradise.

Here is some useful information from http://www.lawyer.th.com/QR-start-a-business-in-thailand.asp

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Companies must keep accurate books and follow the accounting procedures which are specified in the Accounts Act, the Civil and Commercial Code and the Revenue Code. Documents may be prepared in any language, provided that a Thai translation is attached. All accounting entries should be typewritten, printed or written in ink.

Specifically, Section 1206 of the Civil and Commercial Code provides rules on the accounts that should be maintained as follows:

"The directors must cause true accounts to be kept:

Of the sums received and expended by the company and of the matters in respect of which each receipt or expenditure takes place.

Of the assets and liabilities of the company."

1/ Imposition of Taxes

Companies are required to withhold income tax from the salary of all regular employees.

Value Added Tax of seven per cent is levied on the value added at each stage of the production process, and is applicable to most firms. This VAT must be paid every month.

A specific business tax is levied on companies that engage in several categories of businesses that are not subject to VAT. This tax is based on gross receipts, at a variable rate ranging from 0.1 % to 3.0 %.

Corporate income tax is 30 % of net profits and is due twice each economic year. A mid-year profit forecast entails advance payment of these corporate taxes.

Edit: Just one further thought - I see reference to a "diploma" and "resume" for your chosen sphere of activity. The resume I understand well enough, but is the diploma necessarily some kind of degree? I didn't complete my university course but I then went on to get a diploma in stage management from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Does that count if I should need one at some stage - and, if so, would it be relevant for work/business activity that is not theatre/TV/film-related?

I think this would only come up when originally applying for your visa in your home country (effectively making it a non-issue). Or when applying for a change of visa status (O to B ) in Thailand, where it may be a big issue.

Does anyone know if this comes up as an issue at the time of applying for your 1 year extension for a non-imm B visa? (Even if so, this would not apply to you Steve if you are choosing the 'small' company 90-day run route.)

I hope wiser heads will look at what I have said and correct any errors of interpretation from my side and especially add more information that you may be aware of.

Cheers,

seeker

depending on how much leg work you do yourself.

What legwork were you thinking of doing?

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For myself, as I am fairly clueless on setting up a business in Thailand and all that is involved with work permits, probably not much initially, except get the non B here in USA myself. Others who are more savy about such things may choose to handle getting the work permit themselves, for example and save a bit on costs there, if finances are tight for them.

More later as I must dash off to an appointment.

Oops, I neglected to mention, that fluent Thai is required.

I did not consider the possibility that I would be contacted by non Thai speakers.

Sunbelt and others - I think it would be good to take a closer look at what real expenses there are in setting up and maintaining a company, for my sake as well as others who may be contemplating this business option. Again, one of the real values in setting up a business (and getting a work permit) is that you then can legally work and make money while in the kingdom. You no longer need to look over your shoulder when you do any work for your "wife's business" or when doing work on or hiring someone to help work on your foreign based business.

As Sunbelt mentioned earlier, there are 2 categories of Thai limited companies that can be set up that I have been calling 'big' and 'small' for simplicity.

With the help of those of you who are more knowledgeable, I would like to outline the expenses of each of these. The small company means less expenses but it also means you still need to do 90-day runs, which for those who want to go out of the country a few times a year anyway may be the better option.

For this purpose I would like to overlook the owner's salary (but not your income taxes) as an expense because it is going back in your own pocket. Further, even though I will list them, I will not count employee salaries in my mind because if you are setting up a 'big' company then this means that you really plan on generating a real income and if you can not generate enough income to offset at least this expense or at least get good value for your money for what salaries you are paying then you really should be just on an OA and not thinking of business at all.

In looking at http://www.lawyer.th.com/company-registration.asp I see set up expenses of somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 baht depending on whether you are married to a Thai or not, how much capitalization you need or want and depending on how much leg work you do yourself. Can anyone tell us which, if any of these government fees need to be paid annually? They seem to be one-time fees, but I would like to be sure.

With a 'small' company what is the minimum salary you can pay yourself? Is it 30,000 baht monthly? Or would they allow as little as 10,000 baht? Anyway figure an annual tax expense of 18,000 or less (again, no need to consider anything higher because if you are paying more, it means you have more than enough income to offset it.

Are there any other expenses worth considering for the 'small' company?

For the 'big' company you have the same expenses as above except that the minimum annual income tax seems to be 36,000 baht even if you don't make any income. Also Sunbelt has outlined the following expenses:

If you had 4 Thais employed per month. This is 21,000 Baht per month times 12 months = 252,000 Baht per year

Social fund is 1,750 per month times 12 = 21,000 Baht

As long as you have a plan for generating some income even the 'big' company option seems pretty reasonable. Especially if one of the employees is your significant other and if the others are employees you might have hired anyway.

Now, what significant expenses have been left out, either initial or annual?

Comments?

Hi all,

Happily, I will soon be back in Chiang Mai!!! Hurray! The downside is that both of the gals that I would have thought to have help me to get settled in have had their own good fortune and are now living abroad. So any suggestions would be very welcome.

I will put out some classifieds but I thought I would also see if any members here had anyone they wanted to recommend. I am looking for someone trustworthy and really on the ball, and I have come to trust the opinions of most of the members here. This may also then help someone that you know who would like to work with a farang as an assistant. This would be a paid position, not that it would be a huge amount initially. Though after I get a non-profit set up that I am working on then that would obviously improve.

Of course good English is essential and he/she should be able to work with basic computer programs. Though if someone is a very good organizer then the computer part may not be essential as I will probably need to soon hire one or more other administrative and/or computer types for the non-profit.

Please PM or email me with any suggestions and contact info.

Thanks.

seeker

Brilliant as usual Sunbelt. I will look at this in more detail after a bit of shuteye.

Please do email or PM me in the mean time so we can get down to the nitty gritty of preparing to set up some sort of organization.

Then I can post the details here of just how easy and inexpensive the process was to encourage others along the path of further financial freedom.

seeker

Above post makes some general assumptions that I believe are iffy if not outright wrong.

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Phew! Lop, since your posts are normally spot on, I'll forgive you that general remark this time.

I just carefully read again the post you refer to and all of the posts in this thread. I see nothing wrong or iffy in what I said. But let's take your points one at a time.

A work permit is specific and is the document that allows work - owning a company is not a work permit.

Never said a visa was a permit. If you can find where I did please let me know. I did not mention the work permit in this post as 1.) I was trying to keep the post simple (as I admitted) 2.) It was not pertinent to any of the three points I was trying to make in this post, and 3.) The work permit was already mentioned several times in this thread including in my original post where I said "... just the fact that I am engaged in anything resembling work means that I will need a work permit".

One of the main points of this post however is that if you come in to Thailand on a B visa as opposed to an O visa you do then have the opportunity to establish a business (and get a work permit on that basis) and then engage in profitable activity as your own boss if you so choose. You cannot do this on an O visa without going through the apparently complex process of switching from an O to a B visa.

At this point we are simply talking about keeping all options open as painlessly as possible for as long as possible. And also talking about keeping open-minded to the possibility that after we get to Thailand something might tickle our fancy (business-wise gentlemen) and we (in the over 50 group) may want to do something more stimulating (with our brains, that is) other than "retire" completely or unlawfully operate in a state of semi-retirement.

A B visa, especially a multi entry, is not normally issued on your good looks and will not be issued in this area as easily as in the USA.  If you intend to extend there will be much higher costs involved than retirement.

If by "in this area" you mean Thailand, then that is exactly my point! Getting a B visa in Thailand having come in on any other visa ranges from a royal pain in the backside to impossible. However, according to one honorary consul (and the staff members of two additional honorary consulates that I spoke with today), getting the B visa, here in the USA, (at least from their offices) was no more complicated than adding a letter to the packet of items to be sent, stating that I was going to Thailand to investigate the possibility of establishing a business there. (Not even my 'good looks' were required)

Regarding the much higher costs that you mention, I guess you are referring to the costs of setting up the business as I believe the actual extension costs for either visa are fairly nominal (and probably the same?). Yes there is the expense of setting up the business and I have not yet calculated the total damage (and am still waiting to hear directly from someone at Sunbelt Asia so that I can realistically calculate all possible costs), but it seems pretty reasonable thus far. However with this you also now have the opportunity to (legally) earn an unlimited amount of income that will hopefully more than offset any expense of setting up the business, thereby actually making the ultimate cost of the B extension less than that of the OA extension.

Also, let's face it; many in Thailand on an OA visa do things that are anywhere from a slight bending of the retirement rules to outright ignoring them. For me the cost of setting up a business is not so great as the cost of getting put in a Thai pokey or of getting booted out of the kingdom would be. Maybe that would never happen with the minor bends, but think of the convenience of not having to hide what you are doing (for those who are). You could, for example, legally hire 4 good personal assistants, managers, accountants, whatever, to help you manage your overseas property rental business and thereby double or triple your earning potential without much expense. Not to mention that you need not worry that if you upset someone, that he/she will go to immigration and report that you are working while in Thailand.

Owning land by a company that has no real business would indicate an attempt to circumvent the foreign land ownership laws of Thailand IMO and could come back to bite.

Absolutely no argument there and I hope you noticed that I have been talking about doing everything 100% legitimate, right from the beginning, and that when I mentioned this, I did say "having a real corporation established" I mention this not as the reason for setting up the business, but just as one more possible benefit of doing it (if you need one more).

Keeping a company going is not a cost free affair and will be much more expensive than the 1,900 annual fee for a retirement extension.

[see above] But I also want to point out here, that those under 50 (as most everyone is already aware) do not have the option of a retirement extension. This last post of mine was originally written in another thread to someone who was still 2 years away from OA but wanted to avoid visa runs. To my mind going to the expense of setting up a corporation just to avoid runs without any attempt to make a company profitable is silly, but to do it while creating profit is a great idea for those under 50. Again, in my mind, it seems a much better option than the investment option for avoiding visa runs.

If you plan to retire the visa to get is for that purpose.  You can always change your mind later and the cost will be much less than setting up an unneeded company.

Here we need to differentiate between getting a visa and extending a visa (which is when you potentially get involved in setting up a company). I agree that if you are eligible for an extension based on retirement and by the time you need to get that extension you have decided that you do not want to do any business or can not think of one that will pay for itself then, by all means, apply for the OA. However I still stick by the thinking that if there is no real disadvantage in coming in with a B (and if you can easily obtain one from your honorary consul) then why not leave the business option open for yourself as changing from B to O once in Thailand, according to the folks at Sunbelt Asia, is not a problem. However going from O to B in Thailand is apparently much more complicated."

If after, say 80 days, you decide that you do not want to engage in business of any sort, even some type of business back in your home country that you manage or consult for from Thailand, then make the easy switch to O and extend on the basis of retirement. Perfectly valid to say that you wanted to look at the option of setting up a business here, but decided it was not your cup of tea and you have decided to simply enjoy the 'life of Riley'.

Same goes for someone who goes, say 2 years, on the 'no visa run' business program until they turn 50 and by then find that they just can't seem to more than break even or simply have no desire to continue in business of any sort. If you can no longer justify the expense, then call it quits and officially retire.

Now after all of this typing don't you think Sunbelt Asia should give me a piece of the commissions generated by the hundreds of you deciding to come clean and officially set up a business.

seeker

I recently posted the following in another thread but thought it would be good to post it here for those interested in the non B visa option (which may be particularly attractive to those under 50 looking for a long-stay option):

[comparing to non O visa] The same $125 fee can be paid for the 1 year multiple-entry B visa and with this you can do the same 90 day visa runs if this is what you end up wanting to do.

Alternatively, with this visa, you have the option to set up a limited Thai corporation within your first 90 days [or further down the road] without much expense or hassle. Then you never need leave Thailand again. You can keep this visa active and continue to get your extensions and you also need not put time and money into changing to the retirement visa and extensions in two years. However, if you do not intend to ever generate income through this new company of yours then maybe you will want to change to the OA (retirement) in 2 years as that will cost less to maintain. But at least with this option you still never need do visa runs starting immediately. [reference to this thread omitted]

The other advantage is if you do want to do anything even vaguely resembling work (like maybe do a fix up job on your home yourself) you are covered (assuming this is listed as your place of work if someone wanted to get real technical about it).

Speaking of home, from what I understand, having a real corporation established also allows you to own land and buildings through the corporation. Also as an American you can set up the favorable Amity treaty type company. I am not a visa or incorpoation expert by any stretch and some of what I just said I have simplified for the sake of this post, but it seems to me that this route has many advantages.

Can anyone think of any disadvantage of anyone getting the non-imm B as opposed to the O, even if they do not end up choosing to set up a business after looking into it once they are in Thailand?

I suppose if someone is over 50 and absolutely set in their mind on getting the OA (and no chance they will change their mind once in Thailand) then I guess there is no point in getting the B. But still no real disadvantage as changing from B to O once in Thailand, according to the folks at Sunbelt Asia, is not a problem. However going from O to B in Thailand is apparently more complicated.

For me I have no choice but to get the non B as I really do want to establish something serious in Thailand, but, now that I am aware of the advantages, I would probably still go the non B route even though I am eligible for the OA.

Re consulates definitely go through an honorary consulate and not an official one like the one in Los Angeles. Much more user friendly.

Here is a listing of the ones in the USA:

http://www.thaiembdc.org/directry/direc_e.htm#AL

Feel free to email or PM me for more details.

BTW, I have finally decided to go through the Alabama office for a number of reasons, one minor one being that they are willing to send back the passport via FedEx rather than USPS (Denver, though very helpful, will only use USPS).

Good luck all!

More questions about non-profits

Do they have a seperate legal existence in Thailand.

Yes

Can they be set up under the Amity treaty?

No profit only with a Limited Company. Partnership,Representative Office,Branch Office,Sole Proprietorship,and U.S. Subsidiary

www.lawyer.th.com

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Thanks Sunbelt,

Would you mind explaining briefly here what are the advantages, limitations and requirements for setting up an Amity company? Or again you might just want to post a link to somewhere that explains this.

Similarly what if any advantages are there for setting up a non-profit? Also is it much more complicated to set up and maintain a non-profit? Anyone?

The same $125 fee can be paid for the 1 year multiple entry B visa and with this you can do the same 90 day visa runs if this is what you end up wanting to do.

Alternatively, with this visa, you have the option to set up a limited Thai corporation within your first 90 days without much expense or hassle. Then you never need leave Thailand again. You can keep this visa active and continue to get your extensions and you also need not put time and money into changing to the retirement visa and extensions in two years. However, if you do not intend to ever generate income through this new company of yours then maybe you will want to change to the OA (retirement) in 2 years as that will cost less to maintain. But at least with this option you still never need do visa runs starting immediately. Again, see this link for more details:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=50759

The other advantage is if you do want to do anything even vaguely resembling work (like maybe do a fix up job on your home yourself) you are covered (assuming this is listed as your place of work if someone wanted to get real technical about it).

Speaking of home, from what I understand, having a real corporation established also allows you to own land and buildings through the corporation. Also as an American you can set up the favorable Amity treaty type company. I am not a visa or incorpoation expert by any stretch and some of what I just said I have simplified for the sake of this post, but it seems to me that this route has many advantages. Can anyone think of any disadvantage of anyone getting the non imm B as opposed to the O even if they do not end up choosing to set up a business after looking into it once in Thailand?

I suppose if someone is over 50 and absolutely set in their mind on getting the OA (and no chance they will change their mind once in Thailand) then I guess there is no point in getting the B. But still no real disadvantage as changing from B to O once in Thailand, according to the folks at Sunbelt Asia, is not a problem. However going from O to B in Thailand is apparently more complicated.

For me I have no choice but to get the non B as I really do want to establish something serious in Thailand, but, now that I am aware of the advantages, I would probably still go the non B route even though I am eligible for the OA.

Re consulates definitely go through an honorary consulate and not an official one like the one in Los Angeles. Much more user friendly.

Here is a listing of the ones in the USA:

http://www.thaiembdc.org/directry/direc_e.htm#AL

Feel free to email or PM me for more details.

BTW, I have finally decided to go through the Alabama office for a number of reasons, one being that they are willing to send back the passport via FedEx rather than USPS (Denver, though very helpful, will only use USPS).

Good luck all!