Indo-Siam

Actually the detailed correct answer is:

Thai Annual Corporate Income Tax for company will less than 5,000,000 baht registered capital:

First 150,000 baht in annual profit: 0%

150,000 to 1,000,000 baht in annual profit: 15%

1,000,001 to 3,000,000 baht in annual profit: 25%

Annual profit in excess of 3,000,000 baht: 30%

The 0% rate on the first 150,000 baht in annual profit, just like the 0% personal income tax rate on the first 150,000 baht in taxable income, are two initiatives put in place by the currently seated Thai government - but for which they never get any credit. These initiatives don't do much for wealthy people or companies - but they significantly help small businesses and modest earners.

Combine with the 99,000 baht in standard personal deductions and standard personal exemptions that apply to most wage-earners, it means that anyone who earns 20,750 baht or less per month pays ZERO personal income taxes in Thailand.

There is only one corporate tax rate of 20% that exist in Thailand - and that is for public companies that are listed in something called the Market for Alternate Investment (MAI). So - I suggest that you not use anyone who cites that rate to do your company bookeeping!

Cheers!

Steve

Indo-Siam

1. For company with registered capital of less than 5,000,000 baht, tax rate on the first 1,000,000 baht in annual profit is 15%, not 20%. Reference: Section 3 at Thai Corporate Income Tax

2. Amity Treaty status has no affect on work permit requirement, for you. So - just two Thai employees.

3. Nothing in "the system" currently prevents you from paying up company's registered capital in cash, then loaning some large portion of that cash back out to yourself - listing this "loan to related party" as an asset of the company. In the event your company becomes insolvent, and a creditor has claims against the company, it is (theoretically) possible for the creditor to petition via court action to collect the obligation due to that creditor DIRECTLY from the entity that owes the debt to the company.

You did not detail the nature of your business, but just for background knowledge, an internet-based business that is involved solely with export of Thai-sourced goods is not eligible to apply for Amity Treaty approval - because that particular activity may be routinely pursued by any company with majority foreign share ownership.

Good Luck!

Cheers!

Steve

Indo-Siam

Here is the correct information:

If a company has majority foreign shareholders, the Labor Ministry will only allow it to sponsor a work permit if the requirements of the Foreign Business Act (FBA) are satisfied.

There are three possibilities:

1. The FBA does not restrict the declared business activity of the company. Example: Manufacturing

2. The Company has a Foreign Business License - in which case, under Section 14 of the FBA, the company must have registered capital of at least 3,000,000 baht.

3. The company has a Foreign Business Certificate - in which case, the 'default' criteria of Section 14 of the FBA applies - that being that the company must have registered capital of at least 2,000,000 baht.

The exact wording of Section 14 is:

"Section 14. The minimum capital used at the commencement of the business operation shall not be less than that prescribed by ministerial regulations and shall in no case be less than two million Baht.

In the case where the businesses in the preceding paragraph require the license under the Lists attached hereto, the minimum capital to be prescribed in the ministerial regulations for each of the businesses shall in no case be less than three million Baht."

The first sentence states the default condition. The second sentence states the condition if a Foreign Business License is required.

Amity Treaty companies fall under Section 10 of the FBA:

"The foreigners operating the business classified in the attached Lists under a treaty to which Thailand is a party or is obligated to abide "

and are therefore covered under Section 11 of the FBA:

"the foreigners qualified under Section 10 wishing to operate the business under the attached Lists shall notify the Director-General under the rules and procedures prescribed in the ministerial regulations in order to obtain a Certificate.

So - it is the fact that an Amity Treaty Company satisfies the FBA requirement with 2,000,000 baht - because it operates under a Foreign Business Certificate -- that allows the Amity Treaty company to sponsor a work permit with just 2,000,000 baht registered capital.

This is not a "new" rule - the current version of the FBA was published in 1999 (countersigned by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai).

I think that the reason that there is a lot of confusion is that many/most people are not aware that there are two distinct categories of authorization to operate a "foreign business" - under a Foreign Business Certificate, or under a Foreign Business License.

There is another operational distinction between these two forms of authorization - that being in the government approval fees. The approval fee for a Foreign Business Certificate is a flat 20,000 baht. The approval fee for a Foreign Business License is based on which "list" of restricted activities the activity of an applying company appears, and on the registered capital of the company.

By the way, the other category of companies that operate under a Foreign Business Certificate is companies that are approved for BOI promotional benefits, and which have majority foreign share ownership.

An English version of the FBA is available at Foreign Business Act of 1999

The details of the differences in government approval fees are provided in Sections 2 and 3 at: Fee Schedule - FBA

Cheers!

Steve

Indo-Siam

I can confirm that it is completely routine to obtain Amity Treaty approval for a company established with 2,000,000 baht registered capitalization.

No Thai employees are required to establish a company - they are only required in order for the company to be eligible to sponsor a work permit. In most locations OUTSIDE of Bangkok, four Thai employees are required, per work permit. Within Bangkok, we routinely get work permits for new companies with just two Thai employees, initially.

In Bangkok, to sponsor a work permit, the company form Bor Or Jor 5 must show that 100% of registered capital has been paid up - as certified by a director's signature on the form. There is no requirement for a company to even a bank account opened, to apply for a work permit.

For the latest company for which we obtained Amity approval, key dates were:

Company incorporated 25 March

US Commercial Service endorsement obtained 31 March

Applied to Ministry of Commerce for Foreign Business Certificate 5 April

Received Foreign Business Certificate 20 April

Presumably, the MOC process was delayed somewhat by Songkran holiday.

Cheers!

Steve

Indo-Siam

Anyone considering purchase of this company should have someone who reads Thai brief them on

the content of these postings at the website of the Job-Seeker Protection Division of the Department of Employment of the Labor Ministry:

http://www.ipd-doe.com/content/WebboardAnswer.asp?GID=10349

http://www.ipd-doe.com/content/WebboardAnswer.asp?GID=6836

http://www.ipd-doe.com/content/WebboardAnswer.asp?GID=4827

http://www.ipd-doe.com/Content/WebboardAnswer.asp?GID=7412

Go to: http://www.dbd.go.th/corpsearch_test/main.phtml - but it generally only works if you select "begins with" and enter the first word of the company's name. It the gives you a list of all companies that start with that word.

At the DBD office, you can recover the shareholder list, the company registration summary, and various other documents about a company, for a small fee. You can also recover a copy of the company's most recent annual audited financial report. But - all documents are in Thai language, and you generally need the company registration number (which you can get using the on-line search function described above).

Cheers,

Steve

Indo-Siam

Try: http://www.mrroomfinder.com/

IS

Tsu Nami underneath the J.W. Marriott Hotel - with entrance right near the intersection of Soi 2 and Sukhumvit Road.

IS

Let's see - OP says he paid 1,800 baht (= US $60) for:

Two drinks

One hamburger

Macaroni

Potatoes

Dessert

Well, that seems a .... bit steep ..........

I've eaten at Hyde and Seek a couple of times - but I stopped going when they dropped Hoegaarden from their beer portfolio. It is a nice upscale bistro - but a tad on the expensive side.

IS

Sukhumvit Soi 50 is directly opposite Sukhumvit Soi 79 (Soi Niyom) - which is where I live.

The nearest klong boat stop is underneath the "bridge" (flyover) in-between Soi 71 and Soi 73. It is about a 600 meter walk from there to Soi 50. Boat landing is at coordinates 13.71148,100.597297 on Google Maps.

IS

He was one of my favorites. RIP.

Thailand is directly benefiting from weakness in the business outlook in Vietnam, as described at http://www.economist.com/node/17859425?story_id=17859425&fsrc=rss

For most of the first decade of this millenium, Vietnam was Thailand's biggest rival as a base for foreign companies wishing to set up a subsidiary in Southeast Asia. And - the Vietnamese government did a good job of attracting investors. But - over the past two or three years, Vietnam has lost its luster - and Thailand has reaped the benefits. The Thai government is patting itself on the back for improving its attractiveness - but - in reality - Thailand has stood still - and is just benefiting from the stumbles elsewhere.

As someone who runs an incorporation services business in Thailand, the outlook for the next few years looks pretty bright. Year-on-year, 2010 vs 2009, our start-up count was up more than 60% - and this year is starting off strong.

Now, if Thailand can just avoid stumbling over itself ...........

Stevre

Indo-Siam

To the OP:

The lottery is carried out separately within different conscription jurisdictions, based on just the candidates domiciled (on tabiehn bahn) within that jurisdiction.

The lottery only takes place within a jurisdiction, if insufficient volunteer enlistees originate from that jurisdiction.

If you presently are not on a tabiehn bahn anywhere, you will first have to establish such a domicile, so as to be included in a jurisdictional lottery pool.

But - you have the ability to select your jurisdiction.

So - what you want to do (and I don't know exactly how to do this) will be to carry out research, and locate jurisdictions that have either no unfulfilled recruiting slots (meaning enough volunteers that they do not execute the lottery there), or that have very few open slots, compared to the size of the lottery pool.

You will then have to find a homestead in such a domicile to "adopt" you as a resident (unless you can afford to purchase your own home).

Finally, if you end up in jurisdiction with just one or two openings, prior to filling all slots (and thus canceling the lottery in that jurisdiction), you can try to "hire" local candidates to "volunteer" ahead of the lottery, and thus fill the entire quota.

Realize: Every young man knows that the possible outcomes are:

1. Volunteer and serve a short service tour

2. Not volunteer, "lose" the lottery, and have to serve two years

3. Not volunteer, "win" the lottery, and not have to serve

4. Pursue one of the paths - in high school or university - that gives them an exemption from active service

There are people that volunteer to serve. Now - if I was a young man who intended to volunteer, and I lived in a jurisdiction that had only a handful of unfulfilled quota slots - my thought process just might be:

"I can volunteer right now, get nothing, and go serve six months - and its all over. Or - I can wait until just before the lottery - maybe link up with a few other men who intend to volunteer - and then - just before the lottery, we can offer to "pass the hat" among all the potential candidates - and invite them to make a cash contribution, to ensure no lottery. We then take up the hat, split the proceeds, and then go sign up voluntarily. Everybody wins."

So - it just may be possible to find such a situation - and exploit it. All because: you can "cherry pick" your domicile.

Good luck!

Indo-Siam

(US Army Infantry - '78-'88)

You my friend are singing the same chorus as a few others, Nothing that the civic driver, or her familyhave said or ..DONE.. seem inappropriate to me..................WHAT !!!!!!!!................my god AMAZING

You make a good point. My statement was not worded properly. What I should have written was:

"Nothing that the Civic driver, or her family have said or done, subsequent to the accident, seem inappropriate to me."

The girl was underage for driving. The girl didn't have a Thai or otherwise legal driver's license. The girl herself has admitted she was speeding. The Thai police, based on whatever inquiry and knowledge they have, have said they're going to file criminal charges against her for causing or at least contributing to the crash.

In my home country, I got my driver's license at age 16 - and drove from then on - as did most young people in my country. So - Driving at age 16 - in itself - does not strike me as big problem. At what age can young people obtain a driver's license in your country? Her age is not in itself a proximate cause of any harm - so I don't see the point in hanging her because she is 16 years old (or 17, or whatever her age really is)

It is not clear to me that the girl has no license to drive - just that she is not licensed to drive in Thailand. That is certainly not good thing, given that she was driving. Again, in itself, driving without a license is not a capital offense. I would think that if she is licensed to drive in another country, and has substantial experience driving legally elsewhere, it might influence my opinion. It is not clear to me whether she has legal driving experience elsewhere. You seem to be absolutely certain that she is not legally licensed to drive elsewhere. You may be right. I have heard otherwise, but not from an unimpeachable source.

I think it is appropriate for the police to file charges against a suspect driver in a multi-homicide accident. that does not mean that the accused party is guilty. If you are so knowledgeable, please cite for me the exact citations in the charges filed against the Civic driver. I'll bet you don't know - so you are just making it up as you go. The charges may be "speeding" and "driving without a valid driver's license". So - in the big picture of crime in Thailand, just how significant are such charges?

Did either driver have alcohol in their blood? I have no idea - do you? Were all brakes, lighting systems, turn signals, etc. working properly on both vehicles?

Have you ever personally ridden in a Thai commuter van in Bangkok? I used to commute daily from Victory Monument to Chaeng Wattatna and back, in a nine-passenger van. Same commuter line, but maybe different vehicles and drivers, day to day. I'll tell you that I saw substantial bad driving, and I also rode is vans that had inoperable lights, broken windows, partially disintegrated windshield wipers, etc. I also saw good drivers, and clean, tidy vans. I suggest that you go down to Victory Monument, and just walk around and look at the vans. I'll bet you come back with a little more insight into just how likely it is that the van may have been less than pristine, and that the driver may have been less than blameless.

The Civic driver may have been the incarnation of evil, reckless, wanton behavior. But - I have seen and heard nothing to suggest that.

If I heard that a 16 year old girl was picked up for speeding, and driving without a valid license, nearby, it would not particularly even hold my attention. If I then heard that she was discovered because she was in a collision - it still would not grab my attention. I would not automatically assume that the girl CAUSED the accident. The fact that this scenario unfolded - and that people died in that accident - does not suddenly drive me to assume causality.

Co-occurrence does not necessarily mean causality - except, evidently, for you.

IS

Having driven a lot, and having been in a few accidents, and having seen a number of other accidents as they occurred, the details of this accident suggest to me that the van driver failed to clear to his rear, before changing lanes. I haven't seen or heard any clear and reliable reports of the actual speeds of the vehicle - only that the Civic was moving a lot faster than the van. I have only driven extensively in USA, Germany, and Thailand. In the USA and Germany, if you change lanes without clearing to your rear, and a faster moving vehicle, overtaking you in that lane collides with you, you are at fault.

I can't visualize the physics of how a small Civic could impact directly from the rear, into a much larger van, moving straight forward, on a straight and dry road, and cause the van to flip out of control.

I can easily visualize a van changing lanes abruptly, and having an overtaking vehicle strike its rear corner, with the slope of the hood of the trailing vehicle causing the van to flip.

So - with nothing more than my own long experience as driver to go on - and without perfect knowledge of the actual details of the collision - I would think it more likely than not that the van driver had some shared responsibility for this incident - and, as such - I would classify it as a likely ACCIDENT - meaning it is the result of the intersection of two independent mistakes by two different parties.

Thus - I have no problem with the Civic driver posting bail, and being freed under that perfectly normal process. At every Thai Police station, there is clearly posted a chart showing offenses, and associate bail amounts. It is standard, and if someone is charged with a listed offense, and posts the stipulated bail, I think it absurd for any outside observer to take issue with this.

It appears that the driver of the Civic had some deficiency in her administrative authority to drive in Thailand - but not that she was unfamiliar with driving, or was grossly beyond the pale of routine, fairly common practice.

So - based on what my own perceptions have taken in, I think the Civic driver is very possibly guilty of driving at excessive speed, and of driving without a proper Thai license - and MAYBE even reckless driving (if she was weaving in and out of lanes - which I know nothing about). I would not tend to charge her with manslaughter or vehicular homicide, or any other more serious offense.

I also understand that there is substantial evidence that a third vehicle may have been involved, based on colored paint appearing on collision damage, that does not match the color of either the Civic or the van. If a third vehicle is factored in, the physics of the collision become much more complex - and the role of the Civic may very well diminish in its influence on the outcome.

My guess is that the highway police (and insurance company investigators) are doing their best to figure out the details of what really happened - and they have the best access to the accident scene - including CCTV, skid marks, vehicle damage, eye-witnesses, etc. I have no reason to suspect that they will not develop a fairly good model of what occurred on that highway that night. Right now, no one writing on this forum has access to sufficient information to draw a reasonably certain conclusion.

Nothing that the Civic driver, or her family have said or done, seem inappropriate to me.

IS

For manufacturers, try: http://www.thaigarment.org/search.php?mgroup=16 , and screen the various websites.

For textiles, try: http://www.thaitextile.org/TTMA/

Cheers!

Steve

Indo-Siam

You can order what you are seeking from a Singapore company - http://www.ibrew.com.sg/

Good luck!

IS

Some excellent fundamental background info concerning high finance (from a European perspective) can be found at:

straight from the renowned duo of Bird & Fortune.

IS

To the OP: If you are being asked to pay money in a way that will not show up on a deductible receipt - either the yellow Customs receipt, or the clearance broker's receipt - the maybe you have an issue.

If you are fighting an amount that shows up in a line item called "Customs formality," then you are wasting your time. Customs can charge you for research into your case, and no one can question that decision.

If you are arguing about import duty, and the item you are importing is anything other than an item which exactly and precisely matches the Thai nomenclature for a specific Harmonized System code (you can check this at: http://www.customs.go.th/Tariff/Tariff.jsp), then you are again wasting your time. For any item that requires subjective interpretation to apply an applicable HS code, that is at the discretion of Customs. Example: You import fertilizer. It can be classified as fertilizer, or as import of the chemicals that are mixed together to create the fertilizer.

Customs is one of the most powerful organizations in Thailand. You cannot force them to back down. If you hire a lawyer, because you "refuse to cooperate with corruption" - then all you are doing is making yourself feel good - because all the law firm will do is pay the corruption, mark up that amount, and bill you for the marked up fee, as their professional service charge. It is ludicrous to think that a law firm can "sue" Thai Customs. That would (literally) cost millions of baht.

If a fee will show up as "customs formality" on a Customs receipt, IT IS NOT CORRUPTION. It is a deductible business expense - and they have the legal right to collect. Remember - for every day that your container is sitting at the port, you are paying demurrage - and for a container, that fee can quickly grow quite large.

Finally - its is possible that there is simply a legitimate misunderstanding about how to classify unfamiliar items. You can possibly work through that sort of problem. But - do that in cooperation with Customs - not via adversarial combat with them.

Your customs/freight broker is your most valuable partner in most dealings with Customs. If you have bad or dishonest freight broker, that is a separate problem.

The idea of going to lawyer is ridiculous to me - unless the amount of total Customs fee will be 500,000 baht or more. Pyrrhic victories are usually not worth fighting.

Good luck.

Steve

Indo-Siam

Where have you been? Thaksin is tweeting and calling in to PTP meetings and red shirt rallies every other week.

Oh, really? I think not. There may be some people within PTP trying to propagate that Mr. T is still alive and kicking, but there have been no international sightings, and no believable first-hand indications that he is still alive since May.

And - this is a guy who had a virtual army of journalists and paparazzi following his every move, for years. He couldn't step into a restaurant, or a convenience store, anywhere in the world, and not have reporters dogging him.

We'll see if his smiling face ever shows itself again.

IS

'Interesting that Suthep would bring up Thaksin's name. It seems pretty clear to me that Thaksin is dead - evidently as of 26 April 2010. There has not been a peep out of him over the last six months - not an appearance, not a news item overseas - nothing. This for a guy who never previously went ten days in a row without making an appearance or statement somewhere - be it Montenegro, Uganda, Cambodia, or somewhere.

So - Thaksin is history - let's see who takes the reins of the Red Shirt movement.

IS

will some kind soul please advise me where is Black Swan? Which part of Asoke it is at? e.g. which Soi? Thanks a billion

It's not on a Soi - it opens directly onto the Sukhumvit sidewalk, just east of Sukhumvit Soi 14. It is basically under the Asoke BTS Station, opposite the Westin Hotel (which is next to Robinsons).

There are public hospitals (not for profit) that must treat all patients, and do so at low rates, with government reimbursements. And there are private hospitals, which run for profit - and they charge whatever their fee rates are. The private hospitals tend to give much better care than the public hospitals (a good example is to look at a scar from a cesarean childbirth at a public hospital, compared to the scar from a similar birth at a private hospital).

If your stepson was treated at a private hospital, then you need to pay the bill they charge. It is possible that some family member wanting to get superior care for the young man sent him to a private hospital, figuring that you - the "rich farang" - could pay for it.

'Not actually sure what happens if you stiff them. At minimum, I would expect that hospital would not accept nor treat your family members again.

Indo-Siam

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

- John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)