TravelerEastWest

On 10/22/2016 at 6:31 PM, 4evermaat said:

US embassy is PER notary stamp (page), as is most notaries. Although they may offer volume discounts.

But the embassies in particular are expensive....1500-2000 baht a stamp. But sometimes, its your only option.

You can certainly get a discount from some lawyers for volume.

"Going organic is just a pipe dream"

Actually in the past all farming was organic so certainly not a pipe dream and there are quite a few farmers growing niche organic crops making money worldwide. 

For short term thinking chemicals make sense if you don't care about health - Farmers are getting poisoned when using chemicals.

Do a little research and you will see lots of Thai farmers using chemicals for market crops; but for their family the crops are organic. Their personal garden will often be in the back and the vegetables will have holes in them - not beautiful but healthy...

You have to add in travel time for one person (two are not needed for a small job).

So about 3 hours work plus an hour plus for traveling = 4+ hours work in Bangkok.

About 900 baht for a full day so 450 baht in total plus 50 baht commision for downstairs = 500 baht so approximately correct.

More important was a very good job done? Not just surface cleaning?

A normal Thai cleans their own house or if well off normally has their own full time maid I don't know how many actually hire part time maids?

15 hours ago, Rama said:

Many Thai lawyers are certified by the thai bar association to be notaries. They usually charge 1500 baht. Pick a lawyer and ask if he can do a notarization. They take a notary course and a test to be certified. One word of caution...Thailand never signed the international notary treaty, so if it's a doc needed by some company in the US, the Thai lawyer notary is ok. If it's something like a Will, I would get it done by the US embassy in bkk.

1500 baht would be most likely for unlimited pages.

More like 500 baht  for a lawyer to notarize one page.

Although I have done this several times I used a small office lawyer in CM - maybe large offices and Bangkok charge more?

For a Thai citizen very easy go down to the local government building and pay less than 100 baht as I recall for a business permit to do business as a sole proprietor.

No VAT license needed at first.

On 9/11/2016 at 8:40 PM, georgemandm said:

Ok I agree to disagree, you tell me one thing , would  the people you talk to tell you they are not making money in their business no .

i agree the cost of labor is cheap in thailand that's if you can get ones who want to work and if you pay more good.

but more business here make f??? All .

the small ones .

not talking about big companies.

no business is a hobby in thailand it is about western men coming here not all but lots getting suck in by the thai hair Losso and trying to run a business that most do  not work out .

The people I talk to are not retired they often have families and they make money or they don't survive.

I don't talk to people who go to bars and I have already agreed that many of the bar owners are not making money and are engaged in a hobby. No disagreement there.

As for people not telling the truth about their business - no need to worry, they are mostly honest the people I know, and anyway you can usually see very quickly if a business is making a profit if you understand finance and accounting. Just look around at how many customers vs employees etc.

As for men coming here for women etc again those people often have a "hobby" business - if you don't know what you are doing then it is not a real business. Of course many don't know that they don't know what they are doing....

In summary the key point is those who have business skills do well quite often - those who are not skilled and experienced are quite likely to lose many - but not just in Thailand - anywhere in the world.

On 9/4/2016 at 0:52 PM, georgemandm said:

How many go broke lots , I have seen it more And more  that make no money.

up to you and happy for you but for me I would not want a business in thailand.

i see time after time western man come here to make money in a small business,

just last night was in surin out for a drink and seen a new bar open in a Soi were had 4 all ready and one more makes 5 , so how the hell is he going to make money no hop and the other 4 just  get by .

one has been trying to sell his for 4 years.

And how many make a good income? - lots based on those who I talk to.

I can tell you that the cost of labor is a key part of business and labor is lower here than in the Western world. Our business makes good use of lower labor costs and we still pay far above the market rate.

Business is about being serious and paying very close attention to the numbers and managing people and so on. If you look at your example I would take a guess that the bar in question was started by someone who doesn't know much about what he is doing? Would that person make a profit back "home" probably not.

Sounds like you are describing a hobby not a real business which is OK.

On 9/4/2016 at 11:25 AM, MissAndry said:

 

Because the world is full of optimists with money to burn.

I assume that you are being funny.

Expat department heads and hotel general managers are hired becasue they are good at what thay do and it is worth it to pay them a large salary and benefits package.

9 hours ago, georgemandm said:

I am talking about small businesses ok not big ones lots of men come here and think can make lots of money in a bar or a small restaurant ok .

i have seen how the small ones go to S??? .

I have seen a few small businesses fail run by those who have little or no business experience; and they would more likely than not fail at home also.

But many do well - and normally they are run by those have done well in the past.

Even with bars and restaurants those who  know exactly what they are doing before day one do well - as a sidenote why do you think there are so many expats running luxury hotels and resorts in Thailand?

On 6/14/2016 at 4:23 PM, khunPer said:

Advantage: You have annual statements and tax records, making a Work Permit easy; and you shall not find 51% Thai shareholders, which can be a problem today, as proof of fund may be necessary.
Disadvantage: You need to do due diligence to make sure all official relations (tax, accounting, permissions) are in shape, and there's no outstanding debts.

I recommend you to use a lawyer to make the necessary paperwork, here-under preferred shares and voting rights – an accountant can probably do the meeting reports for "bank power of attorney" cheaper than a lawyer, but check price – also let the lawyer advice if it's good to takeover instead of opening a new Thai company limited. I would think the costs may be close to the same as opening a new company, but with the advantage of having "good company records" and some "execisting" shareholders.

Wish you good luck...

The above is clearly the best post in this thread. Very well thought out.

A good business lawyer can be useful but a CPA with lots of experience is my choice most of the time rather than a lawyer. In the end it will be about experience and how comfortable of a fit you are for your service professionals. Once I spoke with a CPA in Bangkok who used to be a partner in one of the large international accounting firms - he was very smart and knew the exact questions to ask me, but he was too expensive for my small business budget. I may use him in the future...

One concern I have is who are the Thai shareholders?

Khun Per briefly mentions "preferred shares and voting rights" he is correct to mention this issue but it is more important than it seems as if preferred shares are not already in place with you holding voting rights for the common shares you must change the share ownership before you buy the company.

I assume that you know enough about business that you are already aware of this issue and if you don't then sadly I must agree with the TV crowd who are against Thai business ownership.

But if you already are an experienced business owner/manager then go for it. Business in Thailand can be much easier than elsewhere in many ways - example lower labor costs and so on...

3 hours ago, KarenBravo said:

No court case before confiscation.

Wonder what the real story is here.

Very normal in more than one part of the world including the US.

Example a business doesn't pay trust taxes (such as payroll withholding or sales tax) they are sent letters then a distraint warrant is issued and the business is seized and auctioned off to pay the money owed.

I have a 2012 Isuzu with original tires (I think Bridgestone)  I only drive slowly short distances perhaps 75,000 kilometers to date.

I rotate the tires and check the air.

The tread looks fine but the dealer said that the tires are old enough that they should be changed regardless of tread wear.

This sounded strange but possible.

Any thoughts?

"...is it that Mr Farang thinks he's a cut above everybody else or just down right bad manners..."

I am very social and always say hello to everyone but on occasion some people don't want to respond because of language/cultural reasons (which is fine) or because they simply don't want to talk maybe they don't feel it appropriate to talk to strangers or don't feel well etc. - this is also fine.

Your above statement is your feelings but I doubt many people will agree with you both Thai and those from outside Thailand.

Very softly I want to ask you to think whether you are the type who is quick to judge others? No need to tell us your answer.

Good luck with conversations.

Bearing grudges from a century ago instead of rolling ones sleeves up and making the best of things encapsulates the self-pity which has held the Palestinians back from the day they were first invented.

Exactly.

It doesn't matter which number is used as long as it is answered and any report acted upon timeously.

You are the voice of calmness and good sense.

Thank you.

"The only advantage for you as an individual, is that under BOI you will receive a 2 year work permit, as opposed to the conventional 1 year."

2 year work permits require double the government annual fee but are available - although some offices may be difficult and only want to do one year and ask for extra requirements such as the company needing to have a VAT license even when they are small enough in revenues to not need one.

If you pay for help with the paperwork a two year visa will cost the same for the service as a one year so normally a two year work permit is a good idea.

"...the coating to help prevent stomach irritation, along with the obvious convenience are reasons to buy the real thing."

Exactly, Enteric coated aspirin.

No you do not need to hire an accountant but you do need bookkeeping done in a timely manner.

You can engage the services of an outside accountant.

"ex forest land with no channot."

Can normally only go to the children and can't have commercial use so in theory you can't sell the crops so what is the point unless you don't care about the law then go for it...

So the renting idea is interesting but only one year in advance.

Ii can say we where lucky bought a house at the edge of a moo-baan for 550.000 baht lived there for 8 years and sold it furnished ( we want to buy everything new in the new house) for 1.150.000 so lived free for 8 years and had money to build a new house, so who is still saying renting is better ?

You invested well - good work.

No need to lose money on a house in Thailand.

I always enjoy watching someone go off the deep end because someone else observes something and wishes it were different.

Back to the topic in hand - of course Thailand's changing; it's become a much richer country. Thanks in part to the contributions to the economy by many folks posting on Thaivisa. But human development always lags economic growth and once there was a limited service sector attracting a handful of dedicated "cream of the crop" people and now there's a much bigger service sector with much less freedom to pick and choose the workforce. That's all that's happened really. Better economy = more expense and less service. At least in the short-term. In the long-run it means more expense and slowly improving service as companies begin to move away from price competition and quality of product competition and on to service based competition. No big deal.

I like your thoughts.

As for myself I think Chiang Mai has more buildings (OK with that) and more traffic (less OK with that but can't be helped) but the people haven't changed much.

Prices have gone up all over the world.

Basically I still like Chiang Mai - only complaint is the air pollution part of the year.

Kids should be whacked for fighting, bullying etc, but for forgetting to sweep the class or other triviality? Thai teachers seem to get off on inflicting pain on their students. He should be fined, struck off and banged up.

Kids should not be whacked for any reason.

Violence is not necessary for discipline.

Children should never be hot for any reason and certainly not in school.

If a parent can't control a child then they are the ones at fault in all cases...

Also I seem to recall it being illegal to hit children or is that not the case in Thai schools?

You should keep the two tasks separate.

Have the company transfer title to you first.

Then close teh company.

Closing seems slow and expensive in your example.

"is the housing market outside the city limits and upwards of 5 mil plus,in a depressed state, to sell at a reasonable price???"

Yes it seems that way, but RE moves in cycles all over the world so the reasonable prices could be gone in 18 months or they may go lower no one knows for sure.

On Sunday I was out with the family and noticed lots of new buildings in Mae Jo which is outside CM enter. A new post office is underway and an acquaintance is selling land nearby at a big gain so in the end if you are careful and can see where future demand is you can still buy at good prices.

Why do people use a visa office???

Often they can get you an appointment for a visa extension so for a fee they save you many hours of time.

When you are working and have a family saving time is very important.

You can save much more than the cost of their service.