Reading through past posts and google, setting up a business here as a foreigner sounds very expensive with lots of hoops.

 

Would commissioning an existing Thai business in this space be a better option?

Setting up a company is fairly straight forward, but quite a bit of running around to do. You would have the same or similar if you buy an existing business. However, I do not know the process of getting an export license vs transferring an export license ( if that is even possible ).