Thai govt to revise immigration, business laws to lure foreign investors

[webfact]

Govt to revise immigration, business laws to lure foreign investors

By The Nation

 

 

The government plans to revise key laws and regulations covering immigration, foreign business and other sectors next year in order to draw more foreign direct investment.

 

The revisions will also cover foreign workers, excise tax, city planning, biodiversity, the movie and video business, and energy sector including infrastructure and alternative energy.

 

The government aims to achieve at least 85 per cent of the revisions targeted under its “regulatory guillotine” scheme next year, according to a government source. 

 

The Public Sector Development Commission has led the mission to make doing business in Thailand much easier than it is today.

 

Businesses and consumers are currently burdened with high costs from complying with these laws and related regulations, estimated to total Bt142 billion annually.

 

The Thailand Development Research Institute projects that the revisions of laws and regulations would lower annual costs by 55.2 per cent or Bt133 billion for consumers and 22.4 per cent or Bt9 billion for businesses.

 

The government is hoping the revisions will help lift Thailand in the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” rankings from its current 21st place into the top 10.

 

Foreign and local businesses have long complained about cost burdens stemming from complying with Thai bureaucracy, but the government has been slow to deregulate. Foreign investors have pressed for “friendlier” laws on immigration, foreign business and tax.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30400181

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-12-25

 

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[ukrules]

Overdue but I wouldn't expect too much.

[Fex Bluse]

They are not capable of something so complex. Will they also take steps to ensure foreign companies equal protection under the law? Of course they will not. 

[PatOngo]

16 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

They are not capable of something so complex. Will they also take steps to ensure foreign companies equal protection under the law? Of course they will not. 

You can put lipstick on a pig.........but it's still a pig!

[asiasurfer]

All just blablabla. Tomorrow all is forgotten again. Then coming up with another bs again... Always the same. 

 

By the way what happened to that TAT proposal for foreign residents paying same same price for National Parks??? Aw, you guessed it... 

[Dogmatix]

All they can come up with is stuff like if you invest B100m you can get an automatic 3 month visa extension. They already have a provision to allow investors working in their own businesses to apply for permanent residence but they make it harder than, if they just applied as working without investment. Then there is the humanitarian grounds for PR which means you can apply if you have a Thai kid but they refuse to take your application without 3 years of work permits.

 

The best scheme ever was the amendment to the land code that allowed foreigners to buy 1 rai of residential land in certain provinces, if they invested B40m in certain specified teal estate funds or special government bonds. By the time the law came out the real estate funds were no longer available and the special government bonds were never issued but they jawboned about they had opened up land ownership to foreign investors. Same as Thaksin promised Elite card buyers they could buy land.

 

they are incapable of offering meaningful concessions to foreign investors. They want to keep Thailand for the Chinese.

[smutcakes]

18 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

All they can come up with is stuff like if you invest B100m you can get an automatic 3 month visa extension. They already have a provision to allow investors working in their own businesses to apply for permanent residence but they make it harder than, if they just applied as working without investment. Then there is the humanitarian grounds for PR which means you can apply if you have a Thai kid but they refuse to take your application without 3 years of work permits.

 

The best scheme ever was the amendment to the land code that allowed foreigners to buy 1 rai of residential land in certain provinces, if they invested B40m in certain specified teal estate funds or special government bonds. By the time the law came out the real estate funds were no longer available and the special government bonds were never issued but they jawboned about they had opened up land ownership to foreign investors. Same as Thaksin promised Elite card buyers they could buy land.

 

they are incapable of offering meaningful concessions to foreign investors. They want to keep Thailand for the Chinese.

 

Foreign investors in the manufacturing sector can own land 100% freehold in a 100% foreign owned Thai company.

[Enzian]

1 hour ago, PatOngo said:

You can put lipstick on a pig.........but it's still a pig!

And you can make pigs fly; just strap a pig in the seat of an airplane and take off!

[phantomfiddler]

Hopefully they will get a human being involved in the process ????

[Phuketshrew]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Govt to revise immigration, business laws to lure foreign investors

I guess they can't "attract" foreign investors so they need to "lure" them ...

[tonray]

If the foreign investors are insurance companies....then we are all in for more throwaway policies. 

 

Minister 1: "We must do something to attract quality foreigners by making the visa process easier and more transparent"

 

Minister 2: "Ok, How to we get rid of all these pesky retired expats ?"

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

i am sure they mean good, but i am also sure that after their efforts, all will be much

more difficult and complicated.

 

just like they did with the retirement visa. it used to be so easy, and now they made it a nightmare, with

all their stupid requitement to keep the 800K deposit for three months than no less than 400K for 5 months, than bring it up again to 800K for few months before applying again, and dare you not to have the amount lower

than 400K for even one single day, than it is all over again and blah blah blah...come oooon go sleep

on your noses !!!

[SGD]

There needs to be something tangible, real, not just a stupid idea ill thought out and reneged tomorrow when a new daft idea is rolled out.

 

We can buy condos already but we get nothing for it, not even a visa. We can buy a visa or we can retire but we have no security of tenure.

We need residency, legal and a pathway to a passport. Not XX years of paying taxes, another XX years of singing Thai tunes, just a simple bilateral respect such as Thais get in the UK.

However, all of this comes back to land ownership. If you allow foreigners or non Thais to buy land, how will Thais ever buy any land and how long before all of Thailand is owned by the Chinese ?

 

So if land ownership cannot be done, we are back to visas and citizenship.

 

There is already a tax issue of you flip properties you have not owned for X years. Tie that to your visa and allow a change of property with a say 3 month break in the middle. You then have the beginning of a system which offers something if you own property. Make it that you have to live in it and not rent it out and it gets better. Put it on a pathway to residence say after 3 years and a passport after circa 3 to 5 years and you solve the long term, can't own land issue as well because once a Thai citizen, they can own land.

Needs work but something has to be done.

[SGD]

1 minute ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

i am sure they mean good, but i am also sure that after their efforts, all will be much

more difficult and complicated.

 

just like they did with the retirement visa. it used to be so easy, and now they made it a nightmare, with

all their stupid requitement to keep the 800K deposit for three months than no less than 400K for 5 months, than bring it up again to 800K for few months before applying again, and dare you not to have the amount lower

than 400K for even one single day, than it is all over again and blah blah blah...come oooon go sleep

on your noses !!!

 

Agreed. They must go to bed drunk or stoned and wake up with the new lunatic plan and because all their subordinates are scared of them, no-one tells the Emperor that his new clothes are invisible !

A 10 year old could not make up <deleted> like they do. Even if you want to mess about with the figure, which there is no need really, then just say it must be 800k for 1/2 months before the anniversary.

 

I mean, if you bring over money once a year, with your balance diminishing throughout the year, you now have to fudge that and keep a residual balance you can never touch in Thailand for no reason at all except to prop up the balance sheets of the banks.

Still, the easiest way is just to park 800k and forget about it.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

Indeed, some fresh new talent is direly needed in the "Movie and VDO" sector. Every time my wife turns on the TV they're mostly screaming and slapping each other.

 

I just thought of this the other day, the diversity in television programming in most other countries. They've got dramas, comedies, heartwarming tales of happy families, touching tales of police or hospital workers making a difference, etc. Here? Not that I've seen. 80% are the screaming and slapping dramas. 10% are news/information. 10% are variety/game shows with silly interviews/skits and those cartoon sound effects.

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

2 minutes ago, SGD said:

no reason at all except to prop up the balance sheets of the banks.

acctually they have a reason for doing that.

the reason is that some people who did not have this 800K to show, were cheating and moved it from one to another.

so it is like a collective punishment for all of us dirty farang. they were trying to close all holes with this laws. first, you cannot take out the 800k for three months, so you will not be able to pass it to a friend in need, god forbids.

second, they give you few months to enjoy 400K from the amount, but not to use the full amount, so

your friend in need will have to ; 1. wait three months for your money. 2. look for another friend with 400K.

than, if he did find another friend, it will be harder for him because now you will need to ask him

for your 400K back, because you need to fill up the balance for next extention!!

see how genious they are? you will not trick us, they say, ohh no.

and the rule to show that the money came from abroad is to prevent the possibility that the money

was earned in thailand. but than there is no need to prove it again in next extention, so you can stay

in thailand for 20 years , theoretically, just with the first proof of money sent from abroad. go figure...

[Blot]

Please delete Lure - insert Encourage

[Rimmer]

A troll post discussing moderation has been removed

[smutcakes]

46 minutes ago, SGD said:

There needs to be something tangible, real, not just a stupid idea ill thought out and reneged tomorrow when a new daft idea is rolled out.

 

We can buy condos already but we get nothing for it, not even a visa. We can buy a visa or we can retire but we have no security of tenure.

We need residency, legal and a pathway to a passport. Not XX years of paying taxes, another XX years of singing Thai tunes, just a simple bilateral respect such as Thais get in the UK.

However, all of this comes back to land ownership. If you allow foreigners or non Thais to buy land, how will Thais ever buy any land and how long before all of Thailand is owned by the Chinese ?

 

So if land ownership cannot be done, we are back to visas and citizenship.

 

There is already a tax issue of you flip properties you have not owned for X years. Tie that to your visa and allow a change of property with a say 3 month break in the middle. You then have the beginning of a system which offers something if you own property. Make it that you have to live in it and not rent it out and it gets better. Put it on a pathway to residence say after 3 years and a passport after circa 3 to 5 years and you solve the long term, can't own land issue as well because once a Thai citizen, they can own land.

Needs work but something has to be done.

 

The topic is about attracting business investment, not residency for retirees. Foreign investors can already own land here freehold, something you cannot do in Singapore, Vietnam to name a couple.

 

Compared with its neighbors Thailand still has competitive overall package to offer investors. Of course anything to improve it is a good thing.

[faraday]

38 minutes ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

Indeed, some fresh new talent is direly needed in the "Movie and VDO" sector. Every time my wife turns on the TV they're mostly screaming and slapping each other.

 

I just thought of this the other day, the diversity in television programming in most other countries. They've got dramas, comedies, heartwarming tales of happy families, touching tales of police or hospital workers making a difference, etc. Here? Not that I've seen. 80% are the screaming and slapping dramas. 10% are news/information. 10% are variety/game shows with silly interviews/skits and those cartoon sound effects.

Absolutely agree.....

 

I think a TV series would be good about shooting.

 

Not on any one particular aspect of shooting though.

 

It could be called 'General Shooting'.

 

[PatOngo]

1 hour ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

Indeed, some fresh new talent is direly needed in the "Movie and VDO" sector. Every time my wife turns on the TV they're mostly screaming and slapping each other.

 

I just thought of this the other day, the diversity in television programming in most other countries. They've got dramas, comedies, heartwarming tales of happy families, touching tales of police or hospital workers making a difference, etc. Here? Not that I've seen. 80% are the screaming and slapping dramas. 10% are news/information. 10% are variety/game shows with silly interviews/skits and those cartoon sound effects.

They have a formula, the lowly educated masses enjoy the formula! Why change it?

[Mavideol]

this being part of the New Years resolutions that will  never follow through.... they make this plans to revise this and that but only trying to look like they care, in reality they don't give a rats ass about anybody else other then filling their own pockets

[kevin612]

Thailand is too mean to foreigners, the government only expects people come here for short time and spend all the money.

[high plane drifter]

Going to Thailand for a holiday ????

So many time I heard people say,, we don't come to Thailand for holiday ,we come to Thailand for a visa run,,,

 

Too bad they make so hard especially for older people, going in and out the country,

I know the visa sharks need some income too,

but over all they should make it easier for people 50 year old and up.

[natway09]

Circumstances forced upon them are making them think about things that should have been in place 30 years ago

[Narratio]

The math in the original post confuses me.

 

"Businesses and consumers are currently burdened with high costs from complying with these laws and related regulations, estimated to total Bt142 billion annually. The Thailand Development Research Institute projects that the revisions of laws and regulations would lower annual costs by 55.2 per cent or Bt133 billion for consumers and 22.4 per cent or Bt9 billion for businesses."

 

So, the total burden is 142 Billion. Of which 133 Billion is from consumers and 9 Billion is from businesses. Okay, I can see that, the number add up. But the 55.2% and 22.4% don't. If those % are true then the real burden is not 142 Billion but about 280 Billion.

 

Is this another case of the reporters not understanding what they're being told and so writing it... poorly? Or is yet another governmental department pulling figures out of thin air?

[CLW]

Just plans and intentions. No concrete actions, not to mention laws. We've heard this so many time and yet nothing has happened. Just boring news

[Guest Harm Hendrik Reitsma]

5 hours ago, asiasurfer said:

All just blablabla. Tomorrow all is forgotten again. Then coming up with another bs again... Always the same. 

 

By the way what happened to that TAT proposal for foreign residents paying same same price for National Parks??? Aw, you guessed it... 

Probably in a drawer and to be overlooked for years to come.... 

I refuse go in parks os so when double priced.. Principal, I live here to so I should be treated same as Thai. 

[Destiny1990]

I no longer have any faith that this time they come up with something easy and simple. Other countries nearby have much better visa options for all foreigners/retirees in recent years.

[bangsaenguy]

Is this the same plan as letting Burmese investors in?