Setting up a business in Thailand

[BAKABAS]

Hello all , 

I wish to set up a business in Thailand. 
im Australian married to Thai wife . 
can anyone offer some help or refer me the threads that cover this topic. 
Thanks . 

[Hummin]

What kind of business? 

Where? 

 

Start here

https://techsauce.co/tech-and-biz/the-step-by-step-guide-to-starting-a-business-in-thailand

 

I would go and talk to different foreigners who have succesfully stayed in business for years, and see if i could learn anything before investing anything. Spend time and be patient, than spend your money to quick. 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Hummin

[blackcab]

5 hours ago, BAKABAS said:

I wish to set up a business in Thailand.

 

1. What sort of business? A restaurant? A furniture relocation company? A craft beer brewery?

 

2. Have you previously set up, worked in, and/or managed this sort of business in your home country? How much knowledge and experience of your chosen business area do you have?

 

3. Do you have any other type of business experience that would benefit your startup? Are you an accountant? Do you have experience with stocktaking? Have you previously founded other companies, whether successful or not?

 

4. How well can you read, write and speak business level Thai?

 

The answers you give will greatly help us advise you.

[bbko]

I was never a business owner until I left the states & moved to Thailand, and with the help of my then GF (now wife) we started our own business from scratch and ran it successfully for 5 years.  And it wasn't the usual farang bar/hotel/restaurant type of business or the lone Thai wife washing clothes or selling noodles.

 

Setting up a business is really simple; think of a business that you think will succeed, find supply sources/workers/furniture/etc,  find a place to set up shop, obtain a business license and open up.  Know the ins and outs paying taxes, covering your workers with health insurance, and you're 80% complete, the other 20% is on-the-job learning.

 

Give a little more info on what you have in mind for your business and you'll get better answers.

Good Luck.

[Chris.B]

14 minutes ago, bbko said:

I was never a business owner until I left the states & moved to Thailand, and with the help of my then GF (now wife) we started our own business from scratch and ran it successfully for 5 years.  And it wasn't the usual farang bar/hotel/restaurant type of business or the lone Thai wife washing clothes or selling noodles.

 

Must be a secret business then and you, the secret business owner!.......

Edited November 23, 2021 by Chris.B

[bamboozled]

My understanding is that the initial hurdle is high (in my eyes, at least). You need to put out a significant amount of money up front to get things off the ground. As a foreigner, that is. For Thai only, not so much. 2,000,000 baht capital. Employees. Accountants, Salaries. Taxes. Lawyers. You can't really start small.

[OneMoreFarang]

Do you want to work in your own business? Then you need a work permit. And that makes a huge difference about setting up and running that company.

[Kinnock]

We've not heard back from the OP yet, so maybe a post and run ..... but my initial advice, as someone who has set up two businesses here, would be to choose another country.

 

Laws here are antiquated, bureaucratic and anti-foreigner.

 

First business I set up was as a 100% foreign owned business under the BOI scheme.  The BOI are helpful, but the process is complex, costs are high, and you need 10 million THB capital investment, but at least you get a Work Permit, tax breaks (and airport fast track ????).  

 

But for a smaller business you need to go the PLC route, (assuming you are not operating in one of the reserved sectors) - which means 2 Million THB capital and 4 Thai employees before you can get a Work Permit.  So if you are self-employed, a freelance consultant or teacher, a 'digital nomad', an entrepreneur just setting up a small start-up, then forget about getting a Work Permit, so you can't even work in your own company.

 

I've set up businesses on behalf of US and UK companies in 7 countries, and only Saudi Arabia was more bureaucratic and frustrating than Thailand.

 

Foreigners here are just supposed to spend money.  Creating employment opportunities and generating profits and so paying local tax is reserved for Thais (and Chinese).

[bamboozled]

1 hour ago, Kinnock said:

We've not heard back from the OP yet, so maybe a post and run ..... but my initial advice, as someone who has set up two businesses here, would be to choose another country.

 

Laws here are antiquated, bureaucratic and anti-foreigner.

 

First business I set up was as a 100% foreign owned business under the BOI scheme.  The BOI are helpful, but the process is complex, costs are high, and you need 10 million THB capital investment, but at least you get a Work Permit, tax breaks (and airport fast track ????).  

 

But for a smaller business you need to go the PLC route, (assuming you are not operating in one of the reserved sectors) - which means 2 Million THB capital and 4 Thai employees before you can get a Work Permit.  So if you are self-employed, a freelance consultant or teacher, a 'digital nomad', an entrepreneur just setting up a small start-up, then forget about getting a Work Permit, so you can't even work in your own company.

 

I've set up businesses on behalf of US and UK companies in 7 countries, and only Saudi Arabia was more bureaucratic and frustrating than Thailand.

 

Foreigners here are just supposed to spend money.  Creating employment opportunities and generating profits and so paying local tax is reserved for Thais (and Chinese).

...Ain't that the truth. You can understand the riff-raff that they need to weed out. But under the current procedures, I think a lot of the wheat goes in the bin with the chaff, often enough. I set up a business years ago but didn't need a work permit and didn't need employees. I didn't need to show the 1,000,000 baht capital required at the time, either. It was just on paper which was fine enough at the time. Now I'm married and have looked into working for a company my wife would set up but still the bar is too high, the cash you have to layout to start (and continue) is too much, and it makes everything too risky. I don't have a lot of money. Starting the company would take most of it...and then I would be stretched too thin. On the other hand, I have enough to pay for some employees, and taxes, and fees, etc...and would happily do so. But you just can't start small... A couple months ago I read about some changes being considered but haven't heard any new news on that.