I want to manufacture a product in Thailand but sell it abroad

[Don Chance]

Would i need to start a Thai company or would just a business visa be enough if i am registered in my country?

[NativeBob]

Manufacture - to produce under your control and supervision with any activity involved - you need company. However if you want to place an order to local manufacture, pick it up (or ask somebody) and arrange shipment - you don't need to do anything. 

I knew one man from Israel who placed orders for jewelry worth tens of thousands euros while arriving each time on tourist visa. About twice every 3 month since 2003.

[LivinLOS]

The fine part is outlined above.. 

You can export products without a work permit.. You can not make the products without the work permit. 

I would have a long look at product production costs here v say Indo / PI.. Possibly also Vietnam.  

[Celsius]

 

5 minutes ago, NativeBob said:

 

I knew one man from Israel who placed orders for jewelry worth tens of thousands euros while arriving each time on tourist visa. About twice every 3 month since 2003.

 

Yes. But this is not manufacturing.

 

The OP probably won't say what product, but for some things you definitely need to register as a company. I mean, can place an order and have custom USB dongles manufactured for you... or perhaps some t-shirts. 

 

So, what kind of product. Makes a world of difference.

[FriendlyFarang]

Depends on what exactly you want to do in Thailand.

If you just buy a product from another company and have them ship it to your home country, you could do this with any visa, you wouldn't even have to be in Thailand.

If you want to setup your own factory, handle packing, shipping etc. then you have to set up a company, get work permit etc.

 

[Don Chance]

I am guessing if you want to hire people or sell in Thailand you need a to register a business.

 

Ordinary passport holder who wishes to enter the Kingdom for conducting business or working is subjected to be granted a Non-Immigrant B Visa.

• 1. Ordinary passport holder who wishes to enter the Kingdom for conducting business or working is subjected to be granted a Non-Immigrant B Visa.
• 2. Photograph of the applicant, taken within the past six months.
• 3. Letter from a company stating the objective of the visit to Thailand or Document showing correspondence with trading partners in Thailand. (eg. Letter confirming employment details, business registration or business license of a partner company in Thailand).
• 4. Letter of invitation from a trading company in Thailand.

3 and 4 would be from the company doing the manufacturing. 

 

Seems like a good way to make money and stay in Thailand long term.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Don Chance

[VocalNeal]

12 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

3 and 4 would be from the company doing the manufacturing.

If they want to hire you???? 

[Don Chance]

24 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

If they want to hire you???? 

I can see i am asking the peanut gallery for expert advice.

[VocalNeal]

17 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

I can see i am asking the peanut gallery for expert advice.

-Sure let me for how many years you have run a company in Thailand and then   we can compare notes.

- How many companies you have started here?

-Then we can add agencies you know that hire foreigners on behalf of other companies.

-Mates you know who are farang but are Thai citizens.

 

Don't bother I'll just add you to my list.

 

 

 

[Don Chance]

43 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

-Sure let me for how many years you have run a company in Thailand and then   we can compare notes.

- How many companies you have started here?

-Then we can add agencies you know that hire foreigners on behalf of other companies.

-Mates you know who are farang but are Thai citizens.

 

Don't bother I'll just add you to my list.

 

 

 

I'm not looking to get hired i am hiring their company to do a job. At which point i would ask for a letter stating that.

[mikebike]

3 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

I'm not looking to get hired i am hiring their company to do a job. At which point i would ask for a letter stating that.

If u r "hiring their company to do a job" u r not "manufacturing", u are a "client".

 

Peeps are very weird.

[OneMoreFarang]

4 hours ago, Don Chance said:

Would i need to start a Thai company or would just a business visa be enough if i am registered in my country?

Just in case that nobody mentioned it until now.

If you want to have a business visa and work permit based on your Thai company, then you have to follow lots of rules.

If you can legally stay with other options (marriage, retirement) then maybe just open a Thai company, maybe be shareholder, but don't work for the company. That is a lot easier and cheaper.

[Don Chance]

1 hour ago, mikebike said:

If u r "hiring their company to do a job" u r not "manufacturing", u are a "client".

 

Peeps are very weird.

Yes i am client that is manufacturing a product to be sold abroad. That is why i think i can get a business visa.  But not require a Thai company. No?

Edited May 22, 2023 by Don Chance

[Hummin]

3 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

If they want to hire you???? 

And pay required salery and taxes

[tgw]

3 hours ago, Don Chance said:

I can see i am asking the peanut gallery for expert advice.

definitely the wrong place to ask.

while only about 1% of posters here are able to make a useful comment, 30% will post nonsense and the rest will denigrate.

 

AFAIK, you are right and business visas are routinely issued to people that do not work in Thailand but are conducting business here.

A visa is not to be confused with an extension of stay though, which is granted on the basis of employment.

If conducting business in Thailand (such as ordering/buying products), you could be issued a multi business visa. Visas are delivered by Thai consular services abroad, in your country of residence. The best is to ask there.

Edited May 22, 2023 by tgw

[1FinickyOne]

2 hours ago, Don Chance said:

I'm not looking to get hired i am hiring their company to do a job. At which point i would ask for a letter stating that.

It sounds like you are just asking a manufacturer to make a product for you at your request. And then you will buy it from them. As an importer, we used to do that all the time. We used to buy their products too [mostly ] - - just as an added note, the expenses to land the product would come to anywhere from 25-40% of the purchase price of the product. 

[Liverpool Lou]

3 hours ago, Don Chance said:

I can see i am asking the peanut gallery for expert advice.

Well, you are asking Asean Now members a bit of a hardly-specific question with a huge lack of clarity.  Pay (less than) peanuts, get...you know how it goes.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Liverpool Lou

[1FinickyOne]

27 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

Yes i am client that is manufacturing a product to be sold abroad. That is why i think i can get a business visa.  But not require a Thai company. No?

I did essentially what it seems that you are doing - and the one time I got a business visa, it was a mistake - having a business visa Immigration thought I was working here [as in a paid job] and wanted to collect taxes... when I told them what I was doing, they said that I did not need a business visa... of course, this was many many years ago... 

Edited May 22, 2023 by 1FinickyOne

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, Don Chance said:

I'm not looking to get hired i am hiring their company to do a job. At which point i would ask for a letter stating that.

Sound more like you're planning on buying from a manufacturer here and reselling.   Doubt that you "need a letter" for that.

[Liverpool Lou]

38 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

i am client that is manufacturing a product to be sold abroad.

In a earlier post you said that you were "hiring a Thai company to do a job".  Now you say that "you are the manufacturer of a product to be exported".  See what I meant about the lack of clarity that you're providing us monkeys in the "peanut gallery"?

[save the frogs]

Manufacturing might be one of the hardest ways to make money.

If you pull it off, you might make a ton of money.

But the level of complexity involved and start-up costs seems monumental. 

 

Not to mention you will probably need a Thai partner owning 51% of the business.

 

If I were you, I would consider:

1 - Is the product already being manufactured in China? Maybe you could just be a middle man and export it. Even dealing with Chinese manufacturers may be a major headache. 

2 - Is there a completely different way to make money than dealing with the hassles of manufacturing?

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by save the frogs

[gamb00ler]

37 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

Not to mention you will probably need a Thai partner owning 51% of the business.

I think American citizens are the only foreigners allowed to own 100% of a company.

[tgw]

1 hour ago, gamb00ler said:

I think American citizens are the only foreigners allowed to own 100% of a company.

there are exceptions

https://thailand.themispartner.com/company-registration/foreign-business-ownership/#what-is-a-foreign-business-license-FBL

[CharlieH]

Seems to be a simple task being made unnecessarily complicated.

 

Company makes product.

You sell it outside Thailand.

 

Why involve anyone else at all.

Just get on with it. ????

 

 

[TheAppletons]

18 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Why involve anyone else at all.

Just get on with it. ????

 

 

As OP stated, "Seems like a good way to make money and stay in Thailand long term."

 

He's trying to find a way to live in Thailand that fits within the existing bureaucratic requirements and thus is making a convoluted attempt to justify a business visa.

Edited May 22, 2023 by TheAppletons
Typo

[youngexpat]

make enough money to buy yourself an elite visa.

 

simples

[NativeBob]

On 5/23/2023 at 6:30 AM, youngexpat said:

make enough money to buy yourself an elite visa.

 

simples

seems like the right thing to do.