Bangkok governor wants the city to become “international business hub”

[FritsSikkink]

22 hours ago, SbuxPlease said:

After business success in my home country, I decided to invest in Thailand 6-7 years ago and have started and operated several businesses since in Bangkok. One was a startup that needed top talent, another is a retail shop in a specialized industry, and another (was) an attempt at a BOI company software startup.

 

As an American I'm eligible under the Treaty of Amity to own businesses 100%, however the process for registering for the treaty takes from half a year to more than a year with a lawyer involved, and potentially 100k+ THB if you use an internationally reputable firm. During the lengthy process various DBD officers may request the same set of documents multiple times, which leads you to forward the last email you already forwarded to them with the scanned attachments - again.

 

Once the business is properly registered, normal business operations such as opening bank accounts or getting a credit card terminal still feels like an egregious document and red-tape saturated experience if a foreigner is the sole owner. There is no access to small business operating capital unless the business has a long standing relationship with the bank and plenty of assets. Local traditions such as putting a physical tax stamp on documents that must be signed immaculately on every page will take hours out of the CEOs day - every day. Time that would be much better utilized developing the business model.

 

These experiences are smoother if you have a Thai partner who can handle all these in their own name and/or know which shortcuts are available, so some people (like me!) recommend opening and setting up the company entirely under a trusted Thai person and then transferring it all later.

 

Filing monthly payroll forms, annual and half year tax reporting requirements, withholding tax and VAT reports is either a full time internal job or needs to be outsourced to an accounting firm. Outsourcing may be cheaper and more reliable but you'll still need an internal person to handhold the accounting firm through documenting every transaction. For these regulations alone expect to spend a minimum of $10k USD annually just to keep your company registered and ready for business whether you have a single sale during the year or not.

 

After some time you begin to wonder if your luck (and time) might be better spent with the tax enforcement officers instead of the front office.

 

If you're unlucky and get some employees that can't meet the demands of your growing business (a serious risk), you might find them to be difficult or extraordinarily expensive to replace. As a founder or CEO that's another drain on your capital reserves.

 

I started the BOI company as my second business, and after approved for it I came to realize that while the incentives are nice, the reporting requirements to maintain the company are much higher than for a traditional company. If the startup has not yet found its market, that could mean the only thing gained is more wasted CEO time and baggage holding the company back.

 

In summary, Thailand has a long way to go before any smart money founders are going to label Bangkok as a "start up hub" of any kind.

 

A large international firm that needs a local HQ will hire Deloitte to cut through the tape and get them running and doesn't mind the USD 5-6 figure annual holding costs. If the local staff will be dozens of people or more, it will be easier to spread the various expenses across the team.

 

However, top talent may not necessarily choose Bangkok as the best city in the world to live in because of ... well... I think we all know the difficult parts.

 

Nice story but you are not a big international company who invests 10s of millions THB to setup a BOI company. You tried and failed with the BOI software company because there is a lot of Thai competition with low costs and you weren't able to match the quality / marketing power of the international players.

[FritsSikkink]

17 hours ago, BE88 said:

What would be the incentive for Hong Kong companies to decide to come to Bangkok, in a third world economy ?

 

The ever-increasing meddling from mainland China.

[FritsSikkink]

On 9/5/2023 at 6:16 PM, Celsius said:

 

Major BS. Even Siemens where my ex wife worked on BTS project had to hire 4 Thai staff per 1 foreigner. Of course they have many Thai staff work for them, so it is not an issue.

 

My current wife deals with many Japanese companies and they struggle every time Thai staff leaves because they immediately have to look for a replacement. 

 

So thanks for confirming that that you don't work for BOI company and probably don't work at all and just making up stories. 

 

OR

 

Your company is doing something illegal.... oops

 

 

 

Sprouting nonsense again, you really shouldn't comment and insult people as you have no clue about the subject at all:

Edited September 7, 2023 by FritsSikkink

[sambum]

Thailand  - more hubs than a fleet of Meter Taxis!

[Celsius]

42 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

 

Sprouting nonsense again, you really shouldn't comment and insult people as you have no clue about the subject at all:

 

 

This BOI "investment visa" thing you all harp about is not a fully functional company. My wife opened a representative office for a Japanese company 10 years ago way before this BOI "smart visa" that also did not require 4 to 1 Thai ratio. It was just my wife and her Japanese boss in the office. This means they could not issue any invoices here in Thailand and all the billing had to go to HQ office in Japan. This severely limited their ability to do business here and grow bigger among plethora of other things.

 

Once they decided to become a sales office and eventually go all in by opening a factory they were required to hire 4 Thai employees for each 1 Japanese staff. So what exactly is nonsense in my post?

 

 

Edit:

 

Actually I don't want to fight with you, I want to learn more ???? Because 6 months ago my wife got hired by European manufacturing company and she is again considering opening a representative office. However, I am just reading about BOI and was wondering about the tax free import duty on machinery. She will be importing bearings from China which is already tax free, but the company also has a factory in Singapore and Spain which is I understand is not 0 tax. Is there any place I could read up more about what products can she exactly import (tax free) and if it makes more sense opening BOI or a representative office. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Celsius

[Doctor Tom]

2 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Again utter BS

BS is it; so your so called company DID NOT follow the BOI rules? How did that work then? 

[FritsSikkink]

1 minute ago, Doctor Tom said:

BS is it; so your so called company DID NOT follow the BOI rules? How did that work then? 

We did, stop trolling

[FritsSikkink]

24 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

This BOI "investment visa" thing you all harp about is not a fully functional company. My wife opened a representative office for a Japanese company 10 years ago way before this BOI "smart visa" that also did not require 4 to 1 Thai ratio. It was just my wife and her Japanese boss in the office. This means they could not issue any invoices here in Thailand and all the billing had to go to HQ office in Japan. This severely limited their ability to do business here and grow bigger among plethora of other things.

 

Once they decided to become a sales office and eventually go all in by opening a factory they were required to hire 4 Thai employees for each 1 Japanese staff. So what exactly is nonsense in my post?

 

 

Edit:

 

Actually I don't want to fight with you, I want to learn more ???? Because 6 months ago my wife got hired by European manufacturing company and she is again considering opening a representative office. However, I am just reading about BOI and was wondering about the tax free import duty on machinery. She will be importing bearings from China which is already tax free, but the company also has a factory in Singapore and Spain which is I understand is not 0 tax. Is there any place I could read up more about what products can she exactly import (tax free) and if it makes more sense opening BOI or a representative office. 

I am not talking about a BOI investment visa thing. My company is a BOI registered company. To get such a company there is a long list of requirements but it comes with a lot of perks. 

If you really want to learn, then have a look here, there is very detailed information what is needed to setup an office:

 

○ BOI : The Board of Investment of Thailand

[FritsSikkink]

20 hours ago, BE88 said:

What would be the incentive for Hong Kong companies to decide to come to Bangkok, in a third world economy ?

 

Same as Taiwan: 

Thailand isn't a third world country, keep up:

 

Thailand Overview: Development news, research, data | World Bank

[Purdey]

3 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Maybe you should get out of the bars and / or Nakon Nowhere and visit the Bangkok business areas for a change.

Don't be so rude. I don't drink and live in Bangkok. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Purdey

[FritsSikkink]

44 minutes ago, Purdey said:

Don't be so rude. I don't drink and live in Bangkok. 

And you never seen office buildings with international companies?

I do as I work for and with them, so they are there. Interesting that you never seen them. Must have a very isolated life.

Edited September 7, 2023 by FritsSikkink

[Purdey]

27 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

And you never seen office buildings with international companies?

I do as I work for and with them, so they are there. Interesting that you never seen them. Must have a very isolated life.

Again with the rudeness of an illiterate - what idiot makes these stupid assumptions? You are confusing the ability to communicate with basic spoken English and native level written and spoken English. I have met Thais who grew up in the UK who are native level, but that's it. Chula Arts Faculty grads tend to be better than most but I still have to correct their writing.

The least you could do is learn how to write English:

"And you never seen office buildings with international companies?"

1. Do not start a sentence with a conjunction. There is a reason it is called a conjunction.

2. Don't use past simple tense without a time element. Your sentence should be written like this:

Have you never seen office buildings with international companies?

FAIL. 

[FritsSikkink]

58 minutes ago, Purdey said:

Again with the rudeness of an illiterate - what idiot makes these stupid assumptions? You are confusing the ability to communicate with basic spoken English and native level written and spoken English. I have met Thais who grew up in the UK who are native level, but that's it. Chula Arts Faculty grads tend to be better than most but I still have to correct their writing.

The least you could do is learn how to write English:

"And you never seen office buildings with international companies?"

1. Do not start a sentence with a conjunction. There is a reason it is called a conjunction.

2. Don't use past simple tense without a time element. Your sentence should be written like this:

Have you never seen office buildings with international companies?

FAIL. 

" I can't see foreign investors considering Bangkok as an international city yet"

Stay with the Grammar Police but don't get involved in discussions about international business because that is way above your pay grade.

[Purdey]

2 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

" I can't see foreign investors considering Bangkok as an international city

An international city would be Singapore. The fact you can't write English implies you are not qualified to comment. 

[FritsSikkink]

2 hours ago, Purdey said:

An international city would be Singapore. The fact you can't write English implies you are not qualified to comment. 

I speak 5 languages, fairly international. How many languages do you speak? 

Underpaid schoolteacher by any chance?

Edited September 7, 2023 by FritsSikkink