Thailand Ranks Ninth in the World for Country Most Open for Business

[impulse]

2 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

oh don't get me started on that. I've seen diversity hires blow up too once. Don't get me wrong Thailand is generally a difficult place to do business  but America is going down fast and hard in real time.

That was back in the summer of 1980.  It's gotten worse since then.  Much worse.

 

[DJ54]

Thai company built the house…. started 8am everyday but one ( boss told them take day off. The took lunch @ 12 noon and finished up ar 17:00 no drinking until finished for the day. They’d have a couple beers and to unwind then on their way every day. Very pleasant 

[StayinThailand2much]

22 hours ago, webfact said:

The Royal Thai Embassy in the United States has announced through its Facebook page that Thailand has secured ninth place among 87 countries listed as the most open for business in 2023.

 

Had to check the calendar... And no, it's not the 1st of April! What were the 87 countries; Afghanistan, North Korea, Niger, Venezuela... ?

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

It's the same guys who lament not being able to find good help back home, when they're offering minimum wage.

 

I worked with dozens of very competent, responsible Thai employees.  We paid them well enough that they wanted to perform well and stay.  Still a tiny fraction of what we paid "back home".

 

Absolutely, pay peanuts, get monkeys.

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, NorthernRyland said:

my brother is trying to quit his business in Thailand because of the hassles with immigration and multiple times now incompetent accountants have screwed up his taxes and this resulted in paying bribes to immigration to fix the mistakes. Every year they make you do this so you're never at peace.

 

It's a joke Thailand is an easy country to work in unless you're one man with a wok on a street corner, try that in America and see how far you get.

Then your brother is incompetent if he can't sort these things out and should never had started a business. 

Never had a problem with the tax office and immigration. Sometimes a new worker fails to deliver as expected but then we replace him / her.

Well over 90% deliver as expected.  

[Sydebolle]

The Royal Thai Embassy in the United States has, for sure, never done any business in Thailand - in that case. Sitting snugly in Washington DC with diplomatic status is one thing - but certainly not the reality! 

The endless avalanche of photocopies (all one-sided only, never copy anything on the backside), duly rubber-stamped with company seal and signed with blue ink for anything, together with company affidavits not older than one to three months spring to mind. 

They never applied for a work permit whereby the CEO has to confirm, that he decided to employ himself; all this again with blue ink, company affidavits, copies of passport, education certificates etc. Of course there has to be a board meeting with himself acting as CEO, secretary and witness - three in one. 
In case of a renewal, the yellow income tax payment receipts have to be presented in original and - yes - copies duly stamped and signed with blue ink. A full set of photographs showing the applicant seated behind a desk, again copied and blue inked. Organization chart, staff list etc. again - stamped and blue inked. 
Ah, and yes, not even half the people filing nails or enjoying a bowl of noodle soup at 10am behind the desk would speak a word of English despite doing nothing but paperwork for alien from outer space or, as so befittingly worded by a minister "the dirty farang"! 

Depending on what business (i.e. hospitality) the powers-to-be issue licenses for imported and local tobacco, imported and local alcohol and spirits, license for processing food and two licenses for playing music in public places, one for international tunes and one for local squeaks. Of course they are not in the same building, Soi or road and sometimes even in another municipality of the province. 

The labour department is next with their most antiquated system of social security welfare processing and payment; opening bank accounts - without any credit facility - adds to the bureaucratic fun. They certainly never tried to get a credit card swiper as that again requires copies of affidavits (not older than one month), work permit, passport and bank account books, all rubber stamped with seals and blue ink signatures. 

To get the affidavits, you are welcome to see the next "Department of Business Development" or DBD with 30 times more seats for customers waiting than officers behind the desks; latter usually manned only by 60% - 80%. You need to present rubber stamped and blue inked copies of your ID (i.e. passport with front page and all pages with a stamp in it) to APPLY to get the DBD affidavit, wait anything between 45 - 90 minutes, pay a ridiculously small fee and you're on your way again. 

So, whatever that Embassy may say - they have not the slightest clue what they are talking about. The entry into Thailand is tedious, a permanent uphill battle with authorities, government officials and other brakemen in full force; combined with a complete absence of common sense but yeah, once you get there and know your way around it is a walk in the park. This is my conclusion after almost four decades in the Land of interesting moments ???? 

[NorthernRyland]

1 hour ago, FritsSikkink said:

Then your brother is incompetent if he can't sort these things out and should never had started a business. 

no it's their fault for not doing their job. You can't do businesses in a country if accountants makes mistakes that result in bribes from immigration and you need to repeat this process annually. You must be the only person who thinks Thai's do good work and are competent. It's so clearly not the case.

[NorthernRyland]

54 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

The entry into Thailand is tedious, a permanent uphill battle with authorities,

that pretty much sums it up. Endless other countries with a better workforce to chose from. Thailand is about tropical climate, retiring and girls. 

[Mavideol]

 

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand has secured ninth place among 87 countries listed as the most open  tight/difficult/not easy for business in 2023.

wonder how credible is this ranking and on what standards it was conducted as from my own experience trying to create a business 12 years ago it was a nightmare with the non sense requests, that I opted for nearby country, maybe the correct ranking it's 9 from the bottom and even then ????

Edited September 18, 2023 by Mavideol

[Jelli]

They wanted to get this into print before releasing the news of taxing expat income from abroad ????

[FritsSikkink]

39 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

no it's their fault for not doing their job. You can't do businesses in a country if accountants makes mistakes that result in bribes from immigration and you need to repeat this process annually. You must be the only person who thinks Thai's do good work and are competent. It's so clearly not the case.

What sort of accountant mistake has something to do with immigration? 

Thousands of people don't have a problem at all. Mismanagement from the company, then blame it on the Thai's.

[Burma Bill]

13 hours ago, webfact said:

secured ninth place among 87 countries listed as the most open for business in 2023.

Oh really, with the Thai top business families with their protectionist policies to prevent competition!!

Edited September 18, 2023 by Burma Bill
add

[Drop the dead donkey]

The reporter missed off the zero.

90th out of 87.

that’s more like it.

????????????

[josephbloggs]

7 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

The Royal Thai Embassy in the United States has, for sure, never done any business in Thailand - in that case. Sitting snugly in Washington DC with diplomatic status is one thing - but certainly not the reality! 
 

Wow, what a lengthy rant.  By the way you do know the Thai Embassy did not compile this list or conducted this survey, nor are they making any claims.

 

Yes, there is a lot of bureaucracy in Thailand.

 

Quote

To get the affidavits, you are welcome to see the next "Department of Business Development" or DBD with 30 times more seats for customers waiting than officers behind the desks; latter usually manned only by 60% - 80%. You need to present rubber stamped and blue inked copies of your ID (i.e. passport with front page and all pages with a stamp in it) to APPLY to get the DBD affidavit, wait anything between 45 - 90 minutes, pay a ridiculously small fee and you're on your way again. 

You're going to the DBD every time you want an affidavit??? You do know there is an e-service, and you do know you can get them from pretty much any bank too. Takes 5 minutes.

[roietfortress]

i didn't believe it at first, but then i realized they aren't talking about farangs opening businesses.

 

its incredibly easy for any Thai to find something to sell and set up a market table. even if they go the storefront approach, outside of large cities licensing is one stop and a payment. supplies can come straight from China within a week. labor is cheap.

 

try opening a business in the US. they shouldn't be on that list at all.

 

#

 

 

 

[roietfortress]

duplicate.

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by roietfortress
duplicate.

[Sydebolle]

On 9/18/2023 at 7:19 PM, josephbloggs said:

Wow, what a lengthy rant.  By the way you do know the Thai Embassy did not compile this list or conducted this survey, nor are they making any claims.

 

Yes, there is a lot of bureaucracy in Thailand.

 

You're going to the DBD every time you want an affidavit??? You do know there is an e-service, and you do know you can get them from pretty much any bank too. Takes 5 minutes.

Thank you for your input - I am aware of the DBD's e-service shown here below:

https://ebiz.dbd.go.th/eservice-web/ 
https://ebiz.dbd.go.th/eservice-web/login.xhtml 

Back to Square One ???? regretfully!