A Shop

[Cornflakes]

Hi everybody

Just coming in here to get some friendly advice

Been with my Thai gf now for nearly 2 years and we have a nice house in the North East but now it is time for me to move to LOS

I know the working situation in LOS is totally <deleted> and that teaching is the only option for most guys/girls in Thailand

Well me and my GF have taken a liking to Ko Phangnan and were wondering about renting a shop there like we saw other people doing, e.g. we met a thai girl who had her own shop and was paying 10,000 baht per month for the property and she payed about 100,000 to begin with aswell.

She just had clothes in her shop which she payed for in BKK and had them transfered to the island

Just wanted to ask if it would be very difficult for me and my GF todo a similair thing..(not only in Ko Phangnan)

I have a nice budgit and maybe i will do some teaching until we have the final idea of what we have to doto get it up and running

PLEASE PLEASE help as we are very stuck on what to do

[qwertyuiop]

I do not profess to be the most knowledgeable on the board but 2 aspects at least i would consider are these.

1. work permit. My understanding is that sales especially retail sales is a prohibited occupation for a farang. Nothing to stop you owning the shop but working in it would be another matter. In my opinion you would not qualify for a work permit as really you would be taking a job away from a Thai.

There again you might not be looking to work. In this case you would have the usual visa issues that are discussed all over this board.

2. VAT. To be fully legal I believe that you would have to be registered for VAT. again my understanding that in order to do this certain paperwork from the owner of the property is required.

With many properties finding the true owner is not that easy a task and once found convincing them to provide the paperwork is even more difficult. Non registration for VAT causes obvious problems.

Not sure if there are business types/structures which can help you avoid these issues. The likes of Indo-siam and Sunbelt would be better placed to provide answers. I just suggest that you investigate the situation fully before committing to something.

Don't know about Koh Phangnam but up here in Metropolitan Bangkok the Revenue Department does 'raid' shops re work permits/vat registration/collection.

I think that it is much more straightforward for a Thai to do this than a farang.

Good luck

[kitty]

where abouts in koh phangan?

My friend was irish and living in thailand for 3 years,she rented a shop for 1 year and done quite well..

[ThaiPauly]

If its your busines then you have to employ four Thais as well, and its true, you could not be seen to be working there, but recently on Ko Phi Phi I saw farangs working their bars, Islands have one police force, so you would soon get to know them and then its just a case of extra monthly Charges!! Scope the place out and see how many police are on the island and how freindly they are.

Good Luck