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

[thaiflyer1]

Not sure what advice you are after, if you are wanting to open a buisness as outlined i cant see any problems.........suggest you contact either Sunbelt Asia or Indo Siam for likely buisnesses. If its visa advise you require post again and you/ll get advise......Non Imm O seems a good choice.

[lopburi3]

Not sure what advice you are after, if you are wanting to open a buisness as outlined i cant see any problems.........suggest you contact either Sunbelt Asia or Indo Siam for likely buisnesses. If its visa advise you require post again and you/ll get advise......Non Imm O seems a good choice.

Non immigrant O for what? He is not married and does not seem to have any plans in the direction.

[BKK_banger]

A little judgemental of the poor guy. he has already invested in Thailand and is now considering moving here and setting up a business and house with the lady. Wedding bells (or chanting) will come eventually.

In the meantime, visas, like wills, should not be ignored.

Unless you have a skill in high demand or money to invest many people end up in self employed positions or open their own business. This is easy in thailand unless it is in an industry where regulation is rampant or you need to take credit cards etc.

I used to sneer at Sunbelt but are now using them myself and find them acceptable if a touch pricey. There are worse ways to find a business that someone else has spent a lot of sweat and tears building up.

If you want to start your own then take a tip, do not open a bar or any business you do not understand. Be prepared to spend a year or two building it up before you see profits. Build on your strengths, do not take wild leaps of faith.

[lopburi3]

I was not putting the guy down. But he does not qualify for an O type visa from the information provided and was pointing that out. He has not asked for any specific visa advise but an O type visa is not what he should be looking at if entry is for business.

[thaiflyer1]

I was not putting the guy down. But he does not qualify for an O type visa from the information provided and was pointing that out. He has not asked for any specific visa advise but an O type visa is not what he should be looking at if entry is for business.

My guess is Lop he/s from the North East of England, he/ll get a Non Imm O from Hull no problem.........i/d further guess that if he is looking at a similar shop as he describes it/ll be in his G/F's name so it/ll have nothing to do with his visa situation........fancy guessing against me Lop?

[lopburi3]

I was not putting the guy down.  But he does not qualify for an O type visa from the information provided and was pointing that out.  He has not asked for any specific visa advise but an O type visa is not what he should be looking at if entry is for business.

My guess is Lop he/s from the North East of England, he/ll get a Non Imm O from Hull no problem.........i/d further guess that if he is looking at a similar shop as he describes it/ll be in his G/F's name so it/ll have nothing to do with his visa situation........fancy guessing against me Lop?

My guess/assumption ability seems in need of repair so will not bet against you.

But I would not bet on the longevity of Hull either and would urge him to find legal status before he burns all bridges.

In this post he say budget is not a problem so maybe he can invest in a business as banger suggests.

[thaiflyer1]

Yes agreed Lop really need a bit more info, as you say depends how much he is thinking about investing amongst other things. Long Live Hull!!!

[BKK_banger]

I was not putting the guy down. But he does not qualify for an O type visa from the information provided and was pointing that out. He has not asked for any specific visa advise but an O type visa is not what he should be looking at if entry is for business.

Many apologies Lop, didn't think as deeply as yourself. Will take foot out of mouth next time before pronouncing you are being judgemental.

[Cornflakes]

Thx for the responses, and i was quite suprised i didn't get any bad remarks

like "stay in england ya bum" or something along those lines

Well the idea is for me to return to Thailand after i have worked a few more months and got my bank account stacked, im NOT looking to BUY a business i need to RENT

i'm not going to open a bar or resteraunt (although i have a lot of experience running one)

but i just need something simple to start off with

like before i came to LOS last year my friend gave me a t-shirt which he designed for me and while i was there nearly everytime i had this shirt on someone asked where i payed for it

this gave me the idea to speak to my friend and ask him to do MANY more designs for me to get printed onto more shirts

also my gf is a good designer of girls clothes and is actually quite skillfull at it

not saying that this is my final idea to have clothes shop but it is there one that sticks out in my mind

so what would be the best thing to do if everything does go OK with finding a property to rent?

regarding my visa would it be possible to get a working visa in this situation or not?

thx for the replies so far

[Dawn]

Cornflakes,

Congrats on deciding to move to Thailand - me and my partner are from Newcastle and we're looking to move to Lanta within the next 3-4 years to escape this bloody horrible north east weather!

Thought I'd get in touch to pass on a bit of advice that I was given from Sunbelt Asia.

I think the best way for you to do things is to set up a Thai Limited Company. You can do this from within the UK. Under current Thai law foreigners can only own up to 49% of a Thai Ltd company but legal processes have been developed which allow us to control the company and have some measure of security while remaining minority shareholders. A Ltd company, controlled by you, can conduct virtually any business. You would be the managing director, sign the cheques and make all the decisions in the company. This means you can then find a lease and go about renting property to start up your business - however small and simple that business may be. I don't know a great deal about the shareholder side of things - I'm in the process of trying to find out details about this for myself at the minute - but it might be possible for your girlfriend to be the one and only Thai shareholder (owning 51% of the Ltd company).

In order to work in Thailand, you'll need to apply for a work permit and 'work' in Thailand is defined very broadly to include almost any kind of mental or physical effort whether or not for renumeration. If you set up a Ltd company then it is relatively easy for you to get a work permit to work in that company. For the work that you want to do you will need a permit.

If you set up your Ltd company and you're the managing director and require a work permit then your company will need 2 million baht of registered capital. Only 25% of this registered capital needs to be 'paid in'. 'Paid in' capital refers to the amount of assets which are required to be on the balance sheet of the company to support the registered capital. It is meant as a protection to shareholders from buying shares in a Ltd company with no assets. Thai law required Ltd companies to pay in 25% of their registered capital within 90 days of company registration. The paid in capital can be in the form of any assets which are owned by the company - property, cars, furniture or cash etc. You have to maintain the 25% paid in capital throughout the life of the company.

Once you've set up the Ltd company (and before you apply for a work permit) you'll need a visa. If you've set up your Ltd company then you can apply for a non immigrant B (business) visa. If you want this visa to be for a full year (called an extended stay visa) then you have to employ 4 Thai workers (there's a '4 for every foreigner' rule) and you'll have to have a minimum wage/income from your business of 50,000 baht per month - which is crazy! To get around this, apply for the multiple entry version of the non imm B visa - as there's no requirement to have a minimum salary/wage or emply Thai workers. You'll have to make visa runs every 90 days but this is totally legal and I suppose it's a look out if owt else. You don't even have to stay overnight when you get over the border - you can exit and re-enter the same day. After you return from your visa run you'll need to apply to extend your work permit at the local ministry of labour office. The extension process is quite quick and easy.

Good luck!

Edited August 13, 2004 by Boo

[Willi_S]

very good and informative posting, dawn. thanks.

what will bee ths costs of all? have you started now with sunbelt?

good luck for your future.

WILLI

[simple1]

Apply for the multiple entry version of the non imm B visa - as there's no requirement to have a minimum salary/wage or employ Thai workers.

Can anyone clarify the quoted statement. I understand that the B Visa is not a permit to work. Therefore, what are the criteria and obligations to obtain a Work Permit based upon a multiple entry version of the non imm B visa?

[Sunbelt Asia]

what will bee ths costs of all

I'll go ahead and answer for Dawn if I may.

The base legal Fees for company reg is 3,900 Baht

Tax ID Corp ID 3,000

Vat Social Fund is 3,000

Work permit is 7,800 Baht

Add 7% Vat to all legal fees

Add 6,000 Baht if you need the Corp By-laws changed and loan agreements done

Government Fees are

5,550 Baht per million Baht

600 Certify the docs

300 Baht Certify the docs for By-laws if they were changed

420 Baht stamp duties

750 Baht Work Permit

Therefore, what are the criteria and obligations to obtain a Work Permit based upon a multiple entry version of the non imm B visa?

A non immigrant visa is required to get a work permit. The criteria for a work permit is that if you are a director seeking employment, the registered capital must be 2 million baht. (Notice I said director.... a employee who is NOT also a director then the 2 million baht registered capital is not required)

As for a employee you must meet only ONE of these conditions

1. Working for an establishment with a registered capital of at

least paid up 2,000,000 Baht. One expatriate can be hired for every 2,000,000

Baht of capital but not more than 10 expatriates.

(Please note this is NOT a requirement. If you can't meet this condition... fine simply go to the next condition.)

2. Working in an establishment, which has already paid income tax

for juristic company to the Revenue Department in the past 3 years not

less than 5,000,000 Baht. For every 5,000,000 Baht tax payment is

allowed to hire 1 expatriate.

(Don't qualify... no need to panic, go to #3)

3. Working for an establishment, which engages in export business

and remit foreign currency of at least the equivalent of 3,000,000 Baht

last year. For every 3,000,000 Baht, an establishment is allowed to

hire 1 expatriate but not more than 3 expatriates.

( Doesn't help? Go to #4)

4. Working in an establishment, which employs 50 Thai employees.

An establishment is allowed to hire 1 expatriate for every 50 Thai

employees but not more than 5 expatriates in total.

( Still no help...go to #5)

5. An expatriate having an income and duty to pay personal income

tax to the Revenue Department of equivalent or more than 18,000 Baht, or

already paid personal income tax in the past year of equivalent or more

than 18,000 Baht.

( This is where most applicants qualify... single getting 30,000 Baht personal income per month or married getting a salary of 45,000 Baht) Yes note the minimum salary of 60,000 Baht for an American does not apply or 50,000 Baht for an European.

Notice in #1,2,3 or #5 no mention of having 4 Thai employees per work permit. This requirement is for the one year extension of stay visa. Don't get confused :-)

You still don't qualify with one of these 5 conditions, then don't panic . The Authorized Officers, on reasonable grounds, may consider work permit approval, renewal, and modification of employment descriptions and positions or locations of workplace regardless of restrictions on the number of expatriates stated above, if the work

falls under the followings:

1. Representative office conducting quality control, procurement,

or marketing research.

2. The work in investment consulting, administrative consulting,

technical and technology, or periodical internal audit.

3. Tourism representatives who bring in foreigners to travel in

Thailand.

4. International financial institutions approved by the Bank of

Thailand.

5. Temporary business of entertainment, religious, social welfare,

cultural or sporting without intention to make profit and paying income

tax to the government.

6. Working as a contractor on projects with the governmental bodies

or state enterprises.

7. Work using mostly local raw material as an essential component

in the production process or work that can reduce the use of imported

raw material.

8. Work supporting export of Thai products.

9. Work, which brings new technology, which Thai people are not

capable of, in order to distribute and transfer to Thai people.

10. Work in the area where there is a shortage of Thai labour.

11. Having a residency in the Kingdom.

12. Being a married couple with Thai citizen, with legally married

registration, publicly cohabiting as husband and wife, and

with a legal profession, which is socially respectable.

The Thai government has tried to make it easy for people to be legal and get work permits. If you should have a work permit, then please do get one.

Their are a number of lawyers that can help you or even try doing it yourself. In my opinion, simply no excuse not to have a work permit if you are working here in Thailand.

www.sunbeltasia.com