Requirements For Opening A Bar

[JohanBKK]

Please, sorry for my english.

Hello,

Me and my thai wife would like to open a bar and we would like to know which requirements are needed (papers, licenses, tea money, management of the police...)

I know it's a bad business idea and i know we will loss money, we are not doing this for money as i have already a very successful business. I'm borring of doing nothing every day and i think opening a bar can be a great experience with a lot of problems to solve. I'm in Thai for already 3 years married to a thai citizen.

We don't want to invest a lot of money in this project, just 2 Million or under.

The idea is not to open a beer bar but something more sophisticated. With cocktails, great music, pro pool tables... and a lot of thai customers.

Edited May 7, 2009 by JohanBKK

[MrDream]

Let me see what I can think of off the top of my head here. Entertainment license, Thai music license, Copyrighted music license, un-copyrighted music license, tobacco and whiskey license. That pretty much sums it all up as far as your licensing is concerned. Wouldn't recommend getting any of the license in a falang name though, thats just asking for trouble.

Then you need to worry about setting up an actual company in Thailand, probably in your wifes name, so that you can get your VAT certificate to pay taxes with. This of course would probably be best to do before actually getting the licensing involved with a venture like that.

[JohanBKK]

Thanks, we will do that.

[goodheartman]

your english is fine. your idea sucks!

hope it wasnt yr wifes idea.

and if you going to do it be prepared to lose more than 2,000,000 baht.

HOW CAN A SUCCESSFUL MAN OPEN A BUSINESS HE HAS NO FAITH IN?

[Penkoprod]

your english is fine. your idea sucks!

hope it wasnt yr wifes idea.

and if you going to do it be prepared to lose more than 2,000,000 baht.

HOW CAN A SUCCESSFUL MAN OPEN A BUSINESS HE HAS NO FAITH IN?

Or experience in, or knowledge of how much work is involved.

I bet if some bar owners were to chip in with the ammount of hours a day they put in 7 days a week 52 weeks a year, or the heartache involved in trying to run one, the OP might well change his mind

Penkoprod

[JohanBKK]

It's my idea not she's idea. She don't really like the idea of the bar but i think it's a good challenge. If we loss the money we will try another business.

[loong]

If your wife doesn't really like the idea, then forget it. She will never be prepared to put in the work

[grandpops]

Try this.

Find a bar on the Island, similar (however slightly) to what you have in mind.

Drink in it from opening time to closing time every day for a month.

Find out what time the staff come in to clean in the morning, then start turning up to watch them clean, and stay behind after the bar shuts to watch them lock up.

You may have some money you can afford to lose but when the effects of drinking take over, you will not be able to handle them. Your wife could easily end up an acoholic schizo as she could begin drinking to handle the boredom and so could you.

Despite not being interested, she will almost certainly be manically jealous of any staff she sees as prettier, whiter, more useful or more adept than her. There will be serious tantrums, accusations of you sleeping with them, accusations against them and on the spot sackings. You are then in a position where you have no control of who you hire and fire. Believe it, believe it.

I can't believe (even though I have seen it thousands of times during my 15 year here) that people can still imagine that this could possibly be for them. It really isn't mate, spend your money on something else. I have seen so many nice (naive) people end up dead, wrecks, seriously ill and having to be transported home by relatives, beaten up, bribed and money extorted from them, mentally ill from the constant battling with Thai staff that you cannot begin to understand if you stay here another 100 years, need I go on.

Try paying a bar 5,000 baht a night to let you manage it on the odd occasion.

[goodheartman]

It's my idea not she's idea. She don't really like the idea of the bar but i think it's a good challenge. If we loss the money we will try another business.

good god!

there no helping you if was yr idea

[Milo]

It's my idea not she's idea. She don't really like the idea of the bar but i think it's a good challenge. If we loss the money we will try another business.

Therefore why invest so much in the first place? Asking for trouble, especially if your good lady isn't interested.

[CWMcMurray]

Find out what she is interested in and try that first...

Right now it sounds badall around... you want to open a business that you are sure you are going to loose money at and are trying to force your GF to help you h\manage a business that she does not want to open. This already puts you at a bit of a disadvantage.