Owning A Business?

[sbaker8688]

I thought this might be closer to this forum than the "general topic" forum. Forgive me if that's not the case (I'm new here).

I've been to Thailand around 5 times. The last time was for 3 months. I'd like to come back and live, and am wondering if it's feasible for me to own a business. That's really the only way I'm going to be able to stay and live there - if I own a business. I hope it's not as impossible to own a business there as it is to get any sort of residency. I've decided that any sort of residency or whatever will be impossible for me. I will not be able to get a work permit, and don't seem to qualify for anything else (not 50+ years old, don't have bazillions to invest, etc). So it's probably going to be taking a trip to the border every 30 days (sigh). But you can't have everything.

Anyway, question is - how feasible is it for a foreigner to own a business there? I would assume the answer is "not feasible." In other words, if the regulations are anything like qualifying for permanent residency, I can probably forget it.

Any information is helpful, as I haven't been able to find anything on it yet.

Thanks.

[Mr.Capers]

Owning a buiness here is actually quite simple, if you get the right help in setting it all up.

Sunbelt Asia comes to mind:

They can:

1. Provide you with documentation to obtain a One Year Multiple Entry visa based on your interest in doing business in Thailand.

2. Provide you with the legal assistance to set-up your own company, which will enable you to acquire a work permit, extension of stay permit, and potentially own land in the companies name.

Things arent always as difficult as they seem at first, there are many ways to live, work, and do business in Thailand. You just need to understand the system, get the RIGHT advice, and dont be foolish and lazy about process and procedure.

I would recommend starting here: http://www.lawyer.th.com

Edited February 25, 2005 by Mr.Capers

[Sunbelt Asia]

Thanks Mr. Capers.

It has been a month or so, since I checked in this forum. Simply have been VERY busy with the office. It is nice to se the very first post I open after 30 days looking at the forum, giving us a referral. We do appreciate it.

Anyway, question is - how feasible is it for a foreigner to own a business there? I would assume the answer is "not feasible." In other words, if the regulations are anything like qualifying for permanent residency, I can probably forget it.

Do you know you can own a business as a foreigner and have majority owner if you do export, manufacturing or hotel management You also may even qualify under the Board of Investment promotion for other sectors or maybe you qualify under the FTA with Australia or you can own a business under Amity as an American ( Yes it has been extended)

Even if those conditions don't apply. You still can control your investment.

At least in Bangkok, you do not need 2 million baht in the bank account to get a work permit or even 4 Thais employed to get the work permit.

The laws are indeed confusing and why a number of well meaning paid advisors even give out wrong info that you need 4 or even 7 Thais employed to get a work permit. Our business is business and I feel very proud that our firm has helped a number of people be legal in Thailand that otherwise would be operating illegal.

We welcome the opportunity to help you as well.

Greg Lange

Managing Director

www.sunbeltasia.com

www.lawyer.th.com

www.property.th.com

[bukmba]

Thanks Mr. Capers.

It has been a month or so, since I checked in this forum. Simply have been VERY busy with the office. It is nice to se the very first post I open after 30 days looking at the forum, giving us a referral. We do appreciate it.

Anyway, question is - how feasible is it for a foreigner to own a business there? I would assume the answer is "not feasible." In other words, if the regulations are anything like qualifying for permanent residency, I can probably forget it.

Do you know you can own a business as a foreigner and have majority owner if you do export, manufacturing or hotel management You also may even qualify under the Board of Investment promotion for other sectors or maybe you qualify under the FTA with Australia or you can own a business under Amity as an American ( Yes it has been extended)

Even if those conditions don't apply. You still can control your investment.

At least in Bangkok, you do not need 2 million baht in the bank account to get a work permit or even 4 Thais employed to get the work permit.

The laws are indeed confusing and why a number of well meaning paid advisors even give out wrong info that you need 4 or even 7 Thais employed to get a work permit. Our business is business and I feel very proud that our firm has helped a number of people be legal in Thailand that otherwise would be operating illegal.

We welcome the opportunity to help you as well.

Greg Lange

Managing Director

www.sunbeltasia.com

www.lawyer.th.com

www.property.th.com

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Whenever they talk about 4 Thai employees it is meant for the 1 year visa.

If you have a work permit and you want to get a 1 year Visa based on it, you need to have at least 4 Thai employees. I don't know how it is under BOI, so this is for all companies without BOI.

And of course you don't need to have 2 Mio Baht in the account when applying for a work permit. But the company needs to have a registered capital of 2 Mio Baht which can include assets as well.

And anyway to all: It is not that difficult to register a company or to apply for a work permit. If you don't have Thai language knowledge but have somebody who can translate for you it is easy and done quite fast. Just go to labour department (for work permit) and they will tell you what papers you need. Don't see a reason to have a lawyer for that or anybody else like which mainly try tp rip you off anyway.

I could get my WP that way in less than 7 days.

And it didn't cost me a dime, beside the normal government fees.

And my 1 year Visa was granted because I have 4 Thai employees.

One less and it would have been rejected.

[Sunbelt Asia]

It is not that difficult to register a company

In life we have choices. Do it ourselves or pay someone professional to do it. You can pay someone to build a house or do it yourself. You can pay to have a doctor deliver your baby or you can deliver the baby yourself on the way to the hospital. If you feel they "mainly try to rip you off anyway" you may feel better about it. But was your house really built well? For some of us, it would be, for most, the answer would be “no” .Did you deliver your baby in the safest way? There are cases of babies being delivered in taxicabs and it is a fine healthy child but most of us would not opt for that choice.

As for forming a company, maybe you don't find it that difficult. But are you REALLY protected if you are the minority shareholder? Do you have more voting rights? Did you change the By-laws to a 21 page Thai document to protect your rights or did you use the standard Thai By-laws?

Even a Thai person that never done it before, would take easily around 25 hours to form a company. That is with using the standard forms using all Thai shareholders.

Our professional fees are 2,500 Baht. Why do even Thais call and use our services? Their time is worth more than 100 Baht per hour and just like building a home or a delivering a baby, they want it done right. A foreigner forming a company without expert advice is not delivering their baby in a taxicab. The odds of doing it right are more similar to performing heart surgery on themselves.

A work permit is another matter, you could possibly do it on your own, still 99% of us would use a professional. In life, we have that choice. For ones that want a professional, I’m happy to say, we have a large number of happy clients.

www.lawyer.th.com

[bukmba]

Just to clear any possible misunderstanding. When I talked about "rip off" I meant that the majority of legal firms somehow rip you off by charging 50,000 to 100,000 Baht or sometimes even more to register a company. I don't know you or your company or your pricing therefore the "rip off" was meant in general and not targeted on you. And I think you could even agree with me that most of such companies do nothing good to their customers. But I don't doubt neither that their are still some companies which are doing good services at reasonable prices.

And for a reasonable price I wouldn't have bothered myself. Beside the work permit which really not a big deal. But also we here we have to make the difference between people which are living here quite some time already and people who just arrive and have no clue about anything.

However, I think between building a house, delivering a baby or simply founding a company, there might be quite a big difference. Therefore I can not agree with this while in general when you say that we should use professionals I can certainly agree since I am in a Service business (IT) myself (www.netsol.co.th -- if this is allowed to be mentioned) in Rayong.

All the best ....