Need Advise In Setting Up A Travel Agency

[Vans]

Hi all,

I need some advise in setting up a travel agency from scratch. What do i need? Forms to feel in ? minimun fund requirements? The agency will be name after one Thai owner. So it will purely be a Thai owned company.

what are things i need to contact, prepare or set up prior opening the agency? Please kindly advise me as i do not know anything about setting a travel agency up. Time is running quite tight as i am trying to leave my current company as well as setting up a travel agency in the meantime. The two has to be co-ordinate so that i can transfer my work permit to this travel company. Can all of this achieve by end of this month? Please advise. Thank you.

Any information, tips, do & don are much appreciated.

Thanks

[Jangot]

Hi all,

I need some advise in setting up a travel agency from scratch. What do i need? Forms to feel in ? minimun fund requirements? The agency will be name after one Thai owner. So it will purely be a Thai owned company.

what are things i need to contact, prepare or set up prior opening the agency? Please kindly advise me as i do not know anything about setting a travel agency up. Time is running quite tight as i am trying to leave my current company as well as setting up a travel agency in the meantime. The two has to be co-ordinate so that i can transfer my work permit to this travel company. Can all of this achieve by end of this month? Please advise. Thank you.

Any information, tips, do & don are much appreciated.

Thanks

Hey, am I early enough to get in to buy some shares, this business is going to be rocket propelled and I want some of the action.....

Oh! wait...is your other name Borat?

[Maizefarmer]

Experiance experiance and more experiance ..... it's a cut throat market in Thailand, with a lot of backhanders taking place to get access to seats at decent prices - haulers don't cut agents much slack when it comes to margins on seats - they are awful in Thailand, so do a lot of homework. I trust you understand Amadeus and Gallilao, and you have entertained the man from mastercard, and from Visa and from Amex - they too don;t cut travel agents much slack when it comes to margins.

Thats airfares out the way - what about hotels, elephant trips, tickets fro the waterpark and the 1001 other things that agents sell tickets for in Thailand.... it's a lot of marketing expense.

Personally, I know nothing about travel agents - except I know 2 expats got into the business a few years back. One lasted about 18 months and the other about 3 years, but at the end of the day they both had the same thing to say: too many "mom & pop" travel agents in town which resulted in too small margins to make the business vaible for the amount of paperwork and hours involved.

The formality side of it I guess wouldn't be much different to setting up any other Thai business - get your directors, get your sharholders (and if you're an American citizen look into using the Treaty of Amity rules & regs to set the business up), but it will be the easy part, that you can be sure of.

All the best.

[sassienie]

Hi all,

I need some advise in setting up a travel agency from scratch. What do i need? Forms to feel in ? minimun fund requirements? The agency will be name after one Thai owner. So it will purely be a Thai owned company.

what are things i need to contact, prepare or set up prior opening the agency? Please kindly advise me as i do not know anything about setting a travel agency up. Time is running quite tight as i am trying to leave my current company as well as setting up a travel agency in the meantime. The two has to be co-ordinate so that i can transfer my work permit to this travel company. Can all of this achieve by end of this month? Please advise. Thank you.

Any information, tips, do & don are much appreciated.

Thanks

So are you saying; that you are going to be another Farang behind the scenes illegal owner of a Thai company?

Prohibited types of work in Thailand

List Annexed to the Royal Decree Naming Occupations and Professions Prohibited to Foreigners, B.E. 2522 (1979)

The Alien Business Law (N.E.C. Announcement 281). Business activities falling in categories A & B are generally closed to foreigners. Under category C you must obtain a permit prior to commencing business. Businesses outside these categories are exempt. The Ministry of Commerce will also help applications of non trading offices.

Category A:

1.Agriculture: rice farming; salt farming. Commercial Business: Internal trade in local agriculture products, Land trade. Service business: Accounting, farming animals, architecture, advertising, brokerage, auctioning, Barber, hair dressing & beautician. Building industry.

Category B.

1. Agriculture Business: orchids, cultivation, animal husbandry including silk worm raising, timbering, fishing.

2. Industrial & Handicraft: Rice milling, Flour making, sugar, alcohol & non alcohol drinks, Ice cream, Pharmaceutical manufacturing, cold storage, timber, gold, silver and inlaid stone, wood carving, lacquer-ware, match making, cement etc, Dynamiting rocks, Manufacturing garments & shoes, Printing, newspaper publishing, silk weaving or silk printing, manufacture of finished products in silk.

3. Commercial: all retailing not in category C. Or trading not in Category C, selling food an drinks, trading of antiques & fine arts.

4 Service Industry: Tour agency, Hotels except Hotel management, photography, laundering, dress making and service jobs.

5. Land, water & ie. transport.

Category C.

You are allowed to do the following. Exporting, all wholesale trades not in A & B. retiling machinery, equipment & tools, selling food, beverages that promote tourism. Industrial & handicraft Business: manufacturing animal feeds, vegetable oil extraction, textile manufacturing, dyeing, fabric printing, glass ware manufacturing, making plates and bowls, stationary & printing paper, rock salt mining, mining.

Service: anything not in A or B.

Edited August 10, 2009 by sassienie

[Vans]

What ? I cant work in a Travel agency ? There thousands of expats in management level in major tour agency all over Thailand.

Is this for real ? Please advise as i do not want to break the law. I am a law abiding citizen.

Thanks

[Vans]

Oh. As again i did not explained clearly enough. The company is not mine. I am just a employee in that company. Managed to talked to a rich Thai friend. He wanted to set up the travel agency. Provided i join him and work for him.

Now he has left everything for me to set up.

Please advise

[jalansanitwong]

I know a little bit about this business and its cut throat!! the margins are very small. You need to be very well connected to make money out of selling tickets. before you even start you will need to hire staff and some callers will be chinese human traffickers looking for a farang to front for he or she. You say a rich Thai man is interested in opening a travel agent with you.....WHY???? Sounds very suspicious to me there are pleny of ways for wealthy Thais to make good money the last business they would be interested in is a travel agency expecially with a foreigner. I dont think you have lived here very long have you? Remember This is Thailand be careful its your money!!!

[Vans]

I know a little bit about this business and its cut throat!! the margins are very small. You need to be very well connected to make money out of selling tickets. before you even start you will need to hire staff and some callers will be chinese human traffickers looking for a farang to front for he or she. You say a rich Thai man is interested in opening a travel agent with you.....WHY???? Sounds very suspicious to me there are pleny of ways for wealthy Thais to make good money the last business they would be interested in is a travel agency expecially with a foreigner. I dont think you have lived here very long have you? Remember This is Thailand be careful its your money!!!

Hi Jalansanitwong. Thank you for your concern. Appreciated it. This Thai friend of mine is safe. He does all his business the legal & clean way of life. A Thai person of up right person and virtue. Not the typical shady wanabe hooligan rich thai.

I do not need to put a single cent down. All money is entire his. He just want someone capable in the management team to run his business for him. Thats where i come into picture.

He has alot of clients friends in his hands from all around the world. Which he entertain from time to time. Instead of referring all his guests to other agency. He reckon, hack why not open up a travel agency all by himself. Another steady continous flow of income for him.

I have no share in the company. I am just an employee hired by him. The only cool part is that i will get to be on the top management level. A blessing rise in my career title & money.

He has entrust me to scout for an office location, get the register forms & everything together. staffs, etc. The overall planning etc. Basically everything from scratch and i dun have a single clue.

Please help me to get organise jalansanitwong.

[Vans]

Another thing is i am curently working in a company with a valid work permit. I am dying to leave this current company ASAP. My 1st only concern is what should i at least set in the travel company for now the time-being so that i can transfer the work permit to the travel company .

Thank you

[sassienie]

I know a little bit about this business and its cut throat!! the margins are very small. You need to be very well connected to make money out of selling tickets. before you even start you will need to hire staff and some callers will be chinese human traffickers looking for a farang to front for he or she. You say a rich Thai man is interested in opening a travel agent with you.....WHY???? Sounds very suspicious to me there are pleny of ways for wealthy Thais to make good money the last business they would be interested in is a travel agency expecially with a foreigner. I dont think you have lived here very long have you? Remember This is Thailand be careful its your money!!!

Hi Jalansanitwong. Thank you for your concern. Appreciated it. This Thai friend of mine is safe. He does all his business the legal & clean way of life. A Thai person of up right person and virtue. Not the typical shady wanabe hooligan rich thai.

I do not need to put a single cent down. All money is entire his. He just want someone capable in the management team to run his business for him. Thats where i come into picture.

He has alot of clients friends in his hands from all around the world. Which he entertain from time to time. Instead of referring all his guests to other agency. He reckon, hack why not open up a travel agency all by himself. Another steady continous flow of income for him.

I have no share in the company. I am just an employee hired by him. The only cool part is that i will get to be on the top management level. A blessing rise in my career title & money.

He has entrust me to scout for an office location, get the register forms & everything together. staffs, etc. The overall planning etc. Basically everything from scratch and i dun have a single clue.

Please help me to get organise jalansanitwong.

You say that you know nothing about setting up a travel agency, yet this rich guy is going to give you the run of the place with no financial contribution from yourself.

Sorry, this doesn’t make sense.

It is possible that this agency is a front for something else, such as human trafficking or visa scams.

Beware; you could end up being the fall guy.

[jalansanitwong]

To Vans thanks for the email i dont want to sound negative but it sounds allmost too good to be true but if it is above board ok then you can make alot of money i know how and where to set it all up in BKK and small outlay and you dont need to bother about a work permit i may even be interested myself let me know. pm

[Vans]

So can anyone advise yet to set up a travel agency ? As well how to apply for ATTA / PATA etc ?

What else is important? A good office location?

[Sunbelt Asia]

Dear Vans,

When setting up a Thai limited company you are required to have 3 shareholders. In the majortity of instances, the company must be 51% Thai owned. The company must have at least 2 million Baht of registered capital. Thai nationals are required to display an amount equal to the value of their shares in a bank account. This amount will be checked during the company set up process but is not required to be kept there for a certain period of time. However, foreigners are not required to display these funds. Providing you have 4 Thai employees and 2,000,000 Baht of registered capital, you will be able to obtain a work permit.

You cannot in fact transfer a work permit. If you have an existing company it is possible to add another company to the work permit but this requires consent from the first company you have been working for. Otherwise, you can cancel this work permit and obtain a new one for this travel agency.

For more information on the company set up process, please contact Sunbelt Asia for a free consultation at your convenience on 02-642-0213.

Best regards,

Foreign Business Advisor

Sunbelt Asia Co.

www.sunbeltasia.com

[email protected]

Edited February 12, 2010 by Sunbelt Asia

[djlest]

hey man dont let the negativos drag you down

I have set up loads of companies in Thailand - and each one i knew nothing about and were a very risky with a lot of trust on Thais.

You just gotta roll with the punches and jump in head first... but use your head and always be one step ahead...

You gotta trust them but at the same time - always know you will always be one step ahead of them and ready for when they pull the rug from under you.

Its a sad way to live to trust but not to trust, but if you have a Thai wife - it really is no different to that...