Starting A Tourism Venture Out Of Bangkok

[courtenayjade]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has started a tourism/business venture outside of Bangkok.

If so, Is there anywhere you can go to get help eg.government, councils etc?

Just any information on what is required of starting up a new venture like this and could it possibly be more trouble than its worth??

Thanks

[toptuan]

In turn, I was wondering if you ever looked into the law for the kinds of work prohibited for foreigners in Thailand?

Check out this website: http://www.thaivisa.com/330.0.html

And scroll to number four under category B.

Then send me your mailing address so I send you a bill for 10 baht for doing the research you should have done before putting up your post.

Edited December 12, 2009 by toptuan

[LuckyLew]

In turn, I was wondering if you ever looked into the law for the kinds of work prohibited for foreigners in Thailand?

Check out this website: http://www.thaivisa.com/330.0.html

And scroll to number four under category B.

Then send me your mailing address so I send you a bill for 10 baht for doing the research you should have done before putting up your post.

What a nice friendly reply to a request for information

Maybe every one is not as savvy as you

[jalansanitwong]

In all honesty you couldnt of picked a worse place in Asia to consider starting a business.You are a farang .You have NO legal rights here you will get nothing but grief from officialdom and your Thai girlfriend/wife wont even know the implications of San-ya.For every farang businness that succeeds here probably 100 fail miserably.Even if you make money you will be making someone jealous and all hel_l breaks loose.Guess who loses???

[courtenayjade]

In all honesty you couldnt of picked a worse place in Asia to consider starting a business.You are a farang .You have NO legal rights here you will get nothing but grief from officialdom and your Thai girlfriend/wife wont even know the implications of San-ya.For every farang businness that succeeds here probably 100 fail miserably.Even if you make money you will be making someone jealous and all hel_l breaks loose.Guess who loses???

I may be a farang but I am married to a Thai man, I am a female and we have 3 kids which are also Thai citizens so I think I have a bit more than you think.

I would appreciate positive helpful comments and if you think so little of Thailand what are you even doing on this forum!!!

[rfukata]

I am assuming that you have gotten your tour escort i.e. (tour leader) travel agent license permit card/badge for your given business? I've read on the circular sometime ago that the locals object to foreigners conducting travel related work inside

Thailand however since you are married to a Thai national I really can't say how things will turn out for you.

* here are some questions you need to establish:

- who will be your target audience? locals or foreigners

- do you intend to be the tour escort yourself leading foreigners to tourist spots? or will you have a local guide with specific

language skills to lead your tour? (in honesty, you should have a local guide leading your tour to minimize problems from other

competitors) this problem surfaced when the Korean travel bureaus were using there own Korean guides rather than locals, hence

raising tension within the industry. the root of the problem was that the local guides lacked the Korean language skill.

nevertheless it will be your decision but be sure to have clear objectives and strategies in place before going forward.

good luck.

[guava]

Take that list of prohibited types of work with a huge grain of salt. It is also a list that applies more to the type of work an individual can perform rather than the types of businesses they can own. In any case there are numerous foreign owned and/or foreign managed tour agencies and travel related businesses in Thailand, and there are foreigners working here as tour guides, tour agents, travel agents, etc. IMHO, consider it a minor hurdle not a brick wall show stopper. Clearly there are loopholes big enough to fly planes through.

The same applies to many other entries throughout that list.

You probably need to clarify your question and provide a bit more info. You want to start a travel agency in a location outside of Bangkok? Or sell travel ex Bangkok? Target market? Retail store? Online?

Margins are pretty thin on flights and hotels etc, so you need volume to survive - high ranking internet site and/or well located retail shop, innovative marketing, better service, etc. The industry is very competitive, the economy is down, and more people than ever are booking online, often direct with the airline. At least 3 travel agencies I've used regularly before, agencies I'd have thought were doing well, have gone out of business over the last 5-10 years.

There's considerably better margins in tours, but to get into tours, you need considerable experience, expertise, time and effort. And good staff.

You'll have to expect much of the advice you'll get from people who see you as a potential future competitor will be misleading, unhelpful, unfriendly, or non-existent.

[nakachalet]

I may be a farang but I am married to a Thai man, I am a female and we have 3 kids which are also Thai citizens so I think I have a bit more than you think.

I would appreciate positive helpful comments and if you think so little of Thailand what are you even doing on this forum!!!

whenever you get established.... pls let me know, pm would be fine or email is ok too...

we'll be more than happy and honored to have you represent us.

wish you the best.

[nakachalet]

You probably need to clarify your question and provide a bit more info. You want to start a travel agency in a location outside of Bangkok? Or sell travel ex Bangkok? Target market? Retail store? Online?

Margins are pretty thin on flights and hotels etc, so you need volume to survive - agencies I'd have thought were doing well, have gone out of business over the last 5-10 years.

There's considerably better margins in tours, but to get into tours, you need considerable experience, expertise, time and effort. And good staff.

what guava stated is accurate....

in spite of those negativities.... if and when the lady does get going, i'll give my business to her....

[toptuan]

In turn, I was wondering if you ever looked into the law for the kinds of work prohibited for foreigners in Thailand?

Check out this website: http://www.thaivisa.com/330.0.html

And scroll to number four under category B.

Then send me your mailing address so I send you a bill for 10 baht for doing the research you should have done before putting up your post.

What a nice friendly reply to a request for information

Maybe every one is not as savvy as you

Face it. Someone who can't punch one or two words into a search engine, just ain't gonna make it in the travel business...

[baramunchies]

There is also a deposit of 100.000 baht (might be different depending on your situation / business) for the TAT license which acts as a security in case you fail to deliver the services you sold. you will get it back when you return your license. You probably need the license no matter what you do.

It might not be a bad idea to start it now, as many companies have gone bust the last couple of month and there is a sight of a recovering economy. But i would only do it with a very good concept both of who you target and how you sell it plus a good amount of cash to start with. Pretty tough market.

anyway, good luck. hope it works out.

[Lancashirelad]

Maybe i read it wrong? Or then again maybe all you guys did? The lady said she was considering starting a business which would be related to tourism. Ididn't see anywhere she mentioned a travel agency.

Many, many farangs in Thailand own businesses related to tourism: bars, Go Go Bars, car rentals, guest houses, Hotels, Visa runs, etc. etc. Why have you all jumped to the conclusion she intends to set up a travel agency? Read what's there, not what you think is there.

[Yamantaka]

It is completely possible for a foreigner to operate a tourism based business here. Yes there are hurdles and aggravation but if you know what you are doing you can be successful. The 99 out of 100 farang businesses referred to that go under are due to a lack of business acumen and unrealistic expectations. Most farangs seem to think that all it takes to run a bar, restaurant or guesthouse is to buy it and open the doors. Then when they fail they blame it on the Thai employees, Thai government or Thai regulations.That is why there are 100's of these listed for sale with Sunbelt Asia. Be cautious, get a good lawyer ( PM me for a good one in BKK) and do not listen to the multitude of naysayers, malcontents and reprobates on ThaiVisa.com who have no inkling of what business anywhere is all about.

[aras]

Ok lost my reply so this one is going to be brief

Dear courtnyjade.....

get your thai passport as this is very easy for a woman married to a thai man ( as far as i can remember). In that case you have all the rights a thai has. But this might not be of any consern for you i guess.

starting the type of business you want to get in is easy while running it succesfully is Not.

Maybe if you give some info about what you actually are planning to start in detail someone can give you some real advise ( which considering the posts untill now we can not give you).

There are some licenses you will have to acquire but besides that.......

Do some research, start a small company with a good website which wil cost you some money promoting it, get in touch with tour operators etc but i suppose you know how this should work

Take a proffesional lawyer/sunbelt or any other and youll know wat legal stuff you need and if there are incentives from things like board of investment etc

Good luck and let us know in time when you stablished a succesfull company

[aras]

haha yes indeed i thought it was kind of a travel agency too

99,9 percent of the businsses fail because people think that sitting in a bar and drinking, or being a gust in a hotel is the same ass running one.

I am from holland and even here many loose their money by investing it in owning a bar

I have managed these kind of joints in the past and one of my friends still manages a huge restaurant/hotel and i can tell you first hand it really sucks to have a bar/restaurant or( small to medium) hotel. It is really hard work it will ""kill you"". of course a huge hotel/restaurant is something else but if you own it you are a wealthy man.