Tighter Controls Sought On Foreign-owned Firms

[animatic]

As the economic boom cash cow has died, they are now

looking for ways to make it come alive for themselves.

And looking for people to blame for why the calf died.

Farangs make the perfect target.

They have no effective recourse to bitch about it.

A nationalistic argument can be made that each farang takes a job from a Thai,

even as laws demand each farang employ 4 thais.

And the operative word here is control,

when the world is out of your control,

then you try and control what you can,

so as to make those feelings of impotence diminish.

[jimbeam1]

I don't understand the philosophy, bordering on paranoia in the constraints imposed on both land ownership and the operation of businesses by foreigners in Thailand. My perception is we are now working globally and this has been strongly advocated by all the World Leaders during all their meetings during the recession. They all shouted from the roof-tops, "don't start operating exclusions.

And I believe Thailands Prime Minister was at some of these meetings?????????????????????????????????

[bangon04]

"However, it may affect some Thai businesses that are not competitive with foreign firms," said a senior Commerce Industry source.

Surely not. Foreigners simply have no idea how to do business in Thailand the Thai way.

[Old Man River]

I don't understand the philosophy, bordering on paranoia in the constraints imposed on both land ownership and the operation of businesses by foreigners in Thailand. My perception is we are now working globally and this has been strongly advocated by all the World Leaders during all their meetings during the recession. They all shouted from the roof-tops, "don't start operating exclusions.

And I believe Thailands Prime Minister was at some of these meetings?????????????????????????????????

It is politics. Foreigners can't vote. Thai's can. Watch what they do, not what they say.

[bellste]

Maybe tescos, sony, honda, suzuki etc.. should move out of thailand and see how they like that!!!

Add Siemens, Bosch, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Ferrari and all those purveyors of BS designer gear in the posh malls. Hit the phu yais where it will hurt.

You guys miss the point here, none of these big companies are affected by these rules. They all bring in big dollars and investment over 10 million baht and in cases like Toyota, BMW etc where they hire thousands of thais will qualify for BOI where they can own the company 100% so things like this does not affect them, it only affects us small guys.

Also, I really dont see any big issues as they have not really said anything, just said tighter controls this can mean anything, I would think with all the talk about shell companies to buy houses, land that this will be aimed at them, but this is my guess.

What it does say is that they are looking at removing business from the list that foreigners could not operate in before but now it looks possible they can. This does seem to be a step in the right direction. As for the voting rights for share holders this is already in place looks like they are just going to look more closely and enforce it.

The big point is that small scale businesses are the backbone of virtually every economy on the planet..........they create the most jobs. The idea that the big companies create most of the jobs is nonsense.

About the Paragon Mall: It was not packed at 11:30 am. Traffic did pick up substantially by 12:30 pm.

Note: I have heard many people say that this is the lowest high season on record, coming after the lowest low season on record. Many do say they are seeing customers, but they are not spending much.

This is reality..........and it is hurting Thailand's economy.

To turn it around they must adjust the business and visa rules to what they used to be and open their economy to foreign investment and competition........also they have to eliminate corruption at all levels and initate fundamental changes to their education system that will make Thailand competitive.

IMHO, of course.

That's true. And the small busninesses the Thais can run. They don't want us to run any business here at all, just spend our money in thai businesses. 

[bellste]

"Annex III businesses that might be opened up include tour guide operators; trading in agricultural futures; stock trading; derivatives trading; commercial banking; insurance and assurance; pawnshop operators; warehousing; schools; and credit fonciers."

doe this mean farangs may be able to operate pawn shops legally

Yes if you have the right license to run that sort of business (which is almost impossible to get), and a work permit. But you can only own 49% of it. 

Edited January 11, 2010 by bellste

[bellste]

I don't understand the philosophy, bordering on paranoia in the constraints imposed on both land ownership and the operation of businesses by foreigners in Thailand. My perception is we are now working globally and this has been strongly advocated by all the World Leaders during all their meetings during the recession. They all shouted from the roof-tops, "don't start operating exclusion policies and looking inwards". I would have thought this message from developed Countries and experienced high ranking politicians would have carried a message to the Thai Politicians. If I were cynical, my thought might be, perhaps the more difficult it is for a foreigner to operate in this Country, the more scope there is for the payment of "tea-money". Thank goodness I am not cynical then . I believe full democracy with far less corruption is coming to Thailand, perhaps not tomorrow, but come it will.

Unfortunately history has shown that making business difficult for Johnny foreigner hasn't really caused any tangible problem for Thailand. Until 97, they rumbled along at 5 to 8% GDP growth perfectly happily, post 97, they got back to decent growth all with these apparently restrictive laws on the books. What compelling explanation can be given to convince anyone that they NEED more FDI for the good of the country?

The change in the next few years will be that exports in Thailand have risen in price significantly in the last few years, and Vietnam and Cambodia are on the up and up. There hasn't been this type of competition on Thailands doorstep in many years. Thailand does need more FDI in order to replace the jobs and manufacturing that it is currently and will in future lose to China, Vietnam and Cambodia. Of course, it is a rare thing for politicians anywhere to tackle a problem BEFORE it happens, so I wouldn't expect Thailand to react at all.

In Thailand they handle the problem "later", not before. It will go over they say.