Treat Of Amity?

[dsteele84]

I've been reading alot of information about the Treat of Amity between Thailand and the USA, but my question is whether those same benefits are available for businesses such as a bar/pub, night club, restaurant, or hel_l even a-go-go bar?

Thanks for any info

Dave

[WarpSpeed]

Why not? It's your investment without which that specific business would not exist, the excluded fields are listed.. Your specialty is derived from investing and operating the business not being the a bar/gogo girl.. Though on retrospect I guess it is possible it could be considered to be in the "services Field' but still so believe it can get past the criteria with clever presentation and thought I.E. as one example possibly obtaining a business license from the States and making the business here a subsidiary.

Edited January 22, 2010 by WarpSpeed

[raro]

The Amity Treaty violates WTO regulations and AFAIK cannot be used for setting up companies anymore.

[avidflyer]

US Embassy wasn't aware of that a couple of months ago. Your source, please.

[CWMcMurray]

The Amity Treaty violates WTO regulations and AFAIK cannot be used for setting up companies anymore.

While this is technically true, I was under the impression that it is still on the books and has not been challenged in either the WTO or in Thailand in the courts.

From my understanding, that means that it can still be used until it is challenged in the courts and formally found to be in violation of the WTO regulations. Similar to any other violation (duties, subsidies or other unfair trade practices) of the WTO agreement, the agrieved party must log a complaint with the WTO and it must go through the entire system.

I do not believe that any party has lodged a complaint with the WTO, therefore this means that it can still be used for the time being even though both treaties seem to be in contradiction of each other.

[stoneman]

The Amity Treaty violates WTO regulations and AFAIK cannot be used for setting up companies anymore.

I have owned an Amity Treaty company in BKK for over 6 years and the US embassy is still assisting in completing the paperwork for new companies...Agree that they are in violation of WTO, but they still exist with the knowledge and approval of the US and Thai govts...

Stoneman

[CWMcMurray]

Just an example of how the WTO system works...

Thailand exports a lot of shrimp to the US... the US believed the cost of Thai shrimp was to low and they were "dumping" in the US market.

The WTO allows for additional import duties to be implemented in the case of "Dumping", there for the US increased duty amount to prevent the "Dumping"....

Thailand lodged a complaint with the WTO stating that the additional duties were unfair as they were not Dumping... then both parties argue their case in the WTO (witch could take years), but while the case id being held, the US can continue to charge duties.

In most cases both parties will come to an agreement prior to finishing the process and appeals process in the WTO, but the legal costs of any challenge are high and it can take years to go through the process .

Given that and the fact that any company that has deep enough pockets to fight this can probably quailfy for BOI or other provledges that are just as good for them... therefore I rather doubt that this will ever be litigated and may stay in effect until either the US or Thailand decide to cancel the treaty.

Also, I doubt that ewither the US or Thailand are really interested in spending the time needed in order to officially cancel the treaty... so I would guess that this may stay on the books and continue to be used even though it is in direct contradiction to WTO reguklations.

[raro]

US Embassy wasn't aware of that a couple of months ago. Your source, please.

interesting...from what I heard - no reliable source, therefore "AFAIK" - it is no longer possible since about 1 or 2 years. Old companies under that law are grandfathered.

We were setting up a company last year that could have had 100% US ownership but the mother company didn't want to go that route and opted for the 49/51 mix instead. Not really sure why they didn't want as I favoured the 49/51 mix anyways, but WTO was mentioned as an obstacle.

Best way to find it out is probably submitting the registration documents with 100% American ownership to the commercial department and see what happens.

[Yamantaka]

We also have an Amity Treaty company set up six years ago which is still legal. But I understand new companies cannot be formed this way anymore which is a shame considering the benefits.

[YanTree]

The Amity Treaty violates WTO regulations and AFAIK cannot be used for setting up companies anymore.

While this may be the letter of the law it is not being practiced. I contacted SunBeltAsia less than two weeks ago and they said they could set one up for me - I'm in the process now.

[raro]

The Amity Treaty violates WTO regulations and AFAIK cannot be used for setting up companies anymore.

While this may be the letter of the law it is not being practiced. I contacted SunBeltAsia less than two weeks ago and they said they could set one up for me - I'm in the process now.

very interesting. Please report back when done.

[Penkoprod]

Some info on this here:

http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=5665