Boi - Work Permit Limits?

[Dr. Burrito]

Hi,

I did a search of the site to see if anything addressed this and couldn't seem to find anything. Anyone here know the relevant information of how many work permits you can process if you go BOI with your company. Just curious as we need to bring in about a hundred people or so if legallly possible.

I'm just doing a bit of research as I prepare a brief for th ecompany directors, then its lawyer and bureacrat time.

Dr. Burrito

[Indo-Siam]

I do not believe that there is any fixed limit on number of work permits. But - Thailand's BOI will give you privileges based on the benefit that they perceive that your activity will produce for Thailand.

If you will invest 500,000,000 baht, and create jobs for 1,500 Thai employees, I am sure you will have no problem obtaining 100 work permits. On the other hand, if you will invest only 10,000,000 baht, and create only 20 Thai jobs, I think you can forget it.

Remember - even a non-BOI company can sponsor 100 work permits - simply by registering 200,000,000 baht in capital. If this total amount is paid-in, and the company hires 400 Thais, then that regular company can sponsor 100 long-term entry permits and work permits.

What will not work: Trying to start a hospital, or an outsourced software development company with just token Thai staff, and 100 Indian primary staffers.

Good luck!

Steve Sykes

Managing Director

Indo-Siam Group

Bangkok

[email protected]

www.thaistartup.com

[Dr. Burrito]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the input. Guess we are trying to find some balance between what the non-BOI regs are versus the BOI regs regarding the number of Thai employees we will need.

After year one, we would begin phasing out the foreigners anyway, but the first year, the quality issues we can guarantee via the other people are critical and unfortunately, there aren't 100 Thai professionals that can deliver at present.

Again, thanks for the input.

Dr. Burrito

[Indo-Siam]

Here is an approach that will easily let you see what is "typical."

Go to: http://www.boi.go.th/english/about/form_pr...d_companies.asp

Drop down to "Filter By Activity Code" and select the activity that your business will pursue.

Drop down to "Filter by investment amount", and select low and high figures to bracket your intended investment amount by about 15% either way. Be careful - note that you are specifying quantity of "THOUSANDS" of Thai baht.

Drop down to "Filter By Date" and select "Date of Approval" and then set the "Start Date" to June 2000. Then hit "submit".

You will get a listing of companies similar to yours that have received approval in the past five years. For any given company on the list, if you hit "details" in right hand column, it brings up a profile - and near the bottom, you will see number of Thai and foreign employees.

I will tell you that I doubt that ANY BOI company has ever put 100 foreign employees into Thailand - the costs of doing so would tend of offset any conceivable benefit to locating here in the first place. What is common is to bring in fairly significant numbers of expert trainers for 6-8 months - but again, 100 is pretty much "over the top" of anything practical.

Good luck!

Steve Sykes

Managing Director

Indo-Siam Group

Bangkok

[email protected]

www.thaicompradore.com