Pattaya Police Raid Poker Gambling Ring, Arrest 9 Foreign Players

[manarak]

Hi, I read that the regulations for businesses have changed:

- only 3 shareholders required

- Farang can own majority in a number of activities

--> where to find the list of these activities?

--> which percentage is the Farang allowed to hold?

Thank you

[richardt1808]

Hi,

The Thailand BOI (Board of Investment) oversees foreign business investment here and BOI has the power to grant some or all of the following privileges depending on the promoted activity and investment zone:

• Exemption from rules restricting foreign ownership of companies;
• Exemption from corporate income tax
• Exemption of import duties on machinery and raw materials;
• Exemption from rules restricting foreign ownership of land;
• Exemption from work permit and visa rules; and
• Exemption from rules restricting overseas remittances.

The above would apply to SIGNIFICANT investments only and applications are on a case-by-case basis.

You can find all the information on the BOI website http://www.boi.go.th/english/default.asp

I'm guessing however that you are thinking in terms of a regular business, in which case you probably wouldn't be elegible for BOI priviledges and the 51% shareholding rule would apply and you would be a regular Thai company paying regular taxes; but of course the good news is that the restrictions on types of business would become a moot point.

Cheers

[Rama]

only 3 shareholders requirement is not new, went into effect about a year ago. Farang can hold 100% of a company IF the company is doing 100% export and all revenues are from outside the country. If you fall into this category you still need 3 shareholders but they can all be farang. In other cases the law still says 51% Thai ownership. Very Large companies that come into Thailand get certain exemptions and this is done through BOI. Oftentimes they put into place an agreement with their Thai partners called a Joint Venture Agreement which defines their rights to management oversight, profits, etc. JV Agreements easily take precedence over any 49/51 stock split.

[manarak]

Farang can hold 100% of a company IF the company is doing 100% export and all revenues are from outside the country.

That's interesting.

How does that work in practice?

Is it necessary to register with a the BOI as an "export" company?

Or is it enough to make a LTD and to only have foreign clients?

Would that work for example for an IT service company which services only non-Thai (i.e. outside Thailand) customers?

[simon43]

Farang can hold 100% of a company IF the company is doing 100% export and all revenues are from outside the country.

I'm interested as well

Perhaps Sunbelt can comment on this statement

Simon

[Rama]

I'm not sure if a services company with IT would qualify, I'd have to check. To be the 100% foreign owned, if I remember correctly, you have to have it in your company docs that you are only doing export, get an export license, and register for your VAT exemption. I don't remember if you have to be registered with BOI or not, but it doesn't hurt. I got this info from Kuhn Krit, the Sunbelt lawyer in Chiang Mai. He could tell you if IT services would qualify or not also.

[manarak]

nothing more on that topic?

[haveaniceday]

Bumping up, some good questions and no answers, so bumped