Starting A Travel Agency In Thailand?

[Traveldk]

Hello Everyone,

I'm looking into starting a travel agency here in thailand. I am aware of the difficulties there is in the industry, however i have 7 years of experience in the area i will focus on.

Now my question is, does anyone have any experience in the initial setup of an agency?

I have good connections to a product that is not yet very popular in thailand. So please should you have any good ideas or are interested in this idea, post your comments.

Thank you all

JP

[bino]

You will need to set up a 2 million baht capitalized company, same as any other business. Lots of information here in many topics if you search. You will have to find an office, employees, etc.

Once this is done, you must get approval from the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) to operate in the tourism sector. They will require you to post a deposit bond of between 50K and 200K depending on nature of your business... Inbound / Outbound, Foreign / Domestic. Foreign Inbound is the most expensive.

After that, you may consider joining the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) which will give you access to preferred contract rates with many Thai hotels, and the ability to have a representative / greeter in the airport.

This is just the beginning. There are lots of options. I've set up two different travel companies... if you have more questions, drop me a PM and let me know the sort of business you are intending to get into. I may be able to offer some advice.

[richard10365]

Here is some info on business in Thailand.

http://www.boi.go.th/english/how/legal_iss...n_investors.asp

[Traveldk]

Thank you Bino.... It is information like that which helps. i am not worried about getting started i am more worried about the local rules and regulations.

Thanks again.

Let me look into all this and i will get back to you.

Cheers,

JP

[jaidam]

Hi Traveldk,

Good luck with your project.

We started up a travel agency about 5 months ago.Did the 2 mill baht limited company which was easy to set up.

The first 3 months were busy though it was in the high season.This worked to our disadvantage as 2 of the 4 other shops in our block changed from being restaurants/cafe's to copying our travel shop - selling the same tours and our neighbor even going as far as screaming to any people approaching our shop (YES HELLO BOAT,BUS.PLANE TICKETS BUY FROM ME pleeeeese pleeeese-sounding much like a desperate katoey).

Now we have loads of second hand/new books and make a living out of book exchange etc.

It amazed me that tourists respond to the hard sell like that and would buy their plane tickets etc from a restaurant?

Still, as an avid reader the book shop suits me more anyways.

The only advise I could give would be to set up in a location immediately surounded by established successful businesses.

[Traveldk]

Hi Jaidam,

Thanks for the advise i will keep that in mind. I am still very much in the preparation stage.

It's a funny story you have... from travel agent to used book store. Maybe i will end up selling something else

Thanks again

TravelDK

[bolognamare]

Still, as an avid reader the book shop suits me more anyways.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where do you have your book shop? Is it enough to survive in the LOS?

I was thinking to do a rental-sell dvd shop in Bangkok for expats.

Do you think it's a good idea?

Can you estimate the burocracy costs to realize it?

Can i do it as a farang?

thanx

[craigt3365]

Still, as an avid reader the book shop suits me more anyways.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where do you have your book shop? Is it enough to survive in the LOS?

I was thinking to do a rental-sell dvd shop in Bangkok for expats.

Do you think it's a good idea?

Can you estimate the burocracy costs to realize it?

Can i do it as a farang?

thanx

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Jaidam: Yes, where are you located? I am always looking for a good book store as I travel around!

Bolonamare: Man, there are a ton of DVD rental places in Bangkok. About 20B per DVD. Can't imagine how to make money doing that, with all the competition and all. The legit DVD places don't seem to sell much...the "copy" shops are always busy...but not sure I would want to get into that business...

[jaidam]

Still, as an avid reader the book shop suits me more anyways.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where do you have your book shop? Is it enough to survive in the LOS?

I was thinking to do a rental-sell dvd shop in Bangkok for expats.

Do you think it's a good idea?

Can you estimate the burocracy costs to realize it?

Can i do it as a farang?

thanx

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Jaidam: Yes, where are you located? I am always looking for a good book store as I travel around!

Bolonamare: Man, there are a ton of DVD rental places in Bangkok. About 20B per DVD. Can't imagine how to make money doing that, with all the competition and all. The legit DVD places don't seem to sell much...the "copy" shops are always busy...but not sure I would want to get into that business...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi craigt3365 and bolonamare,

Our book exchange is in Koh Tao.Maehaad beach road opposite Master Divers.

It is quiet season now so this month not making too much but come January I'm sure we will be fine.We made a contract with Asia books which is very satisfactory.Paying a 50k deposit they sent books with a value of about 130k + for sale or return and gave a nice free stand.The margin on new titles is crap but it brings people in.The markup is better on 2nd hand books.If it weren't for Dan Browns books,Howard Marks, and Warren Fellows prison tale we would be in dire straits.During the quiet time we are buying in popular 2nd hand titles to be prepared for January.

I dont remember how much the whole company setup etc was but with work permit the whole thing was less than 40k baht.Monthly tax and accountants fee runs to about 3k baht.Theres lots of info on starting a company on TV already.Try sunbeltasia or Indo-Siam for some helpful advise.I wanted to use one of those companies but not practical in my location so had to use a local "lawyer".

I'm not sure about setting up a copy dvd store(esp in the city).That would be asking for trouble from both the police and also other nearby vendors.Selling legit DVD's safer but as craig already pointed out, the copy places are busier.

Best of luck anyway and let us know how you get on.

Regards,

Jaidam

[craigt3365]

Jaidam: Best of luck with your bookstore! I am not sure when I will be in Koh Tao, but hopefully sometime in April. And we will look you up for sure!

[~G~]

I was thinking to do a rental-sell dvd shop in Bangkok for expats.

Do you think it's a good idea?

Don't! You will do better buying copied dvds and just giving them away for free to your friends. You will loose much less money that way. Rent in a good place will take most, if not all of your income. Accounting, work permit fees, staff etc etc etc will take the rest. You want to own a dvd shop in LOS and make a profit? Join the police force first for a few years. That seems to be a prerequisite for a success in this business.

Can you estimate the burocracy costs to realize it?

Ouch ouch and a third time ouch. If you don't have a sound business plan which foresees a really high profit margins don't go there.

Can i do it as a farang?

yes but double the ouch.