International Company

[mrbojangles]

Hi people,

Has anybody got experience or info regarding the following situation.

I am just setting up a UK based "Limited Company". At some point next year, i want to set up a company in Thailand, also. I was originally thinking that i would just keep the 2 company's, seperate identities. However, somebody over the weekend suggested to me, that i make it an "International Company". I have no previous knowledge of this and was wondering, would this be of a benefit or more trouble than it's worth? What would be the advantages? I.E i presume i could own land in Thailand but would i still have to "employ" the 6 (or is it 7) Thai's.

Cheers for any advise and input, be it, negatives, or positives.

MrBoJ

[mrbojangles]

80 views but nobody with any experience?

[zaz]

No experience as such but I guess by "International Company" the person means that both the UK and Thailand companies are owned by (subsidiaries of) one holding/parent company or that they are both branches of one company. From my dusty knowledge of accountancy theory over the years (as I haven't really been in a role to apply it in practice) I think one of the advantages are that you can offset losses of one company against the other to reduce your overall tax burden. There is more to it I'm sure.

[ace]

I hope someone knows more about this. I am setting up a UK company and am also curious how the relationship with a future Thai company that I might set up would work.

Or would it be a possibility to open and use a legit off-shore (ie. Bermuda / Caymans or similar) company if one were to work 6 months in England and 6 months in Thailand? This would be optimal for me.

Cheers,

Ace

[mrbojangles]

I think one of the advantages are that you can offset losses of one company against the other to reduce your overall tax burden.  There is more to it I'm sure.

Thanks Zaz, that was the kind of thing i was hoping. I'll obviously do a lot more reading up and investigating but i hope there is someone on this forum with personal experience.

[Sunbelt Asia]

I.E i presume i could own land in Thailand but would i still have to "employ" the 6 (or is it 7) Thai's.

If the UK company held more than 39% of the shares you will not be able to register the land.

Why would you still need

"employ" the 6 (or is it 7) Thai's.?

Just because you are forming a company does not mean you need to employ any Thais. No Thais are required to be employed for a work permit as well.

If the UK company owns more than 49% of the shares, you will need to obtain a an Alien Business License.

If the Thai company is a branch of your UK corp, working capital amounting to a total of five million Baht in foreign exchange must be brought into Thailand within certain intervals.

www.lawyer.th.com

[mrbojangles]

Thanks Sunbelt,

I think i'm getting my wires crossed but I was under the impression that, to form a company and then to be able to buy land, a farang could only hold 49%. The other 51% would have to be owned by Thai's (6 or 7 "Names"). This looks like it differs if the Thai company is owned by a UK company. Much more investigation on my part is still required.

Just as an add on. My purpose for forming the company is NOT only to buy land but to genuinely trade and do business with the UK, probably through my UK company. Being able to legally buy land etc is a bonus but I'm just trying to explore different option's on the way that would best fit the business.

Cheers

MrBoJ

[~G~]

MrBoj,

Yes - minimum of 7 shareholders for every company registered in Thailand. No Thai employees required. Your UK company can be a shareholder and can hold up to 49% to be allowed to engage in most kinds of businesses.

[mrbojangles]

Thanks ~G~, i thought that was the rule. I noticed i used the term "employ" instead of "shareholder" earlier in the post. Sorry for the confusion, Sunbelt.

[Bobcat]

If the UK company held more than 39% of the shares you will not be able to register the land.

This is not correct. The land Department will register the land as long as the foreign shareholding is not more than 49% AND at least 4 out of the 7 shareholders are Thai. The regulation relating to registration of companies whose foreign shareholding was 40% or more was abolished 2 years ago. I have recently registered numerous transactions where companies with 49/51 splits have had land registered in their names at the Land Department. Sunbelt, PM me if you would like a copy of the land Department regulation abolishing the 40% rule. You may want to show this to provincial branches of the land Department if they have no caught up with the changes yet.

Edited October 27, 2005 by Bobcat

[~G~]

If the UK company held more than 39% of the shares you will not be able to register the land.

This is not correct. The land Department will register the land as long as the foreign shareholding is not more than 49% AND at least 4 out of the 7 shareholders are Thai. The regulation relating to registration of companies whose foreign shareholding was 40% or more was abolished 2 years ago. I have recently registered numerous transactions where companies with 49/51 splits have had land registered in their names at the Land Department. Sunbelt, PM me if you would like a copy of the land Department regulation abolishing the 40% rule. You may want to show this to provincial branches of the land Department if they have no caught up with the changes yet.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the informative update, Bobcat.

[mrbojangles]

If the UK company held more than 39% of the shares you will not be able to register the land.

This is not correct. The land Department will register the land as long as the foreign shareholding is not more than 49% AND at least 4 out of the 7 shareholders are Thai. The regulation relating to registration of companies whose foreign shareholding was 40% or more was abolished 2 years ago. I have recently registered numerous transactions where companies with 49/51 splits have had land registered in their names at the Land Department. Sunbelt, PM me if you would like a copy of the land Department regulation abolishing the 40% rule. You may want to show this to provincial branches of the land Department if they have no caught up with the changes yet.

Thanks for the informative update, Bobcat.

Yeah, cheers bobcat