Assume a multinational wants to expand to Thailand. It already has a legal entity registered here. Can you give advice on how to tackle the following issues:

- What's the procedure of getting the WP for the MD? There are no more other employees than he yet (he will have to hire them), so is there any issue with that 4/1-rule (4 Thais for each foreigner)?

- What's the procedure of setting up a corporate bank account, e.g. to pay rent for office rooms, etc.?

- What's the procedure to get WPs for a few consultants from the HQ, who support the setup in the initial phase (couple of months)?

Even though I already have a bit of knowledge, I am particularly interested in the correct order how to execute these things. E.g.:

- AFAIK for a WP the company needs to have a physical office. To rent an office, we need a corporate bank account here, however. To get a bank account, do we need to show WPs?

- In the initial phase, we do not have any Thais employed yet. We still need the guys from the HQ though. How can we get a WP for them, while we do not yet have Thai staff in place to obey that 4/1-rule?

I am curious about this as well.

As I understand it, the Labor Department used to be lenient about issuing work permits for a foreign director during the first year. However, I have been told that last year they reversed this policy and now require 4 employees first before the work permit will be issued, and that they will also require pictures and interviews with each employee.

I am also led to believe it varies based on the district you are in, and that some offices are less demanding than others.

As for whether or not an authorized director of a company can sign documents without being a managing director with a work permit, I have never heard a single clear answer from anyone on this. Everyone seems to admit that you can take your company documents across the border to Cambodia, sign them one centimeter outside the boundaries of the country, and then come back to Thailand and be completely legal. Signing them while inside of Thailand appears to be less clear.

So to open a bank account as a foreigner, if you wanted to be absolutely legal, you could always pick up the forms from the bank, take them over the border, sign them, and then bring them back. Or you could simply risk the few minutes necessary to do it without a work permit. Or you could hire a lawyer to do it for you, or the stockholders could elect a Thai to be the director and pass a resolution that he can't do anything except open the bank account.

If you want to hire employees, you may have drive together to Aranyaprathet and interview them while standing on opposite sides of the border.