Condo Office

[gobbles]

I am currently in the process of setting up a small Thai company. I am thinking of renting a small studio in my Condo block, and using that as my office. I am hearing conflicting stories as to whether this is allowed by the Labour Department, assuming that the condo owner and Juristic Person allow it (i.e. allow a sign outside the door). Does anyone know the rules about using a condo as an office?

[Sunbelt Asia]

Many obstacles have to be overcome...

If you are in Bangkok. You will need a VAT certificate . The Vat application will require a letter of consent to operate a business ( The Landlord will now be responsible for 12.5 tax) or a copy of the lease in the companies name. The Landlord will need to provide a copy of his ID card, personal house registration and the condo's house registration. If a company owns the condo then you will need the company docs as well.

The Condo association by-laws in most cases disallows businesses to be located in the building as their is increase wear and tear on the facilities with the additional traffic.

The next obstacle lies in the Labor Department in viewing the pictures of your office. If they are convinced it is your office and not just a apartment.

The second problem is if the Labor Dept visits your office and the person answering the door is in pajamas.

If you apply for an extension of stay based on business. Then you must have 4 Thai employees working as well. Immigration will want to see a work space for them.

www.lawyer.th.com

[The_Moog]

This sort of thing gets right up my hooter.

We had similar in our residential block, employees traipsing in, multiple phones going - they were running a sodding travel agency.

You want to lead a quiet life and then some pillock comes along and sticks up a bloomin' great big sign on the next door flat, like "Paedophiles Counselling Service".

[gobbles]

Thanks for you advice. It was just an idea, because I wasn't finding it easy to get any office space in the Phaholyothin Road / Lad Prao area (area of preference). Also, I was thinking of sharing the office space and costs with a friend who lives in the same condo, does programming / web design type work and often has to work nights to correspond to US business hours. So, obviously, a location close to home and in a building not restricted by working hours would be better (i.e. a condo studio set up as an office). Like my friend, I will also be doing consulting work and would rarely (if ever!!) be visited by a client / potential client and, again, that's why I considered an condo office.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions regarding convenient office locations without restricted business hours?

[gobbles]

This sort of thing gets right up my hooter.

We had similar in our residential block, employees traipsing in, multiple phones going - they were running a sodding travel agency.

You want to lead a quiet life and then some pillock comes along and sticks up a bloomin' great big sign on the next door flat, like "Paedophiles Counselling Service".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Moog, thanks for your constructive advice . You must live in a good area. Don't worry if you're in the same condo building as me, my business will be consulting, with no client visits....just a person working quietly on a computer in relative privacy....and no paedophile counselling !!!!

[Sunbelt Asia]

Thanks for asking Gobbles.

A number of foreigners have no need to maintain a physical office as they travel to see clients or involved in a business like exporting. A virtual office with a business address and company name on the register was sufficient before to acquire a work permit.

However recently the Labor Department has disallowed a virtual office for a work permit. The Labor Department now wants to see a physical workspace in order to grant a work permit for the foreigner as well as the name of the company on the door. Hence as a total solution provider, we have solve this dilemma for small start up companies who are looking to save costs of a traditional office which typically will cost around 15,000- 40,000 Baht per month.

We are now introducing the Executive Desk which is a total solution in the sense that it is fully fitted, furnished and ready for immediate occupancy. We as the Business Center operator bear the responsibility for the day by day running of the office. In addition to the basic maintenance we provide a range of valuable business services including reception and telephone answering services, secretarial support, conference and meeting facilities, and high speed Internet access.

The advantages are flexible lease terms, Quick and Affordable access to fully furnished offices, well-appointed conference rooms, attractive reception area and a professional support staff is just some of the major benefits. The day to day burden that is typically associated with running a traditional office are moved to us, our job is to maintain a professional work environment and provide a Executive Desk for your work permit.

The Executive Desk costs savings represent another key factor that makes our Business Center at the Sukhumvit Suites an ideal choice. You will find that you will require less square meters verse a traditional office once you consider that in an Executive Desk configuration the reception areas, meeting rooms and kitchen facilities can be excluded since they are provided by us as the Business Center operator. Think about it this way, you pay for what you use.

We have a promotional special now with the normal charge being 5,000 Baht per month. The rent per Executive Desk is just 3,900 Baht for one month

Executive Desk provides innovative solutions for both small and large businesses, frequent travelers, branch offices, start up companies, or entrepreneurs. Anyone who needs a flexible lease – The Executive Desk provide the answer

We provide the following features

A Co-share office with utilities and janitorial provided

Reception area with receptionist

Conference room

Personalized telephone screening

Incoming and outgoing mail handling

Coffee and food service on-site.

High Speed Internet

Prestigious address on Sukhumvit Road.

Paperwork for you to obtain your Vat certificate. We know the process so no need to wait 2-3 weeks for it to be process. We give the necessary paperwork to you when you lease your Executive Desk!

For a nominal charge, additional services may also be offer:

Secretarial / word processing services

Computer related services and equipment

Administrative and accounting services

Postal meter and scales, UPS / FedEx

Photocopy equipment

Fax / Telex sending and receiving

The Executive Desk will be available starting November 15th. We look forward to seeing you there. Please contact us at 02-642-0213 for more information.

www.lawyer.th.com

[autonomous_unit]

We registered our BKK company this way, having a cooperative landlord who provided his paperwork on the unit we are also living in. We are in the same boat with consulting work and no customer foot traffic (customers are overseas).

However, the condo association "juristic person" eventually either changed their rules or started enforcing ones and sent form letters instructing everyone to remove signage. So, we are crossing our fingers and waiting for our next residence to be ready so we can reregister at that location... we pay non-trivial taxes so hopefully the officials will not hassle us for the temporary lack of signage.

[Heng]

Yeah, if your business office requires employees and customers to come in and out all day, it's likely not going to work. They don't kick you out or anything, as you own the condo.... but at one of my condos (Baan Suan Thon by Land and House), they have locked down the water meter of the owners violating the condo rules. Doesn't sound so rough, but the businesses have always disappeared. Guess folks really need their tap water.

[LazyCat]

he he ...somebody tried once to close my tap water for not being a great deal for building management... not that I broke their rules, they just did not like me from being too farang about some things, and always trying to get to the truth......I just went and closed some other units water as well and well , it really gave management a good lesson that they should not really play with things like that... thay got a lot of complains from those guys ( whom I cut the water ) they thought it's the management work......

as for the registration of the company , if the landlord is ok with this and the building ok with this too, there is totally no need to think about all those mates that don't like your sign. You got your "ok" to do it , so go ahead. IMHO....