Looking to open a limited Thai company with my GF. I understand I can be a shareholder but not sign anything on behalf of the company without a work permit.

If we wanted to go down the route of me without a work permit and my GF being the main director who signs things. What is the capital required to open the business? Without the need for a work permit the 2m is not needed. There will be setup fees but again they are reduced when the non imm b and work permit stuff is removed. Does any money for investment in the business need to come from abroad with proof?

Secondly if say 6 months down the line the business is doing well and I want a work permit. Can I then modify the structure of the business and satisfy the investment requirements to begin work permit procedures? If the original investment came from abroad do I just need to make up the difference or does the process of the 2m over time begin again.

Thanks,

Mike

Yes you can do this, but it's more expensive to vary the capitalisation after formation than if it's done as part of the inital formation costs.

Note that for 2 million capitalisation you just pay a fee of a few thousand THB per million Baht of Capitalisation; you then only have to show that capital appearing over the early years, you don't actually have to show 2 million in the bank at the time of start up.

You can open a company and be the director (and the only one if you want), even without a work permit.

The proof of where the money comes from is actually required only for your GF (and all thais), the gov. wants to be sure the money comes from her and not from a farang.

If you don't want to put as much as 25% of 2m, then just start with less, and increase the capital later. Then you can apply for a WP after the increase. Just remind you that you need 4 thai employees as well.

Yes you can do this, but it's more expensive to vary the capitalisation after formation than if it's done as part of the inital formation costs.

Note that for 2 million capitalisation you just pay a fee of a few thousand THB per million Baht of Capitalisation; you then only have to show that capital appearing over the early years, you don't actually have to show 2 million in the bank at the time of start up.

How much does it cost to employ the required 4 Thai employee in terms of social security and taxes per month?

You can change the capitalization of the company later on to satisfy the work permit requirements and will only need to pay the capitalization fees for the difference between initial capitalization and that done later. When you first capitalize your company it is not required to show the assets or cash but to simply pay the fees which would amount to about 5,000 Baht for 1 million Baht in capitalization.

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