US citizen married to Thai wife, living Thailand with retirement visa. OK.

Thinking of starting a real estate brokerage business, small.

No intention of working the business hands-on but as I will self-finance and make the business plan,

I want to retain as much ownership as possible and will want to have 'indirect control'. Do not want nor cannot get involved in work permits, personal income taxes on my visa anyways.

Can wife/others own 51% and I be 49% share holder and not require a WP ?

Can real estate business hire the equivalent of 'self-employed contractors' or 1099 workers as we'd say in the US where contractors invoice company for their services/commissions ?

Will find out first but asking anyways, if there are licenses and/or realty exams/tests a broker/brokerage must apply for and pass?

There are no licenses or exams for realtors in Thailand.

Your best option, as an American, is to set up a company under the Amity treaty. This will enable you to retain full control over the company and you can make your wife the signing director so that you do not need a work permit. An Amity company does require 3 million Baht in registered capital.

Alternatively you can set up a Thai Limited Company. Three shareholders are required and at least 51% of the shares must be owned by Thai nationals. Sunbelt Asia offers a preferred share set up option. There are two tiers of shares; Preferred shares and Ordinary shares. Ordinary shares carry 1 vote for every share and Preferred shares carry 1 vote for every 10 shares. This would enable you to retain voting control over the company.

If you have any more questions please feel free to contact us via email or PM

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