Virtual Organisation In Thailand

[Fraktalkid]

Hi there,

Greetings from *snowy* London!

The repressive weather has finally got to me, and now I'm hoping someone on here can help me. I'm young (22) and looking to start up a business. I'd like to relocate to SE. Asia (Thailand in particular) in October and work out there to set up a business (more on this below).

Based on my projections, I've got enough income to live on for 16 months before the business needs to start paying for my basic living expenses (I'm guessing this to be around 20-25k baht/month in the Phuket region)?

The nature of the business is internet services [web hosting, personal site development and site development for other organisations] with v. low startup costs. My customer base will be worldwide (mainly concentrated in the UK / W. Europe, US, and one in Russia). Clients will be paying me via online transactions for these services e.g. Paypal or another merchant provider . The initial startup will consist of me, with a bit of freelance work being done by a friend. However, I'd like to take on some Thai and Farang staff as the business grows. The plan is to make the business as virtual as possible, thus meaning that I'm not tied to any one particular country, perhaps spending time in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore as well as Thailand.

So, the main questions I currently have that I'm hoping some of you might be able to help with are:

1) Is my figure for basic living costs in Phuket accurate? (I'm very good at managing ££)

2) Which country am I liable for taxes? Can this be changed (e.g. by setting up a company and bank account in the British Virgin Islands?) Are there advantages for me if I were to set this up as a Thai registered company?

3) I was planning on entering the country on 30 day visas. However, I've been hearing that the Thai gov't is planning on clamping down on the number of consecutive entry stamps that you can have. Does anyone have further details on this?

4) I'd like to learn Thai. Could anyone recommend any good (inexpensive) language schools in Phuket? (planning on staying in the south - Chalong Bay area)

5) What's the situation with immigration at Bangkok airport? Presumably I need to book at return flight from the UK otherwise they'll question why I'm not leaving the country after 30 days? Or would it be acceptable to book a single (London->Bangkok) and then say book a single or return to e.g. KL for 30 days after entry into Thailand and then start visa runs? Actually, for that matter, does anyone know what the most efficient / hassle free border run from Phuket is?

6) Does anyone have suggestions for setting up a permanent mailing address? *g* or should I just give my mum some money for handling my post each month?

7) Any other advice that anyone feels is relevant?

MANY thanks in advance for everyone's time!

Rich

[sting01]

Clients will be paying me via online transactions for these services e.g. Paypal or another merchant provider .

Paypal or other online "money movers" don't work in thailand, you must use the local banking system to do any type of ecommerce (I can advise you Kasikorn bank ,ex thai farmer bank, seems in my 2 cents openion the best ... SCB is not bad but it depend of the branch.)

If you create a company you can apply for a 1 year Non B visa, during this time you must generate enough income to hire yourself.

You must also be aware as you are not US citisen you can only owne 49% of the shares, and your Director must be thai also.

Be carefull about moving money (for business purposes) it could be like ######, mostly the only way is to move the money to another country (UK for exemple ) then to use the normal way (SWIFT .....) to get it here.

Also, take contact with ###### or IndoSiam, they have very good advices.

Regards

[Fraktalkid]

Hello again :-)

Thanks for taking time to reply - much appreciated! :-)

Hmm paypal doesn't work over there.. Gosh, that sucks.. Have you had a look at

iKobo? Their fees seem fairly reasonable for a merchant account (4%) and work in any country in the world. The downside is that you have to pay for the initial debit card (if I remember correctly, it costs USD20 to send).

Thanks for your advice!

Rich

[Indo-Siam]

I can confirm that PayPal freezes your account once they find out you are in Thailand.

But - www.moneybookers.com (UK equivalent) does work here - so that's what I went with.

Thus far, entry permits on arrival are still handed out ad infinitum. No immediate threat there.

If you will be "nose to the grindstone" - the classical entrepreneur working 18 hours a day, seven days a week - then your budget is OK. If you want to "sample the earthly pleasures" each day after a hard day's work, then what you have described will just cover your entertainment expenses.

I have an almost abandoned division of my company at www.siamwebsite.com. Websites here are a commodity - and prices are constantly going down. I now only pursue projects that have substantial added-value aspects associated with them - branding, logos, content, marketing program, etc.

My company does not support activities outside Bangkok - the opportunity cost to extend our "reach" outside Bangkok is too high.

Main advantages to forming a company are: 1) You are fully legal, so you are not as subject to extortion; 2) You can issue tax receipts that make you biullings tax deductable for Thai clients (this probably does not apply to you); 3) With adequate capitalization and Thai employee head count, you can remain in Thailand indefinitely, without having to mkae visa runs.

Good luck!

Steve

Indo-Siam.