Starting To Make My Products In Thailand

[driedmango]

Hello all.

So I am a Canadian, I will arrive in Thailand in a few months. I think i should get the non-B Visa, as I will be talking with wood workers in the Chiang Mai area about making my products there at their factories.

A few questions

1. Should I get a shop to invite me over to Thailand to get my B-visa ? If yes, what if I don't even up using this company after all ?

2. What is the basic costs for me to come and do this, or is it just the price of the visa ?

3. The amount of my products will be something like 100 at a time, does Thailand ask for some money from me, or is it just Canadian customs ?

Any other tips, please let me know. I hope this can work, it is a bit of dream becoming real, I hope..

[klubex99]

Hi.

Non-Imm B class visa is correct for you.

You should be able to get a short term one for your initial visit relatively easily, and you should state your intentions that you are only coming over for possible business establishment purposes. It would also work in your favour for a long term multiple entry B visa if you let them know that you intend to form a Thai company for the purpose of manufacturing and 'export'... Even if you do not intend to export, Immigration loves that word because it means outside money coming into the country. Green light all the way.

Once you are comfortable, you will need to set up a company and goi through the long term visa application process. I am not sure if it is 1, 3 or 5 years, but just go for the 1 year and upgrade as and when.

When you start the Thai company, you will need to show something like 2 to 20 million baht, but this does not need to be real money, you can have it on paper, from a Thai accountant, they can arrange your whole company setup for you for around 20,000 baht, or at least that is what my friend paid. You will need Thai nationals to stand as directors etc, and you can only hold 49% of the company shares (i think). But there is loads of info on this site regarding company formation.

Now that is the proper way to do things with a lot of runaround and cost. The best way is this.

Come here on a tourist visa, and do your setting up then... all the spade work and leg work that is...

If you have a Thai wife or girlfriend, you can start up a simple 'limited partnership'. All you have to do is fill in the forms and get a rubber stamp made for the business and take it along to the correct government office to register it. You can hold no more than 30% of the partnership with the Thai part holding a minimum of 70%. You also need to show NO MONEY either on or off paper. You are even allowed to have a minimal involvement with the running of the business and you don't even need a work permit.... Lots of people will step in here and challenge this, but I can assure you, I actually had one of these partnerships, and I was on a tourist visa and they told me straight to my face that I was allowed to do a little management work to 'oversee my investment'.

The whole process costs only 5000 baht to set up, and that comes from the foreign half only, the Thai part pays a few hundred I think (typical).

That is the way you should go with this. Take the first route and you will be ankle deep in paperwork and will be so confused, and will likely pay tens of thousands of baht before you can even think about applying for a work permit to run your company. If the Thais are doing all the manual work, just be the glue that holds everything together, and keep yourself to yourself, and keep a low profile, and do as little as possible, that way you can go for years even on a tourist visa and run a business here, totally legit (ish).

Kasikorn bank will also allow the partnership to open a business bank account. I have one myself and all on a 60 day double entry tourist visa. Times have changed now though, I am on a non-imm O visa since marrying my gf.

Some of these things may be a little inacurate, such as the company money numbers... but the process is 100%.

Regarding the question about Thai government asking for cash... Are you referring to export duty? Please explain in more detail.

Good luck.

Edited September 25, 2012 by klubex99

[Hssl]

Question 3:

You should think in terms of 20ft/40ft containers to minimize your shipping costs and depending on the size and reputation of yours and the Thai company you might be able to do the payment on LC - Letter of credit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_credit

Note anything on LC MUST match up on all paper work - invoicing and shipping or you will have problems for export/import. LC does protect you and them, otherwise SWIFT/TT some sort of deposit and then final payment on shipping

[klubex99]

Question 3:

You should think in terms of 20ft/40ft containers to minimize your shipping costs and depending on the size and reputation of yours and the Thai company you might be able to do the payment on LC - Letter of credit http://en.wikipedia....etter_of_credit

Note anything on LC MUST match up on all paper work - invoicing and shipping or you will have problems for export/import. LC does protect you and them, otherwise SWIFT/TT some sort of deposit and then final payment on shipping

Yes... LC or DC (document of credit in some banks).

The best thing is to just employ a shipping and forwarding agent in Canada, they will do all of the paperwork for you, they will even handle the road haulage to the final destination. They are relitavely cheap, and always make sure you inspect the container before it is handed over to the shipping company.

Make sure that if you are buying the goods direct from the manufacturer, that you pay with LC 'at sight'. That means the money is not released to the manufacturer until you have full possession of the goods in hand and that the contents match the 'bill or laiding' (Ship's document').

Also make sure that you mark the LC form 'NO TRANSHIPMENT' This means that they can't take the container off one ship in a 'en route' country and transfer it to another... make sure of that, because that is when things go missing from containers and it is pretty untrackable.

Hope this helps.

[Orac]

snip...

Also make sure that you mark the LC form 'NO TRANSHIPMENT' This means that they can't take the container off one ship in a 'en route' country and transfer it to another... make sure of that, because that is when things go missing from containers and it is pretty untrackable.

... snip

Are there any direct sailings from Thailand to Canada - I thought most stuff from here was transhipped through Singapore??

[driedmango]

thanks everyone, learning from your advice here... I have questions but many were answered here.

[Nordicdolphin]

Deposit at factory in Chiangmai.....30%, shipping agent pays the balance when they do the pick up, you then pay the shipping agent.

Use local shipping company in Chiangmai, Thai Exports Ltd. are among the cheapest. They will take care of your goods and paper work all the way to Canada very you get a clearing agent to do the rest.

40ft container is the way to go in order to keep the shipping cost per item as low as possible.

Allow for 1 to 2 month fabrication time depending on the size of the manufactor.

Transhiping is the only way, no direct route to Canada can compare cost wise.

No need for visa except the one you get when entering the country as a tourist, no need for work permit since you will not actually be making money in Thailand.

Kasikorn Bank will let you open a privat bank account, beware it is very difficult to transfer money out of Thailand yet very easy to transfer into the country.

Hope this is helpful

[Naam]

no need for work permit since you will not actually be making money in Thailand

little does a newbie know

[JohnGreen]

Nordicdolphin - thank you very much for recommending my company Chiang Mai Thai Exports Co., Ltd. whoever you are!

I have already been in touch with Dried Mango and am currently searching for the manfacturer of the products he is after. Producing in batches of 100 means these will definitely be LCL shipments - no need for LC's just yet.

Clubex99 has already given you a wealth of very useful information - he has just saved you a whole load of head aches!

[belg]

maybe the OP does not want to spend so much money, he just is looking for someone to work for him, no need to own anything... buy and sell, export and import

[driedmango]

I guess I should be more clear. My products are very labor intensive but also not the kind you whip out in batches of 100 or something.

I really need a little studio, some special tools, and at least a couple of people that are trained and talented.

I do need to work with several producers of wooden goods to make other parts of it.

So that might change things a little bit.

THanks for the help !

[tombkk]

You are not disclosing anything about your products, and that's OK on this open forum.

Just make sure you have a work permit if you start to work here. The non-B visa allows you to apply for a work permit, but it does not allow you to work. You need a work permit for that.

[heatherm]

If you need special tools, bring them with you. Bring extras for the guys making your products. It's very hard to find the right tools of good quality here if they are specialized. Many things they just don't have.

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