Hi All. I am interested in the B-visa to conduct business inside Thailand. I am a U.S. Citizen & own my own company as a Contractor doing construction work (Sole Proprietor). I wish to do the same thing in Thailand building homes & small commercial buildings for Thai clients & foreigners as well. Right now I do have one potential job but not set in stone yet.

I would like to apply for the B-visa, & I understand once granted & enter Thailand, that I still have to apply for a work permit & thats fine & ok.

My question is the requirements to apply for this type of visa. I guese normally those coming to Thailand on a B-visa are sent by their company & have an "invitation" from another business or "client within Thailand.

My situation is a little different because I am the owner of my business, so I wish to send myself to Thailand. I'm not sure if I straight up need that invitation letter from a potential or confirmed client to build a home in Thailand? OR if I can still send myself as business owner to conduct business in Thailand & THEN find clients to build for once in Thailand.

Can I even be granted a B-visa for the type of work I wish to do as sending myself there? Can I invite myself over as sending myself to conduct business in Thailand? (is that even possible?) Do I need a confirmed client who wished to build a home to present an invitation letter? I'd like to build multiple homes for multiple clients, so I mean once the first client's home is finsihed, then what -my visa is expected to be finished & must leave or apply for a new visa? I dont see why not, but cant find any help on this info & even tryed looking on

$i@m-legal's website for info.

Hopefully someone has done something similiar. Essentially I am currently a business owner in U.S., but wish to open a business in Thailand which I'm sure is fine & legal, its just the process & sequence of things to do + paperwork.

Any help as to where to find more info or other people's experiences opening up a business from scratch in Thaiand is appreciated.

Cheers & thanks

There are some 2 miljon contractors here in your line of business, and Thailand does generally NOT allow foreiners/falangs to work inside Thailand and take away work from their own kind...

You really need to show some scill and extra extra knowledge about your work, and be some kind of a specialist that they do not have here in Thailand, to be allowed a workpermit..

Good luck....

glegolo

There are really two issues here. As an American you have access to the Amity treaty between Thailand and the US which grants US citizens certain benefits when it comes to establishing a company. I'm not an expert and not sure how it might benefit you, so it is worth speaking to a lawyer to see how it may help you.

As gelgolo alluded to, there is a restricted professions list which bans non-Thai's from working in those areas. There are ways around this - mainly by defining the job on your work permit as one which isn't restricted - but again, you'll need a good lawyer to sort this for you.

You will not be able to get a work permit as a sole proprietor.

You can find info on company formation, work permits and etc. here.

http://www.boi.go.th/upload/content/BOI-BusinessGuide2011_44837.pdf

I have deleted an off-topic post.