Owning a Thai company, visa / work permit?

[Pkl]

Theoretical case: A farang, with an educational visa and thus no work permit, owns 49% of a Thai company. The remaining 51% are owned by farang's girlfriend. The farang is the managing director of the company. The company in question does not actually do anything as of yet - that is, the company only exists on paper and is not vat registered.

Can this kind of arrangement bring forth any trouble with the immigration or with other authorities?

[ubonjoe]

It depends on what you do for the company. Just signing paperwork requires a work permit.

[Pkl]

Not if the signing happen to occur while the farang is outside of Thailand, right?

[yankee99]

If the company is inactive similar to those owning property then i wouldnt worry.

[Guitar God]

I owned a Thai holding company for almost a year before I moved here, no problems with immigration and it made a 3 month B visa simple to get.

When you register your company that might be a good time to consider having your lawyer change the share distribution to 49% you, 48% her and 3% him. Or preferencial shares for you so you have control of the company, which I'm assuming you've financed 100% of.

Nothing anti-Thai intended but the 49%-51% I'm sure is due to Thai laws. Had you started a company in your home country and paid for all of the costs I'm sure you'd own 100% of the shares. My suggestion gets you as close to that here as possible.

[Arkady]

It is not likely to cause trouble if the company is inactive but you might not be able to open a bank account for the company with you as a signatory, if you don't have a work permit. Depends on the bank. I maintained a virtually inactive company for several years as the sole director without a WP and there were no problems in filing accounts and tax. Later I activated it and got a WP with no problem.

[12DrinkMore]

Immigration is not an issue.

Once the company is registered you have to submit annual accounts. So that will cost between 5,000 to however much they will screw you for. So there is a potential issue with the tax people.

If you use the company then you have lots more potential issues, make sure you have sole signing rights for the company.

But with the Farang's girlfriend owning more than 50%, ie a majority, then there will NEVER be a problem. That is until there is a GOD ALMIGHTY problem.

[Pkl]

It is not likely to cause trouble if the company is inactive but you might not be able to open a bank account for the company with you as a signatory, if you don't have a work permit. Depends on the bank. I maintained a virtually inactive company for several years as the sole director without a WP and there were no problems in filing accounts and tax. Later I activated it and got a WP with no problem.

Still theoretically speaking: A Bangkok office of UOB bank was more than happy to open the corporate bank account with some minimal first deposit (around 4000 THB). However, the very same office was asking a first deposit of 50 000 THB and a work permit in order to open a personal account. Go figure

[Pkl]

If the company is inactive similar to those owning property then i wouldnt worry.

What if the company would be active online? By active online, I would mean something like showing the name of the company as "Copyright 2014 XXXX, Ltd." on some websites (done by the farang while being outside of Thailand) and with the faces of the farang and his girlfriend visible on the company's website in the "About us" section, stating the farang only as a part owner (not working).

So basically, instead of owning physical property, the company would be owning immaterial property (web sites).

The reason for all this hassle could be something like the farang having received bad advice from previous lawyer who messed up business visa applications and the company would be used to apply for the business visa and work permit after the educational visa runs out.

[Arkady]

The inconsistencies in banks are ridiculous. My branch of BBL turned down my application for co ac without a WP in the name of the co. Went over the road to Kbank and opened one without problem. Soon after BBL tried to close my personal ac cos of no WP even tho I am a PR. I had to force them to call head office to get them to issue a new savings book. Later they sent me a Bualuang card saying I had become a privileged customer. Seem to employ half wits.

[Guitar God]

I opened a personal account at Bangkok bank on a tourist visa with 10k, but they needed 100k in a deposit account that just sits there until I close the account to get a credit card.

Kasikorn opened a buisness account with 1000 B , so did Thanachart bank. Kasikorn in BKK didn't want to open a personal account without a WP, same bank, different branch said no problem.

[yankee99]

If the company is inactive similar to those owning property then i wouldnt worry.

What if the company would be active online? By active online, I would mean something like showing the name of the company as "Copyright 2014 XXXX, Ltd." on some websites (done by the farang while being outside of Thailand) and with the faces of the farang and his girlfriend visible on the company's website in the "About us" section, stating the farang only as a part owner (not working).

So basically, instead of owning physical property, the company would be owning immaterial property (web sites).

The reason for all this hassle could be something like the farang having received bad advice from previous lawyer who messed up business visa applications and the company would be used to apply for the business visa and work permit after the educational visa runs out.

If you intend to get a wp you will need to start taking care of some things. 2mb registration, SS registration, 4 thai employees paying 4% ss and vat registration. Plus the business location which can be your house with the business name posted in front. Also doing the type of business the company was registered for...

[ericthai]

I opened a personal account at Bangkok bank on a tourist visa with 10k, but they needed 100k in a deposit account that just sits there until I close the account to get a credit card.

Kasikorn opened a buisness account with 1000 B , so did Thanachart bank. Kasikorn in BKK didn't want to open a personal account without a WP, same bank, different branch said no problem.

A deposit for a credit card is common practice in Thailand for ex-pats. Too easy for us to leave and they end up with the debt. I only know one person that has an unsecured credit card here in Thailand, however he has been living in Thailand as long as me (20 years) and he works for an oil company so getting deposits of over 300,000B per month and a savings account with 2 million in it, so I think this gave the the security they needed. Myself I never even tried, I just use my credit cards from the USA, as i get cash back rewards.