Amphur involvement in our business?

[ttl]

Recently opened a small business ,fronting highway 212,in Isaan.Our aim is to encourage passers by with a variery of goods and services by using a combination unseen around here..We feature Refreshements for travellers,food and drinks,gift lines, home decor,selected furniture,garden pots.ornaments and water features as well as produce from our fruit and vege gardens.We did purchase a grocers license and a liquor license for the restaurant,and noted the unusual time resrtictions for diners who wish to have a beer???

To be more versatile we created signs on our building, both in Thai and English languages.This was followed,very smartly, by a knock on the door from an Amphur staffer requesting a payment for dual language signs on our building on our land.(Meaning we had to pay a fee twice) Multi racial advertising is a No! No! apparantly This seemed preposterous to me,the explanation was in Thai and my wife could not understand it either.

Would appreciate if someone could explain, the LAW and how and why.Probabaly this is why other businesses in the area have no identifying name or signage.

Thank you

[Sunbelt Asia]

This "sign" tax is a local tax applied to all businesses and the fees are calculated not on the size of the sign, but on several factors. A sign with Thai language only will have the lowest tax while a sign where the Thai language is above that of the English wording will be much less than a sign with the Thai language below the English wording. A sign with English (or other foreign language) will pay the highest tax.

This sign tax is applied all over Thailand at the local level and is method used by local governments to raise funds for projects on the local level.

The alcohol restrictions are nationwide also and alcohol cannot be sold in stores or restaurants before 11 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The thinking behind this is that it will restrict younger people from purchasing alcohol.

[sunbeltlegal][/sunbeltlegal]