Hi Guys,

Bit of background as two Muay Thai enthusiasts in our mid 20's I and my friend have been travelling to train in Thailand for the last number of years. The most recent trip confirmed to us that we wish to live and work in Thailand.

We have researched various options for this both currently having professional jobs in the UK (top band tax payers) we understand the risk posed but are determined to make this succeed.

We have recently been exploring the idea of establishing a UK ltd company and setting up a Thai representative office with the sole intention of the office in Thailand to source goods, quality control of said goods and ensure efficient shipping of goods back to the UK and Ireland.

We have the necessary 5,000,000 Baht investment required to bring in within the first five years of formation of the Thai office. However after talking with a corporate lawyer we understand there are certain that we as representatives are not allowed to do such as actively engaging in the sales process and promoting our products to prospective client overseas.

Questions I have are:

Is there any way around this? Can we actively sell our product without breaking the terms of our Thai representative office?

Do representative offices realistically follow these guidelines? (It seem ridiculous for a company to have staff in Thailand that do not engage in sales overseas)

Do we have to hire Thai staff? (Even though they are not required)

What is the simplest way of establishing an export business in Thailand without losing ownership of the company?

Has anyone done something similar? If so could you point me in the right direction to speak to Thai law firm with UK representatives?

This venture is not something that we are taking lightly and have allocated the next 18 months to research of the peculiarities of the Thai market and on Exporting from Thailand. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Tom

Why don't you just open a "Co., Ltd." in Thailand? It will allow you to do everything you want, but it will be cheaper.

You'll have to employ four Thai people per work permit though.

Thank you for the reply, we really want to avoid setting up a limited company as we do not have any contact in Thailand that we trust enough to give a 51% ownership to.

Would you know typically how farangs would set up export businesses? Surely many have done/tried this before! We have all the necessary finances ready but we are in no rush.

Thank you for the reply, we really want to avoid setting up a limited company as we do not have any contact in Thailand that we trust enough to give a 51% ownership to.

Would you know typically how farangs would set up export businesses? Surely many have done/tried this before! We have all the necessary finances ready but we are in no rush.

Most of the farangs I know have set up a Co., Ltd.

The others have set up a Ltd Partnership. I don't recommend that, as your liability is not limited to your investment in the company.

If you do not have contacts in Thailand you can trust, the alternative is a 100% foreign-owned company. This is possible under the Amity Act, under the Foreign Business Act, or under BOI. It is possible and will take you several months to set up. If you are interested, please send me PM and I will introduce you to a lawyer who can help you with this.

A company that only does export and does not sell within Thailand can be 100% foreign owned. Any lawyer can set this up. Still need the Thai staff to get the wp though.

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A company that only does export and does not sell within Thailand can be 100% foreign owned. Any lawyer can set this up. Still need the Thai staff to get the wp though.

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Thanks for posting this, would that be a a standard Thai limited company we could set up? As long as we had the Thai staff?

Yes, as far as I know, but a lawyer could let you know about all the nuances. We almost went for a 100% owned export company but opted for a normal Thai company because we had some opportunities within Thailand. Some lawyers told us Export Companies only require 2 Thai staff for every WP and some told us 4.

The representative office option is possible, but a real hassle from what I have heard (check with a lawyer on this)

Yes, as far as I know, but a lawyer could let you know about all the nuances. We almost went for a 100% owned export company but opted for a normal Thai company because we had some opportunities within Thailand. Some lawyers told us Export Companies only require 2 Thai staff for every WP and some told us 4.

The representative office option is possible, but a real hassle from what I have heard (check with a lawyer on this)

A real help my friend thank you. My partner should be in Bangkok soon so we will be able to consult a lawyer. Do you have any recommendations on lawyers?

Yes I can give you some recommendations. PM me.

Yes I can give you some recommendations. PM me.

What would it likely cost to set up a 100% export business and how long before it is set up and ready to begin business?