Setting up a LTD Company in Thailand (easier than i thought!)

[billmunday10]

Hi Guys

Just wanted to share my experience as i have recently set up a limited company in thailand and was very surprised how easy and cheap it was after reading alot of stuff on the internet on the subject.

Wanted to buy 4 rai of land with a large house on it first to live in and possibly to build a small resort.on at a later date. Wanted a bit of security so decided to purchase the property in a company name me owning 49% my girlfriend 46% and a close friend 5%

the process of setting up the company ended up being pretty simple and cheap

1. Reserve company name on internet

2. make a stamp with your company name on it (around 400 bht from a printing shop).

3. Fill out some forms online from the department of business development web site and print out (quite a few)

4. Take completed forms and identification of partners to local DBD office (note that i put the address of the company as the address of the house i was planning on buying and did not need to show them either house book or rental agreement)

5. Show 1,000,000 bht investment in the company as there was a foreigner as a partner. (note to prove this you have to show 10,000 bht in your bank account for each 1% of the company owned) so my girlfriend showed 460,000 in her bank, my friend 50,000 and surprisingly enough i as the foreigner did NOT need to show anything for the remaining 49%.

6. Pay around 6000 bht for various charges and taxes

7. Spend around an hour in the office signing papers etc.

And that was it! i went to the land office a few days later and signed the land and house over to the company name. (note myself and my girlfriend had to sign the papers at the land office as it is not possible for a foreigner to sign this alone)

This was done at the DBD office in chumphon but i assume the procedure is the same around the country

[vtjforyou]

Thank you so much for the report.

Where did you do it and how much it will cost every year ?

What if after setting up the company we do not pay anything and do not reply to any request anymore ? (i just need the company registered but don't want to have to do anything more later)

[mahjongguy]

Presumably in all that paperwork there is some statement or agreement that results in you and only you having control over sale of the property.

If so, it violates the letter and intent of Thai law. If not, then your investment is at risk.

[Gulfsailor]

Presumably in all that paperwork there is some statement or agreement that results in you and only you having control over sale of the property.

If so, it violates the letter and intent of Thai law. If not, then your investment is at risk.

555 partypooper.

[mahjongguy]

"555 partypooper."

Guilty as charged, but I couldn't help myself. Not to be mean but to prevent anyone from being misled.

The OP made the point that setting up a Thai company was easy. Yes, it is. Thousands of properties are owned that way. That doesn't mean it provides legal protection of your assets.

[billmunday10]

Thank you so much for the report.

Where did you do it and how much it will cost every year ?

What if after setting up the company we do not pay anything and do not reply to any request anymore ? (i just need the company registered but don't want to have to do anything more later)

have to send a tax return every year. But if you have not earned any money during the year there is still a minimum tax payment to be made that works out around 1000 bht a month

if you don ot do this and do not reply to any request the company will be closed.

[billmunday10]

"555 partypooper."

Guilty as charged, but I couldn't help myself. Not to be mean but to prevent anyone from being misled.

The OP made the point that setting up a Thai company was easy. Yes, it is. Thousands of properties are owned that way. That doesn't mean it provides legal protection of your assets.

It will never be 100% protected but in my opinion owning 49% of something is better than owning 0% of something

As my girlfriend and I both have to sign any paperwork i am protected in that nothing can be done without my approval

we should all know the law regarding land ownership in Thailand but i was just pointing out that after doing a lot of research on the internet including on this site how easy and cheap it was to set up a company compared to what a lot of people were saying...

[SDM0712]

This is still an extremely common way my agency's non-Thai buyers purchase land and houses here.

It's makes it so simple when you want to sell it on also. A change of ownership/control is done by changing the directors of the company, avoiding the need to pay property transfer fees etc. saves a lot of money.

SDM

[thaicookingchef]

Thank you so much for the report.

Where did you do it and how much it will cost every year ?

What if after setting up the company we do not pay anything and do not reply to any request anymore ? (i just need the company registered but don't want to have to do anything more later)

have to send a tax return every year. But if you have not earned any money during the year there is still a minimum tax payment to be made that works out around 1000 bht a month

if you don ot do this and do not reply to any request the company will be closed.

Seems very easy to delcare no profit in any case right ?

Except if it's obvious that profit is made but I wonder when it becomes obvious ?

[Mario2008]

Thank you so much for the report.

Where did you do it and how much it will cost every year ?

What if after setting up the company we do not pay anything and do not reply to any request anymore ? (i just need the company registered but don't want to have to do anything more later)

have to send a tax return every year. But if you have not earned any money during the year there is still a minimum tax payment to be made that works out around 1000 bht a month

if you don ot do this and do not reply to any request the company will be closed.

No profit makes it more obvious that the company is only a front, used to own land.