Malaysia has a very attractive option for an offshore company setup using their federal territory Labuan.

A foreigner can set up a company with only a minimum of 1 shareholder and 1 share needed.

So you can essentially set the share price at 1 dollar and have basically no upfront capitalization costs to show.

The set-up time is very quick, and there is a low corporate tax rate.

For more details: http://siamstartup.com/news/thailand-boi-company-vs-malaysia-labuan-international-company/

It's also possible to get a renewable 2-year business visa easily after starting a Labuan Company.

It sounds great from a business perspective, although I'm not necessarily keen on living in Labuan or anywhere else in Malaysia.

Penang is OK enough for short visits, but don't know if I'd want to live there.

So I was wondering if there is a practical way to establish a company using this offshore structure, and yet be able to stay long-term in Thailand.

What kind of visa can you get?

Do you have to establish some sort of Thai branch office to get a work permit?

I've heard of others registering their businesses in HK and running them from Thailand. What setup would work for that?

And what advantage does HK have over Labuan?

Sorry for so many questions.

Do you have to establish some sort of Thai branch office to get a work permit?

Yes

a branch office won't work. for a work permit you need a full-fledged Thai company with all the restrictions (majority Thai share holders) and hassles (employing 4 Thais per 1 work permit for foreigners) attached.

And what advantage does HK have over Labuan?

no tax vs. USD 6,000 p.a. Labuan tax. but like any foreign company the HK company cannot be used to obtain a Thai work permit.

Edited July 26, 201411 yr by Naam

On 7/26/2014 at 4:24 PM, Naam said:

no tax vs. USD 6,000 p.a. Labuan tax. but like any foreign company the HK company cannot be used to obtain a Thai work permit.

How did you get to 6k a year tax?

On 7/25/2014 at 12:11 PM, LazyYogi said:

It's also possible to get a renewable 2-year business visa easily after starting a Labuan Company.

Just wonder whether the visa allows you to live in Sarawak and Sabah respectively.

I know someone who had a company in Labuan. 

I am not sure if the following is true for all companies there. He needed an office and a local employe (I think it must be a person from Labuan).

And it seems there were a couple of strict rules to follow.

Initially he wanted to have the company officially over there, but the work done in Thailand and that didn't work.

 

Sorry, I don't know more details. Just be sure you check all the requirements before you open a company over there and then find out it's not so easy.