Crackdown on foreign nominees, changes to the Foreign Business Act

[Marv]

One of the intentions of laws like the Thailand Foreign Business Act is to protect jobs and businesses for Thai nationals—and for good reason. All one has to do is look to the example of when the USA allowed factories to move production overseas to China and other low overhead nations. This directly resulted in unemployment and wage deflation for American workers and one of the worst economic periods in US history. In the last 20 years 6.4 million manufacturing jobs have been lost in the US. This phenomenon also illustrates that companies have little national loyalty and if companies can profit by moving to cheaper destinations, they will do so at the expense of existing workers.

Similar to EU and NAFTA integration, AEC integration causes economic harm to the working public and normally benefits the banking and corporate elite. The Thailand Foreign Business Act, as is, protects Thai jobs for Thai citizens. Although this concept might not seem progressive, Thailand still has a sense of national allegiance and regional economic integration that is directly in conflict with AEC integration.

[NativeSon360]

Friendlier for foreign investors

She added that the amended law should make the environment friendlier for foreign investors and streamline business regulations. Moreover, Thailand should be able to compete under the coming regional integration, which will allow other Asean countries to hold up to 70 per cent of some service businesses.

For non-Asean foreigners it is better then to open a company with 100% share in Malaysia, Philippines or Cambodia and then become active as Asean LTD in Thailand.

[Thai at Heart]

One of the intentions of laws like the Thailand Foreign Business Act is to protect jobs and businesses for Thai nationals—and for good reason. All one has to do is look to the example of when the USA allowed factories to move production overseas to China and other low overhead nations. This directly resulted in unemployment and wage deflation for American workers and one of the worst economic periods in US history. In the last 20 years 6.4 million manufacturing jobs have been lost in the US. This phenomenon also illustrates that companies have little national loyalty and if companies can profit by moving to cheaper destinations, they will do so at the expense of existing workers.

Similar to EU and NAFTA integration, AEC integration causes economic harm to the working public and normally benefits the banking and corporate elite. The Thailand Foreign Business Act, as is, protects Thai jobs for Thai citizens. Although this concept might not seem progressive, Thailand still has a sense of national allegiance and regional economic integration that is directly in conflict with AEC integration.

Huh?

Allowing more people to open businesses IN Thailand would boost unemployment. Asean is going to facilitate offshoring of Thai jobs to some degree, not the FBA.

If the FBA was changed to allow easier investment there would be more FDI into the country, and thus MORE jobs.

[ericthai]

Friendlier for foreign investors

She added that the amended law should make the environment friendlier for foreign investors and streamline business regulations. Moreover, Thailand should be able to compete under the coming regional integration, which will allow other Asean countries to hold up to 70 per cent of some service businesses.

For non-Asean foreigners it is better then to open a company with 100% share in Malaysia, Philippines or Cambodia and then become active as Asean LTD in Thailand.

I believe Cambodia still doesn't allow 100% ownership in a company. They only in 2010 started to allow foreigners to own condo and apartments but not the 1st floor.

Cambodia absolutely allows 100% foreign ownership in a company. However, said company would not be allowed to own the property their office sits on since there are similar land ownership laws to Thailand in that regard.

Really? When did this start? When I looked into things in 2003 it was same as Thailand 51% ownership had to be Khmer.

Also Maylsia does allow 100% foreign ownership in some sectors other are protected and some require a good percentage to be Malaysian owned.

I ended up opening my company in Thailand since I'm from the USA and could own the company 100%.

[Upset]

XENOPHOBIC RATS...who only want foreigners monies but thats all! All these changes are just a guise to make it more difficult for foreigners to do business here despite whatever claims they make. Foreigners are to be blame.....they never do anything to get their governments back home to give thais the same reciprocal conditions they levy on foreigners here and also foreign countries and foreigners should stop investing or doing any trade in this country , then only the fun will begin.

[bkkjames]

Keep moving the goalposts will results in more own goals.

[carstenp]

XENOPHOBIC RATS...who only want foreigners monies but thats all! All these changes are just a guise to make it more difficult for foreigners to do business here despite whatever claims they make. Foreigners are to be blame.....they never do anything to get their governments back home to give thais the same reciprocal conditions they levy on foreigners here and also foreign countries and foreigners should stop investing or doing any trade in this country , then only the fun will begin.

May I ask, why your post is so hateful.

[drand11]

You dont think the reduction in foreign owned businesses & increased closures has anything to do with Thai Coups & political unrest do you? Crappy reporting!!

[Tomtomtom69]

It's about time this country woke up to permtting farang (caucasians in particular) to buy land and property outright. Westerners tend to their land, gardens and properties - we even plant flowers and paint our properties regularly.... and grow GRASS (in it's truest sense of meaning) when given the rights. Sod ASEAN as the main agenda - it has to be worldwide interaction and permissions. In that way, Thailand would become a lot cleaner and less polluted in the long run.

The whole point is missed by the continued xenphobia of others infiltrating this land. If that's the fear, open it up to Westerners too, or ASEAN is going to break this place, and the influx from neighbouring countries will for sure take away opportunities for Thais themselves.

I wholeheartedly agree. However, there are no provisions in the AEC 2015 regulations that would give ASEAN citizens (non-Thais) rights to own Thai land after the implementation of AEC. And in any case, it's fear of the Chinese and other ASEAN nationals, perhaps even Indians to some extent, rather than westerners that has prompted Thailand to enact restrictive land ownership laws. Why? Simple - just look at the huge populations on Thailand's doorstep, with a large number of newly rich entrepreneurs and investors who'd be more than happy to own land in Thailand if they could (and probably try to speculate on property and land values and this is seen as risky in light of the lessons learned from the 1997 Asian financial crisis) although there are also more recent lessons that can be learned from the sinofication (Chinese extra-territoriality) of northern Laos and to a lesser extent, Myanmar. Although the Lao government didn't sell any land in question to the Chinese investors I am referring to, the long term lease or concession, for a period of up to 99 years is for all intents and purposes the same thing as that represents a lifetime right to do whatever the concession holder wants during this period of time, with every possibility of concession/lease renewal at the end of this period unless of course by that time the world is a very different place and laws have been changed. The King Romans Casino in Tonpheung, directly opposite Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district on the Mekong River and the now defunct Boten special economic zone (which used to include a few now also defunct casinos) on the Lao-Chinese frontier are two examples of this. Both are basically transplants of China onto Lao territory and I can imagine Thailand does not want this to happen inside it's territory.

Westerners on the other hand only have a small number of investors who'd be trying to do the same and so far I haven't heard of one, or know of any one example. Nearly every westerner is either married to a Thai, working here or retired here and thus all they want is to own a small piece of land, which they reside on, generally not for commercial purposes. In any case westerners are only in Thailand in very small numbers compared to Asians from neighboring countries and thus as you rightly stated, are not a threat.

However, it's easier for Thailand to just place a blanket ban on land ownership to all foreigners and thus eliminate what they see as a "threat" to Thai sovereignty, citing examples such as the ones I've given above.

[ratcatcher]

One thing I have noticed in Thailand is that when you see the head of some successful enterprise which is outside the scope of traditional Thai businesses, he invariably has white skin. Getting rid of the mafia types and the cheaters is fine - but I fear the government are confusing national pride with misplaced arrogance. I can see the same story as immigration happening all over again : crack down on the farang, then when they're gone realise you really need them back. Then do a U-turn and start changing the rules again (while the world sniggers at the pantomime).

The trouble is they will destroy the confidence of farang who will go elsewhere. I sense the country is on a slippery slope.

"I sense the country is on a slippery slope."

Was that a Freudian slip?

[moe666]

Look around , the major business is .....house building .

In every little town you can find building -shops (Home Pro,Home Market ......but also smaller shops on every corner )

If they stop farangs from owning a house via company ,those shops will have a hard time .

And a lot of Thai-landowners will cry ,because their land will be worth what is was before the farang came.(a few 1000 a rai)

All this land farangs control now ,will go automatically to Thai people ,so why the fear ?

Their fear in the future is that it will be difficult to control those rich widows with their smart kids ?

Or they just hate us that much ? Why not cancel all the visa's and allow only 30 day visa?

But we can only obey ,and find another smart solution .

you are joking right. if not get out and take a better look at who is building

[Tomtomtom69]

Friendlier for foreign investors

She added that the amended law should make the environment friendlier for foreign investors and streamline business regulations. Moreover, Thailand should be able to compete under the coming regional integration, which will allow other Asean countries to hold up to 70 per cent of some service businesses.

For non-Asean foreigners it is better then to open a company with 100% share in Malaysia, Philippines or Cambodia and then become active as Asean LTD in Thailand.

I believe Cambodia still doesn't allow 100% ownership in a company. They only in 2010 started to allow foreigners to own condo and apartments but not the 1st floor.

Cambodia absolutely allows 100% foreign ownership in a company. However, said company would not be allowed to own the property their office sits on since there are similar land ownership laws to Thailand in that regard.

Really? When did this start? When I looked into things in 2003 it was same as Thailand 51% ownership had to be Khmer.

Also Maylsia does allow 100% foreign ownership in some sectors other are protected and some require a good percentage to be Malaysian owned.

I ended up opening my company in Thailand since I'm from the USA and could own the company 100%.

Actually, JCauto is correct, Cambodia (and Laos) allow up to 100% foreign ownership in a company although I don't know all the various rules and restrictions but as a ballpark guideline, it's accurate.

[Thai at Heart]

It's about time this country woke up to permtting farang (caucasians in particular) to buy land and property outright. Westerners tend to their land, gardens and properties - we even plant flowers and paint our properties regularly.... and grow GRASS (in it's truest sense of meaning) when given the rights. Sod ASEAN as the main agenda - it has to be worldwide interaction and permissions. In that way, Thailand would become a lot cleaner and less polluted in the long run.

The whole point is missed by the continued xenphobia of others infiltrating this land. If that's the fear, open it up to Westerners too, or ASEAN is going to break this place, and the influx from neighbouring countries will for sure take away opportunities for Thais themselves.

I wholeheartedly agree. However, there are no provisions in the AEC 2015 regulations that would give ASEAN citizens (non-Thais) rights to own Thai land after the implementation of AEC. And in any case, it's fear of the Chinese and other ASEAN nationals, perhaps even Indians to some extent, rather than westerners that has prompted Thailand to enact restrictive land ownership laws. Why? Simple - just look at the huge populations on Thailand's doorstep, with a large number of newly rich entrepreneurs and investors who'd be more than happy to own land in Thailand if they could (and probably try to speculate on property and land values and this is seen as risky in light of the lessons learned from the 1997 Asian financial crisis) although there are also more recent lessons that can be learned from the sinofication (Chinese extra-territoriality) of northern Laos and to a lesser extent, Myanmar. Although the Lao government didn't sell any land in question to the Chinese investors I am referring to, the long term lease or concession, for a period of up to 99 years is for all intents and purposes the same thing as that represents a lifetime right to do whatever the concession holder wants during this period of time, with every possibility of concession/lease renewal at the end of this period unless of course by that time the world is a very different place and laws have been changed. The King Romans Casino in Tonpheung, directly opposite Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district on the Mekong River and the now defunct Boten special economic zone (which used to include a few now also defunct casinos) on the Lao-Chinese frontier are two examples of this. Both are basically transplants of China onto Lao territory and I can imagine Thailand does not want this to happen inside it's territory.

Westerners on the other hand only have a small number of investors who'd be trying to do the same and so far I haven't heard of one, or know of any one example. Nearly every westerner is either married to a Thai, working here or retired here and thus all they want is to own a small piece of land, which they reside on, generally not for commercial purposes. In any case westerners are only in Thailand in very small numbers compared to Asians from neighboring countries and thus as you rightly stated, are not a threat.

However, it's easier for Thailand to just place a blanket ban on land ownership to all foreigners and thus eliminate what they see as a "threat" to Thai sovereignty, citing examples such as the ones I've given above.

It is not fear that foreigners are going to come and suck up the land. It is because the country already has a long established immigrant population who have sucked it all up already, and don't want to have to fight to suck up the rest

[moe666]

I knew the rules before moving here and came anyway, I hope the many posters here did their research before moving.

[carstenp]

You dont think the reduction in foreign owned businesses & increased closures has anything to do with Thai Coups & political unrest do you? Crappy reporting!!

First it's there law and we has to followed it. I know many people using this nominee company's to have control over land and house, and seems for me they are going to stop that. It's not allowed to has shareholders connected to etc law business as another got a letter about. They know from the beginning it was Against the law even the got a advice from lawyers to do it.

This general is very known of he's passion to cleanup the law enforced, wish I think it's good

has promised the thai people to clean up all the cheater of the laws.

I've heart a lot about farang saying ohh this is good all the scams, land cheaters and so on getting clean up by this good general.

Now when his going for the farang there is cheating all sudden change. Then he just want farang out

Can't believe foreigner sinks so low.

[khunjamesjohnson]

Could you ThaIvisa people PLEASE stop changing the Nation headlines. The headlines go as far as the article allows. Professional journalists and editors usually know what they are doing, don't second-guess them. I'm sure you'll survive a few days without using the word Crackdown. The very real risk you Thaivisa people run, is that nobody will take you seriously when something REALLY is afoot. Remember Cry Wolf?

The Nation and professional used in the same sentence.

Interesting.

[hgma]

i just had my 19th nervous crackdown!

[fredKroket]

Won't it be fun when they get around to the companies that own land and rent it to their farang minority shareholders?

Never understood the mentality of not allowing some groups of foreigners (like say retirees) to own a limited amount of land, say a maximum of 1 Rai or even only 100 Wah would suffice. This would obviously be only for personal residence with tax penalties if sold within say 3 or 5 years to discourage property speculators misusing such a system. This would avoid a lot of these problems with Thai nominee shareholders being used and be good for Thailand by encouraging more genuine falang retirees to move here and bring in of course regular foreign currency.

Maybe as we now at last have an intelligent open minded and progressive Government (shows us all how sometimes democracy does not actually work as well), they may well read our TVF threads here on this issue and consider all the implications of making such a sensible move and actually bring in such legislation to allow a restricted and limited foreign land ownership for those who would qualify.

Wouldn't you think a property tax like 'council tax' would be a better way to handle it? All foreigners with a house or condo in company name would pay an annual fee based on the land office valuation of the property, it wouldn't be anything like UK taxes in comparison. I wouldn't mind paying an annual fee if it meant I could legally own a property and the money raised could go towards improvements in Thailand, such as street cleaning, garbage collection and waste management, rounding up soi dogs and even contributing to the police salaries, which may reduce the corruption of them having to make up Mickey Mouse traffic offences towards the end of the month just to cover their salaries. This could generate a huge amount of revenue for the economy and I'm surprised it's not been considered, as there never usually too slow to spot a money making idea.

[MobileContent]

For non-Asean foreigners it is better then to open a company with 100% share in Malaysia, Philippines or Cambodia and then become active as Asean LTD in Thailand.

To do this you would have to pass a test they are implementing called SBO, it tests to see if the foriegn business is substantive, things like how many years in operation, who owns it, profits etc would be looked into before granting the 70% shareholding allowance

I do hope that my 5 year old Singapore company of which I hold around 65% has a chance to break the barrier of holding a share of at least 51% if I have decide to give it another try with a Thai company. I do not have a problem in letting Thais have shares in a potential Thai company but I want to have control in that company and repatriate profits back to the Singapore company.

[NativeSon360]

One of the intentions of laws like the Thailand Foreign Business Act is to protect jobs and businesses for Thai nationals—and for good reason. All one has to do is look to the example of when the USA allowed factories to move production overseas to China and other low overhead nations. This directly resulted in unemployment and wage deflation for American workers and one of the worst economic periods in US history. In the last 20 years 6.4 million manufacturing jobs have been lost in the US. This phenomenon also illustrates that companies have little national loyalty and if companies can profit by moving to cheaper destinations, they will do so at the expense of existing workers.

Similar to EU and NAFTA integration, AEC integration causes economic harm to the working public and normally benefits the banking and corporate elite. The Thailand Foreign Business Act, as is, protects Thai jobs for Thai citizens. Although this concept might not seem progressive, Thailand still has a sense of national allegiance and regional economic integration that is directly in conflict with AEC integration.

FYI- The concept of "nationalism" died in 1913. The first World War began in Yugoslavia, in 1914, and proposed absolutely no threat to the USA, whatsoever. Yet, nearly a million American "Dough Boys" , with their "Over There" marching slogan, lost their lives in the trenches of France. Duh

There are no more nations, and anyone, who knows how to read the Alan Greenspan-side of the US-$1.00 note, comprehends that reality quite well. As President, John F. Kennedy just didn't get the drift of things.

There are only multi-national corporations, hiding behind the veils of sovereign nationalism.

The American working-class became lazy & complacent, while hiding their own developed, poor work ethics, and bogus Worker Comp Claims, negotiated by the corrupt "labor unions", forced the hand of the manufacturing sector chiefs, to seek alternative solutions. They found them. So now, Americans have become a bunch of crybabies (just like the Thais), in the wake of the legacy their parents have left behind. A real tragedy.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow stated in his poem "A Psalm of Life", that people should "be not like dumb, driven cattle", unfortunately is not the way of the world.

My take for Thailand is, that businesses from other ASEAN member nations, should be allowed to hold up to 100%, if the Thais fail to provide a par "quality" level of product manufacturing, and public business service products.

The current "umbrella" of protectionism in Thailand, is what has created the complacent & high level of incompetency,(among Thai people (even on the highest of educated levels), to begin with. Thais tend to upgrade themselves, only, when they are compelled to do so (not having access to a "protective" umbrella shield). ASEAN will light the fire needed to get Thai (men-folk) off the complacent butts, and "do" something to upgrade their personal productivity levels.

To the chagrin of the Thai social hierarchy, the arrival of ASEAN will be the best thing ever to happen, for the "common-folk" of Thailand, since 1947.

Edited September 9, 2014 by NativeSon360

[Tomtomtom69]

It's about time this country woke up to permtting farang (caucasians in particular) to buy land and property outright. Westerners tend to their land, gardens and properties - we even plant flowers and paint our properties regularly.... and grow GRASS (in it's truest sense of meaning) when given the rights. Sod ASEAN as the main agenda - it has to be worldwide interaction and permissions. In that way, Thailand would become a lot cleaner and less polluted in the long run.

The whole point is missed by the continued xenphobia of others infiltrating this land. If that's the fear, open it up to Westerners too, or ASEAN is going to break this place, and the influx from neighbouring countries will for sure take away opportunities for Thais themselves.

I wholeheartedly agree. However, there are no provisions in the AEC 2015 regulations that would give ASEAN citizens (non-Thais) rights to own Thai land after the implementation of AEC. And in any case, it's fear of the Chinese and other ASEAN nationals, perhaps even Indians to some extent, rather than westerners that has prompted Thailand to enact restrictive land ownership laws. Why? Simple - just look at the huge populations on Thailand's doorstep, with a large number of newly rich entrepreneurs and investors who'd be more than happy to own land in Thailand if they could (and probably try to speculate on property and land values and this is seen as risky in light of the lessons learned from the 1997 Asian financial crisis) although there are also more recent lessons that can be learned from the sinofication (Chinese extra-territoriality) of northern Laos and to a lesser extent, Myanmar. Although the Lao government didn't sell any land in question to the Chinese investors I am referring to, the long term lease or concession, for a period of up to 99 years is for all intents and purposes the same thing as that represents a lifetime right to do whatever the concession holder wants during this period of time, with every possibility of concession/lease renewal at the end of this period unless of course by that time the world is a very different place and laws have been changed. The King Romans Casino in Tonpheung, directly opposite Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district on the Mekong River and the now defunct Boten special economic zone (which used to include a few now also defunct casinos) on the Lao-Chinese frontier are two examples of this. Both are basically transplants of China onto Lao territory and I can imagine Thailand does not want this to happen inside it's territory.

Westerners on the other hand only have a small number of investors who'd be trying to do the same and so far I haven't heard of one, or know of any one example. Nearly every westerner is either married to a Thai, working here or retired here and thus all they want is to own a small piece of land, which they reside on, generally not for commercial purposes. In any case westerners are only in Thailand in very small numbers compared to Asians from neighboring countries and thus as you rightly stated, are not a threat.

However, it's easier for Thailand to just place a blanket ban on land ownership to all foreigners and thus eliminate what they see as a "threat" to Thai sovereignty, citing examples such as the ones I've given above.

It is not fear that foreigners are going to come and suck up the land. It is because the country already has a long established immigrant population who have sucked it all up already, and don't want to have to fight to suck up the rest

Actually I believe I am correct, but what do you mean by "long established immigrant population", Chinese-Thais? Clearly the Thais or at least those in power (irrespective of their ethnic origins) feel that foreign competition for land would mean less available land for locals, i.e. they see the foreigners as a threat. Not sure how your point is any different to mine.

[Krataiboy]

However, the department foresees stronger business expansion in the remaining months, averaging about 5,000 new companies per month

Based on what? A further tightening of business regulations? Maybe somebody needs to put on glasses before next gazing into their crystal ball.

[Tatsujin]

"In the first eight months, the number of business shutdowns rose 7 per cent year on year to 8,563. Last month, 1,236 firms closed down."

And by the end of this year, it's going to be a whole hell of a lot higher than that.

[wabothai]

With 2015 at the treshold it may be a good step for Thailand to start thinking about rewriting stale laws about owning land and businesses. Not doing so would put Thailand in a pretty bad compative situation and in the end not an attractive country to invest.

[dBrown]

For non-Asean foreigners it is better then to open a company with 100% share in Malaysia, Philippines or Cambodia and then become active as Asean LTD in Thailand.

To do this you would have to pass a test they are implementing called SBO, it tests to see if the foriegn business is substantive, things like how many years in operation, who owns it, profits etc would be looked into before granting the 70% shareholding allowance

Or in other words, again they will find a reason for not having to comply with the Asean agreements, while setting up wholly owned companies abroad themselves.

Also called Thainess.

[kalbo123]

Funny how this subject pop's up every year or so.. and then disappears in nothing...

[Tomtomtom69]

With 2015 at the treshold it may be a good step for Thailand to start thinking about rewriting stale laws about owning land and businesses. Not doing so would put Thailand in a pretty bad compative situation and in the end not an attractive country to invest.

I agree, but as stated above I do not think that they would do so given how many millions of ASEAN nationals would be more than happy to get their hands on Thai land, if they could. Also, IF the laws were re-written, one would also hope that they are meant for everybody, not just ASEAN nationals. It wouldn't make sense or be fair if only ASEAN nationals would benefit, when clearly Thailand is of more interest to ASEAN nationals than to foreigners from other countries anyway and therefore you'll obviously have far more ASEAN nationals present in Thailand than non-ASEAN foreigners (has always been this way, although the Chinese are coming in big numbers now but as already mentioned, the threat they present is one more reason why I don't think it will be easy for Thailand to relax foreign land or even business ownership restrictions, especially not the former).

[NativeSon360]

For non-Asean foreigners it is better then to open a company with 100% share in Malaysia, Philippines or Cambodia and then become active as Asean LTD in Thailand.

To do this you would have to pass a test they are implementing called SBO, it tests to see if the foriegn business is substantive, things like how many years in operation, who owns it, profits etc would be looked into before granting the 70% shareholding allowance

I do hope that my 5 year old Singapore company of which I hold around 65% has a chance to break the barrier of holding a share of at least 51% if I have decide to give it another try with a Thai company. I do not have a problem in letting Thais have shares in a potential Thai company but I want to have control in that company and repatriate profits back to the Singapore company.

[garyinhuahin]

FYI- The concept of "nationalism" died in 1913. The first World War began in Yugoslavia, in 1914, and proposed absolutely no threat to the USA, whatsoever. Yet, nearly a million American "Dough Boys" , with their "Over There" marching slogan, lost their lives in the trenches of France. Duh

Interesting perspective, as Yugoslavia (and many other nations of Europe and the Middle East didn't even exist until after the war, when the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires were broken up.

[NativeSon360]

With 2015 at the treshold it may be a good step for Thailand to start thinking about rewriting stale laws about owning land and businesses. Not doing so would put Thailand in a pretty bad compative situation and in the end not an attractive country to invest.

I agree, but as stated above I do not think that they would do so given how many millions of ASEAN nationals would be more than happy to get their hands on Thai land, if they could. Also, IF the laws were re-written, one would also hope that they are meant for everybody, not just ASEAN nationals. It wouldn't make sense or be fair if only ASEAN nationals would benefit, when clearly Thailand is of more interest to ASEAN nationals than to foreigners from other countries anyway and therefore you'll obviously have far more ASEAN nationals present in Thailand than non-ASEAN foreigners (has always been this way, although the Chinese are coming in big numbers now but as already mentioned, the threat they present is one more reason why I don't think it will be easy for Thailand to relax foreign land or even business ownership restrictions, especially not the former).

Sorry, but the acronym A.S.E.A.N. is quite specific, and with exception of the Russian expats of SE Asia, the rest of the Western Expat population (American & British, in particular), do not possess the busines solidarity acumen to circumvent the dictated stipulations of the coming ASEAN umbrella reality. 50+ years of (socially fragmented) expat history, confirms those facts to be true.

Edited September 9, 2014 by NativeSon360