Thailand eyeing tighter restrictions on foreign businesses

[Tatsujin]

I'll also be off somewhere else if they make it ANY harder to run my business here ... no great loss to Thailand I'm sure, but those (made up) employment figures are gonna rise sharply if they continue with this shit.

35+ "likes" and counting ... so if each of those "likes" represents 1 x foreigner on a Work Permit, and we all leave to go somewhere else, that's 140 Thai's that'll lose their jobs (at a minimum), or (roughly), 2 million baht+ per month they'll lose out on in salaries and the associated taxes, SSO etc.

And there are how many foreigners here employing Thai's in small businesses? Those numbers sure would add up quick if we move elsewhere.

[Christie Paul]

Farewell Farang

It's not just the Farang's.

Thais who can see what is coming are liquidating and moving assets out.

[Expat Brad]

The momentum and the general sentiment, Thailand rules, foreigners suck has been underway for well over a decade, so such moves are fully expected and there will be many more like it I'm sure. That it seems that it will harm the country, well, the elites won't be harmed, the more trashed the economy the more they will benefit, so it is likely a deliberate move to make things worse. More cheap labor, cheap assets to snatch up and away they go.

I believe this to be the logic of the ruling Thai's for sure. They don't give a damn about the country they just care about their own wealth.

[spidermike007]

This should of happened a long time ago. All these farangs taking money off hard working Thais!

Thailand has long been the country of innovation and self sustainability! Western nations should be grateful to be allowed to business at all in the Kingdom, they try to learn the Thai's business practices, customer service, law enforcement, in which all fields Thais lead the world.

555

Great stuff. You really nail it, on so many points. For them to even consider making things more difficult, at this point in time, is testament to the extreme lack of talent, intelligence, and vision, in the current administration. ASEAN is coming into effect in late December of next year, and Thailand runs the risk of being made far less relevant, with the extreme lack of English skills, and other business skills. The only way out for them, is to do what they have done with regard to nearly every other ASEAN charter Thailand has ever signed. That is to ignore it, and not follow most of the provisions. But, they do run the risk of becoming a pariah, in their own region if they do that to an extreme.

[micmichd]

Farewell Farang

It's not just the Farang's.

Thais who can see what is coming are liquidating and moving assets out.

[micmichd]

Then they should be forced to live in the countries where most of their money is, imho.

[laocowboy2]

Madness. No control (despite having provided most if not all of the equity) means that the Thai shareholders would be able to strip the company of its assets with zero recourse - and does anyone doubt that this will actually happen in some cases? As part of my job, I advise companies on cross-border FDI. Thailand is now firmly off the list of potential locations until this is clarified.

And even iof it goes away for now, the damage is done in that uncertainty remains - the next elected government (or the next coup) could see the same thing rear its head again. This is not a new proposal - it emerged after the previous coup as well. So at a time when GDP growth is lagging, domestic demand depressed, exports stagnant and tourism declining the solution is somehow to tell prospective foreign investors to FO? Amazing shoot yourself in the foot Thailand.

[wilcopops]

There ca be no justification for increased control.

This kind of "idea" is typical of dictatorial regimes around the world, where opposition is frowned upon. When opposition or criticism is voiced from abroad the "authorities" become increasingly disturbed by a wall of critics that they have no power to silence; the result is isolationism - the belief that the country can exist in a world of its own without any interaction with foreigners - this leads to ever intolerant regimes and a downward spiral into poverty - even famine.

North Korea is a fine example of this taken to extremes, and Myanmar however, is just beginning to realise that there is money to be made in talking to and doing business with other countries...... it appears there are people in Thailand who want to take their country in the opposite direction.

Edited November 21, 2014 by wilcopops

[whybother]

There ca be no justification for increased control.

This kind of "idea" is typical of dictatorial regimes around the world, where opposition is frowned upon. When opposition or criticism is voiced from abroad the "authorities" become increasingly disturbed by a wall of critics that they have no power to silence; the result is isolationism - the belief that the country can exist in a world of its own without any interaction with foreigners - this leads to ever intolerant regimes and a downward spiral into poverty - even famine.

North Korea is a fine example of this taken to extremes, and Myanmar however, is just beginning to realise that there is money to be made in talking to and doing business with other countries...... it appears there are people in Thailand who want to take their country in the opposite direction.

Are you saying the previous government was a "dictorial regime"? They've been talking about this for a number of years.

[thhMan]

I suppose this will also impact on education...

With kids not needing to be so smart, because they are not working for international firms, but only Thai firms...

[soalbundy]

I suppose this will also impact on education...

With kids not needing to be so smart, because they are not working for international firms, but only Thai firms...

doesn't matter who they are employed by,they don't work anyway.

[KamalaRider]

Execellent. For those who complain, no one asked you to start a 'business' in Thailand. Somehow foreigners stil think that Thai need them, think twice. Most Thai having university degrees are very well educated whether it is IT, economics etc and can work at any Multi National. For the small 'businesses' I think it is completely logic government helps to protect Thai interest.

Are you trying to be funny or do you really mean what you say?

In the western world, we have 15 year old computer geeks more educated in IT than 25 year olds with a university degree in IT.

I have worked with around 30 "programmers" here in Thailand during my eight years here and none comes even close to compete with programming skills or creativity to solve normal everyday programming problems with a farang.

Thai culture puts a halt on creative thinking as no one wants to stand out in the crowd.

Thais can't even understand and learn from English written computer literature as their language skills are too poor.

For those few Thais that can, they themselves, flees Thailand and ends up in another country who pays more, don't have illiterate bosses etc.

Really? It`s a shame that the Thais do not share your opinions that farangs are superior to Thais in education and skills that the Thais could never compete with. The question is, how would Thailand manage to function without the intervention of westerners shaping their society and showing them how things should be done?

The Thais are not as inferior and of low intelligence as you try to portray them, they may try to squeeze the golden goose a little but have enough savvy to know not to kill it off completely. The foreign owed large companies and the BOI have mutual agreements that is to the satisfaction of all concerned, these new policies will not place at risk the relationships between the big foreign shareholder companies and the Thai Board of Trade.

The companies that will be mostly affected are the more non-significant foreign run businesses that the Thai authorities perceive have having little or no benefits to Thailand and if not able to hack it under the laws of foreign shareholder companies policies, do not give a rat`s behind if they just fade away into oblivion. The only people who will be griping the most are the farangs who are unable to own and run companies in the kingdom strictly pertaining to Thai company law ownerships and brassed off that the good days of making profits without putting back what they take out and low expenditure is coming to an end and this will not have any negative affects on Thailand whatsoever.

I'm again quoted for something I haven't said, I didn't mention intelligence anywhere and you, like a woman try to interpret my experience like I said Thais have lower intelligence than farangs.

Please tell me, how did you come up with that from my post?

If you are a man, be one and stop interpret what I write.

I have never, ever met so many unskilled IT people, in any country I have been working in, as I have here in Thailand, and I have been to quite a few.

For those few Thais that can, they themselves, flees Thailand and ends up in another country who pays more, don't have illiterate bosses etc.

I guess you didn't even read this far, did you?

Furthermore, anyone starting any business, starts off small, except if you are a chain or big already, BOI registration requires a LOT, so for a small businesses it could be too much. I suggest that before you write anything about that, find out what these requirements are.

Edited November 21, 2014 by KamalaRider

[BlackJack]

would the last foreign company leaving Thailand please turn the lights out?

[wilcopops]

Don't know what we're worrying about, the PM said on TV tonight that lots of foreign countries are interested in investing in Thailand....and the economy 's getting better already.

He didn't say who these countries were, but I'm sure he knows, he didn't give any figures about the economy either.....he DID say he wasn't concerned about those students who protested as long as it isn't violent - he didn't say who might turn violent either, come to that.....

He DID say though, that they were having a campaign against violence to women and children and if anyone sees any, they should ring in at 13.00 pm.

.....and as for other concerns - presumably such things as the control of foreign companies - if anyone can ring him.....he didn't give his number though.

sounds a bit like a Thai company web site.....

Edited November 21, 2014 by wilcopops

[khunpa]

Try to relax and then think properly.

Thailand like most countries is controlled by the elite of the country. And like most countries the government serves that elite and not the country as a whole. If you're unsure of this, ask one of the 25,000 elderly Britons that are forecast to perish this winter because they are unable to heat their squalid homes. Or that chap in the US that is looking at serving jail time for feeding the poor. It goes on and on.

Those of us who have been a while have seen Thailand when it was moving forward and could hardly do no wrong. Thai airways was admired the world over. The Thai Gem and Jewellery Fair attracted business form all over the world and was neck and neck with Hong Kong's fair. The film industry was taking off and even Hollywood based outfits looked to Thailand as a production centre.

There was no where in Asia which could compete for value, prospects and dang, if the place wasn't fun. The word was out and known the world over - there was only one place in Asia to be and that was Thailand.

But for the last few years its been it's not been well. A kind of neurosis has taken over. All the good bits are shrinking and the lousy dumb bits are being augmented. Charm is being eroded by arrogance, initiatives are mostly DOA, miserable rules and regulations have displaced that round about way in which you could almost get anything done.

Thailand is going through a phase of self destruction. And there's no point whining about it or becoming exasperated. Instead open your eyes and plan accordingly.

It's going to get worse, the numerous government initiatives, increasing rules and regulations and the attitude towards falangs in particular, should leave no doubt of that. And we will become even more of a target, because we don't have any political power. If you're unsure how that works, ask an Australian aboriginal.

Our <deleted> and assets are in increasing jeopardy here. And those who are unwilling or unable to move them out of harms way will pay a serious price.

Fortunately, there are other places.

Very well put and very true. Thailand is currently self-destructive and the best thing to do is just accept and realise it.

On the other hand, there are many great opportunities to get from this, if you simply just see what has already started. If I eg. owned property here at the current time, I would sell out fast (if I even could). And if you have money and want to buy property, then simply just wait a bit more. The market is going see a total collapse and when it does, then people with money and no debt, can go cheap-shopping here. My wife and I plan to buy a very nice and cheap house or condo here for when we get old, in a couple of years. We have the money and are just waiting for the prices drop big-time, which we are both sure they will.

Once Thailand economy has hit its lowest, they will also start changing the rules and start welcoming foreign investments and companies. But for now, they are in the process of self-destruction. Just sit back and enjoy the show... it has already started. If I had huge loans or borrowed investments in this country in this country at the current moment, I would be really worried.

Edited November 21, 2014 by khunpa

[smellthecoffee]

One has to think outside the box when trying to understand the schizophrenic mood swings of successive leaderships be it corrupt elected ones or military non elected ones the name of the game is MONEY! Smash and grab. Each government knows it has a limited time to steal as much as they can before they go and the next criminals come along. This is purely a xenophobic lemon squeezing move on foreign businesses.

This decision making process has nothing to do with the well being and growth of foreign investment. When you start thinking along conventional lines your thought process is heading off in the wrong direction. If you think about a villainous thief trying to fill a swag bag within a time window then your getting closer to the source of the thought process.

Think of it more as a caper than a government and that goes for all of them past, present and continuous I'm sure.

Edited November 22, 2014 by smellthecoffee

[DekDaeng]

 

I love the kaos and uncertainty of Thailand. Never a dull moment and always good for a laugh.

 

Any relevant comment should surely include the phrase 'what planet?'

[Dogmatix]

A source from the ministry said that any changes are still preliminary and that all changes would have to go through both the legislative assembly and the cabinet.

Well, if the changes get blessed by the cabinet then getting through the current legislative assembly will be a piece of cake, a rubber stamp action.

The comments from the ministry seem mainly directed at obfuscation or nonsensical, e.g. making the definition of "foreign" in line with international standards will help foreign investors; no draft written yet; we are removing businesses like banks from the restricted list (because the MoC has no jurisdiction over their foreign ownership anyway, so this was redundant.

According to my sources, the draft is ready and is essentially the draft submitted by the Sarayud govt in 2007 that was pulled by the govt because of even more obnoxious clauses added by the NLA at the time. For good measure those clauses are apparently in the new draft.

The government seems behind the bill and the only concession likely is some element of grandfathering existing businesses. This happened when the original alien business revolutionary decree came in in 1972. The problem is that the grandfathered foreign businesses were largely squeezed out, as they could not increase capital or apply for any govt permissions like factory licenses without complying with the new law. There is also the issue of businesses that were not technically in compliance with the law anyway that won't be eligible for grandfathering.

I think they plan to go the whole hog on this one because they are only listening to the protectionists who are led by a large Thai conglomerate with very close ties to the military.

[wilcopops]

There ca be no justification for increased control.

This kind of "idea" is typical of dictatorial regimes around the world, where opposition is frowned upon. When opposition or criticism is voiced from abroad the "authorities" become increasingly disturbed by a wall of critics that they have no power to silence; the result is isolationism - the belief that the country can exist in a world of its own without any interaction with foreigners - this leads to ever intolerant regimes and a downward spiral into poverty - even famine.

North Korea is a fine example of this taken to extremes, and Myanmar however, is just beginning to realise that there is money to be made in talking to and doing business with other countries...... it appears there are people in Thailand who want to take their country in the opposite direction.

Are you saying the previous government was a "dictorial regime"? They've been talking about this for a number of years.

You are trying to dichotomise and raise a false argument. This policy has been raised by several governments but TWICE by the same guys in this regime.

I think you need to review successive regimes policies and their eventual implementations and get them into perspective before jumping to tangential conclusions

[whybother]

There ca be no justification for increased control.

This kind of "idea" is typical of dictatorial regimes around the world, where opposition is frowned upon. When opposition or criticism is voiced from abroad the "authorities" become increasingly disturbed by a wall of critics that they have no power to silence; the result is isolationism - the belief that the country can exist in a world of its own without any interaction with foreigners - this leads to ever intolerant regimes and a downward spiral into poverty - even famine.

North Korea is a fine example of this taken to extremes, and Myanmar however, is just beginning to realise that there is money to be made in talking to and doing business with other countries...... it appears there are people in Thailand who want to take their country in the opposite direction.

Are you saying the previous government was a "dictorial regime"? They've been talking about this for a number of years.

You are trying to dichotomise and raise a false argument. This policy has been raised by several governments but TWICE by the same guys in this regime.

I think you need to review successive regimes policies and their eventual implementations and get them into perspective before jumping to tangential conclusions

What they are discussing now is exactly what was being discussed 12-18 months ago.

[Dogmatix]

One has to think outside the box when trying to understand the schizophrenic mood swings of successive leaderships be it corrupt elected ones or military non elected ones the name of the game is MONEY! Smash and grab. Each government knows it has a limited time to steal as much as they can before they go and the next criminals come along. This is purely a xenophobic lemon squeezing move on foreign businesses.

This decision making process has nothing to do with the well being and growth of foreign investment. When you start thinking along conventional lines your thought process is heading off in the wrong direction. If you think about a villainous thief trying to fill a swag bag within a time window then your getting closer to the source of the thought process.

Think of it more as a caper than a government and that goes for all of them past, present and continuous I'm sure.

Certain business groups and one in particular that has often complained about foreign businesses in Thailand could be extremely generous, if things went their way.

[hgv driver]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

This should of happened a long time ago. All these farangs taking money off hard working Thais!

Thailand has long been the country of innovation and self sustainability! Western nations should be grateful to be allowed to business at all in the Kingdom, they try to learn the Thai's business practices, customer service, law enforcement, in which all fields Thais lead the world.

555

by farang i assume you mean Indian Chinese Russian

[MJP]

An off-topic post has been removed.

[micmichd]

The momentum and the general sentiment, Thailand rules, foreigners suck has been underway for well over a decade, so such moves are fully expected and there will be many more like it I'm sure. That it seems that it will harm the country, well, the elites won't be harmed, the more trashed the economy the more they will benefit, so it is likely a deliberate move to make things worse. More cheap labor, cheap assets to snatch up and away they go.

I believe this to be the logic of the ruling Thai's for sure. They don't give a damn about the country they just care about their own wealth.

Thanks for defining capitalism.

[Chao Lao Beach]

The current law forbids foreign majority ownership in sectors where Thai businesses are deemed not ready to compete with foreign companies.

Those include accountancy, legal services, architecture, engineering, brokerages, advertising, hotel operations, food and beverages and "other service businesses."

Why can't Thai business compete in these areas?

I was wondering the same thing ?

[Old Man River]

The current law forbids foreign majority ownership in sectors where Thai businesses are deemed not ready to compete with foreign companies.

Those include accountancy, legal services, architecture, engineering, brokerages, advertising, hotel operations, food and beverages and "other service businesses."

Why can't Thai business compete in these areas?

I was wondering the same thing ?

They can, but it is a lot easier if the law limits competition.

[Anthony5]

The current law forbids foreign majority ownership in sectors where Thai businesses are deemed not ready to compete with foreign companies.

Those include accountancy, legal services, architecture, engineering, brokerages, advertising, hotel operations, food and beverages and "other service businesses."

Why can't Thai business compete in these areas?

I was wondering the same thing ?

You both not gone start to ask tricky questions, allright?

Thais can not compete in these areas, they are able to compete in the same businesses abroad, but they can't in their own country.

[Chao Lao Beach]

HAs anything happened with this so far ?

[EmptyHead]

Sign of cocooning here and there. Reminds me of something... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma#Military_rule

I wouldn't worry to much about that.

Why would Thailand go to such extremes now? Thailand has (almost) always had a military government and yet never (to my knowledge) been anti-social like Burma used to be. By my count, 25 out of the total 29 prime ministers have been military (that's 86% of Thailand's prime minister history).

Have a count here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Prime_Ministers_of_Thailand

I like the military government at the moment. They are doing better than any other government in about 20 years. They are tightening up on some aspects regarding foriegners, but relaxing on others. It seems fair enough.

Edited January 2, 2015 by EmptyHead

[bboy]

Weekly contradictory statements pertaining to foreign investment being either encouraged & facilitated or hindered with more red tape. Also Govt is about to make ISPs responsible for censoring content that might "threaten national security". Cue social media sites blocked within 6 months China-style.

Introduction of AEC on 31st December 2015 is *supposed* to free up competition etc. Also supposed to encourage Thai Govt to allow foreigners to own land...not a chance in hell. Agree with many posts here, alas the native mindset to protect own interests at all costs seems to consistently prevail (even if the cost is to push the potential "hub" of everything profitable into recession)...I'm just a law-abiding Mancunian lad trying to get by ☝. Throw the farangs a bone govt please!