Is it easy for an Australian to start a business in Thailand?

[konying]

No foreigner owned business can even operate until you find out who to bribe. If that puts you off, then certainly forget about Phuket.

Sorry but that is just rubbish.

I own 3 businesses, hotel, restaurant and a bar.

Bar does not have any girls or boys, does not stay open past midnight, and does not play any music, just TV and i have never had to bribe anyone to be in business.

I do give "donation" when i need to renew license, but its only so that i can have it in 10 mins, instead waiting for few weeks.

I also pay 1500 baht per MONTH to local police station and that is to have daily police patrols and direct number in case of emergency.This is not forced on to you and is NOT actually easy to get, so hardly a bribe

another successful story

I am far from been rich, If i was to have the same type of businesses in the West i would be.

So hardly a success, but not doing too bad.

I will say though, when i opened my restaurant, there was not a single one in 300 meter radius, we were busy.

Within about 2 months, 5 opened in 50 meter radius, so naturally all, including myself were loosing money as not enough customers.

few months after, all 5 closed down, so mine got busy again.

Same thing, happened again, 5 new ones opened one.

Its been like this now for 5 years.

Same thing happened with hotel. I was the only one in the price range, now have another 3 right next to me and doing the exact thing.

I am constantly battling "monkey see monkey do", and this battles are expansive as i have to invest a lot of money into marketing and advertising

[recycler]

Under the current economical situation and the future outlook for Thailand I would be very hesitant to start a restaurant business here catering to foreigners!

It has never been easy, but it's getting increasingly more difficult in recent years and that trend doesn't seem to end.

[Brickbat]

I had fast food shops in Sydney. Now retired in Chiang Mai. A pal has a restaurant here and I thought I would partner with his already successful bizzo and make it bigger n better with my skills and capital. But after I saw him having to pay bribes, I backed out. I detest that sort of nonsense. If you can put up with that, then go for it. With skill, persistence and determination, you can achieve anything. Anywhere. You are right about the negative bs, even though it's well meant. Most negativity is based on fear.

Remember, right product, right price, right promotion, right position, right people , WILL SUCCEED.

[Graeme Lahman]

Hi yes it is not easy setting up business here but if you have some experience, marketing knowledge and can find a niche in the markets you are targetting then go for it.

I am part of an entrepreneurs group here in Phuket. We meet twice monthly on a Friday and help start up companies make connections and our members act as a sounding board for your ideas. Let me know if this might be of help to you.

[little mary sunshine]

You must be kidding!! You will work like a dog

Six or seven days a week and make B25K per

Month if you are lucky....93% of new businesses

Fail.

Make your money on Oz and come here and enjoy

A B70-90K pension and liver very very well.

[Brickbat]

93% fail for 2 major reasons. They do not understand cashflow. And they do not know their product and/ or customers.

If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. Confucius

[seancbk]

To answer your question: yes it is easy for an Australian to start a business in Thailand. Making it work though? That's about a 1 in 1000 proposition.

Before jumping in though I'd make sure I had a sturdy shark cage.

Thanks any tips or advice you could give me.

This is just an idea - we have capital but we don't want to jump in without knowing what we would be or could be facing.

If it seems too difficult or not worth it we just won't do it!

Anyone can start a business in Thailand, the details of the requirements are easy to find.

The real question is whether your idea has merit. It appears from your other comments that you are taking a sensible approach and have done some research into the potential.

I am in the process of starting a business in Bangkok (which I hope will expand across Thailand eventually). My startup costs are around 600,000 THB and I'll burn through 1.2 million in the first 4 months. I have 2 primary competitors and many secondary competitors, however my product is sufficiently different and my extensive research points to a high chance of success.

Of course nothing is guaranteed.

If you have the money and can honestly afford to lose it, and if you feel you've researched enough to satisfy yourself there is a market, then I would say go for it.

Ignore the naysayers who probably have either no money to risk, no experience building businesses and don't want to see you succeed anyway as it would just make them more jealous.

Good luck.

[Tomtomtom69]

If Thailand is no good why not try Cambodia. Much easier to start a business and now with the bombing I'd be much more concerned about security in Thailand - Cambodia seems much safer. There are so many opportunities there I would recommend you go there before all these opportunities have been taken up by others.

[Mousehound]

I have been in business for over forty years in Australia. No longer. The government interference, tax, cost of doing business is such that although every business I have ever run made at least a decent living I would be far more interested in starting up in Thailand. I see quite a few pretty successful businesses here in Thailand owned by farangs. I think I would be starting fairly small, ensure I had a product in demand and keep overheads down. Risk a bit to test the market and find out what works. Observe in detail similar businesses and work out what they do well. Then if you have experience in running businesses it could well be worth while. A note about competition: I never much worried too much if there was someone doing something similar. Strangely, if I was opening up a restaurant I would look to open up as close to another successful restaurant and target a similar audience. I would offer alternative menu. Most of their clientele will give you try and then it depends on how well you do what you do best.

[Maestro]

Removed a troll post.