Thailand falls to 49th on World Bank's Ease of Doing Business ranking

[impulse]

Myanmar: 167th Place

Cambodia: 127th Place

Indonesia: 107th Place

Philippines: 103rd Place

Vietnam: 90th Place

Suddenly, Thailand doesn't look so bad at 49th Place.

Malaysia: 18th Place (Maybe the Muslims know something?)

Singapore: #1 (But who can afford to live in style in Singapore?)

[Balance]

There are two important things an investor starting a business wants: certain knowledge about the rules of the road and that the rules will not change from office to office or person to person, and control over the operations of the company he or she has created.

But there is a problem on both items in Thailand: Administrative law and regulations are not certain from place to place or person to person, and the entrepreneur does not have control since he can only own 49% of the stock. The other question is who owns the 51% share? Have they invested the majority of the capital? We all know that the only thing the 51% owner does is suck as much cash as possible out of the company as soon as it is feasible. This has been my experience. Does anyone know of a company where the Thai shareholder puts up cash?

This is probably not true of the multinational manufacturing folks, but all we have heard about lately is the promotion of SME's and that is where the problems are found.

So, a simple change to Thai capitalization law to straighten out the ownership issues, and take the ambiguity of administrative law. How about by the end of the year?

[Winniedapu]

There are two important things an investor starting a business wants: certain knowledge about the rules of the road and that the rules will not change from office to office or person to person, and control over the operations of the company he or she has created.

But there is a problem on both items in Thailand: Administrative law and regulations are not certain from place to place or person to person, and the entrepreneur does not have control since he can only own 49% of the stock. The other question is who owns the 51% share? Have they invested the majority of the capital? We all know that the only thing the 51% owner does is suck as much cash as possible out of the company as soon as it is feasible. This has been my experience. Does anyone know of a company where the Thai shareholder puts up cash?

This is probably not true of the multinational manufacturing folks, but all we have heard about lately is the promotion of SME's and that is where the problems are found.

So, a simple change to Thai capitalization law to straighten out the ownership issues, and take the ambiguity of administrative law. How about by the end of the year?

Good luck with that. It's equivalent to trying to stop Thais from using the laws to thieve from people.

Double good luck...

W

[impulse]

If you don't know how to incorporate in a business friendly country and have your 49% owned Thai entity control pretty much nothing, the country's doing you a favor by keeping you from losing your shirt doing business here.

You figure GE, Ford, Toyota, Siemens, or Starbucks gave up 51% of much when they came to Thailand? Or that they gave away the 51%? Or conceded control of the company?

As in every market in the world, there is more Thai money chasing opportunities than good, solid opportunities. If you can't convince a Thai to invest cash, real estate, or equipment for their stake in the Thai division of your company, maybe your plan needs a rethink. (Or maybe you need to get out of the expat ghetto where you'll get all kinds of advice from people who haven't been there and haven't done that, and get out among Thai business people who can actually make that 51% investment- and they don't work in tourist bars)

And as much as I admire small businessmen, if your plan is to hire 2 Thai employees, then hire another 2 in the first year to qualify for your WP, and still have 4 minimum wage Thai employees in 10 years, you're not their target demographic. They're not going to bend over backwards to attract your $50,000 investment. They don't want to make it easy for you. They want to spend their efforts attracting well funded ventures that intend to grow and hire and train lots of locals.

Edited June 21, 2016 by impulse

[Winniedapu]

<deleted duplicate post>

Edited June 21, 2016 by Winniedapu

[ikke]

Remember when Thailand went up in this ranking.

The comment were "This is a fake report" and "One cannot trust this agency as they are agenda driven"

Of course when the ranking goes down, I for one cannot make excuses but have to agree with FACTS, while others agree also. Not because they are facts, but because they now suit their agenda.

Have you ever done business in Thailand Dj ? I don't think so....

If I would have known what I know now,, (yeah who does in life) i would have never started doing business in Thailand !!!!

And no, i don't talk about a bar, but serious business with over 150 employees of which 13 with a high degree.... they all are with me on this, but you Dj, you know it all better .....

[Winniedapu]

If you don't know how to incorporate in a business friendly country and have your 49% owned Thai entity control pretty much nothing, the country's doing you a favor by keeping you from losing your shirt doing business here.

You figure GE, Ford, Toyota, Siemens, or Starbucks gave up 51% of much when they came to Thailand? Or that they gave away the 51%? Or conceded control of the company?

As in every market in the world, there is more Thai money chasing opportunities than good, solid opportunities. If you can't convince a Thai to invest cash, real estate, or equipment for their stake in the Thai division of your company, maybe your plan needs a rethink. (Or maybe you need to get out of the expat ghetto where you'll get all kinds of advice from people who haven't been there and haven't done that, and get out among Thai business people who can actually make that 51% investment- and they don't work in tourist bars)

And as much as I admire small businessmen, if your plan is to hire 2 Thai employees, then hire another 2 in the first year to qualify for your WP, and still have 4 minimum wage Thai employees in 10 years, you're not their target demographic. They're not going to bend over backwards to attract your $50,000 investment. They don't want to make it easy for you. They want to spend their efforts attracting well funded ventures that intend to grow and hire and train lots of locals.

No, they want other people to do the work and then to skim off the cream themselves. There are dynamics in the case of motor manufacturers that, unless you are a board member, you'll likely not know about. Like the cost of the franchise, upfront and ongoing for example.

Your post started off sensible but your scorn for others made an appearance:

"(Or maybe you need to get out of the expat ghetto where you'll get all kinds of advice from people who haven't been there and haven't done that, and get out among Thai business people who can actually make that 51% investment- and they don't work in tourist bars)"

Normally I would agree with you, but there hasn't been much comment here from the barstool cowboys, and even if there were, it would probably not apply to your self-perceived area of expertise. which means you are comparing oranges and lemons; never a good idea,

If I'm wrong in my overall assessment of Thailand (and I share much of the viewpoint of posters regarding SME business startups in Thailand), and their $50,000 investment so sneeringly described by you, then FDI into Thailand must be doing splendidly well but it isn't and I don't think I am. That you don't appear to understand why, casts a pretty long shadow on the reasons for your scorn. Perhaps you haven't been scammed in this bearpit, in which case you lack the qualification to be scornful of people who have. And if you're paying attention, the motor industry in Thailand is not exactly in a sparkling state, and a number of gold standard non-motor company names are debunking or have already debunked - mostly to other ASEAN countries, those with more progressive FDI policies and less like the Sheriff of Nottingham.

"They want to spend their efforts attracting well funded ventures that intend to grow and hire and train lots of locals."

Thailand doesn't give a toss about the locals and training or employment opportunities, that's just naive thinking. Thailand already has zero or close to zero unemployment according to them - largely due to the absence of any adequate social support policies. Thais care about larceny and appearance. If that were not true, they would not need telling about the dire skillset of school and University leavers, they would be trying hard to make their Universities more well-respected, and they would have changed their education emphasis to one of critical thinking and skills development a long time ago. But they haven't done that because the continuing wealth of the landed gentry in Thailand depends not on upskilled people suitable for the Fords and the others you (somewhat naively) mention, but on the ready availability of cheap and compliant labour who have been suitably conditioned to function according to specification in a hugely exploitative society. It is a perceived threat to the continuity of this readily available cheap labour that has the landed gentry so rattled at the moment, hence many of them are looking to move offshore, or at least to move their dosh offshore. Perhaps you haven't noticed.

So be nice and more importantly, be humble because your scorn is likely to be offensive to anyone who has been ripped off by these people. whose major skill, largely developed and acquired by copying from those above them in the social strata, appears to be dishonesty.

Winnie

... and if you don't understand the principles of franchising, then I strongly recommend it as a fruitful avenue of enquiry for you.

Edited June 21, 2016 by Winniedapu

[Chris Lawrence]

Sounds a good number for a country that shoots itself in the foot constantly by having coup's. Anything could happen according to point 44.