Southeast Asian country with easy work permit regulations

[Chief89]

Dear Expats,

I need to hire sales-men from different Southeast Asian countries for my business. Instead of managing them overseas, I would prefer to have everyone under the same roof so I have better control.

Does anyone know which countries are very easy towards hiring other ASEAN nationalities? I did some research, and already found out the following:

· Cambodia: easy to get a work permit, just pay approx. 100 dollars and you are allowed to work in Cambodia. Cons: I think it’s harder to attract good employees in a country like Cambodia, then for example Thailand or Malaysia. Also doesn’t have the best business climate.

· Malaysia: easy to set up a business, called: Labuan International Company which can be 100 % foreign owned. Also has a good business climate. Cons: relatively expensive to live compared to other Southeast Asian countries. I also cannot find online if it’s easy to hire ASEAN nationalities. This could be solved by setting up a business for each employee, however this wouldn’t be my pick. Also relatively high number of expats who’ve lived there I spoke to didn’t like living there as much as they did in other Southeast Asian countries.

In Thailand my best bet would be a BOI company. They don’t have the 4 locals : 1 work permit rule normal Thai companies have, and it can be 100% foreign owned. But still it has limited quota for work permits, and it takes 3 – 6 month to start. Does anyone know how many work permits you can expect under this construction?

To be clear I am talking about work permits for Asian nationalities, mainly from ASEAN countries. Maybe these are easier to get then work permits for Westerns?

New insights in this matter would be much appreciated. J

Best,

[Asiantravel]

" I think it’s harder to attract good employees in a country like Cambodia "

on the whole Cambodians have a considerably better work ethic than Thailand and many have considerably better English speaking and writing skills than in Thailand (and a strong desire to keep improving their skills even above what they already have and you won't find that it Thailand).and the salary in Cambodia compared to Thailand is roughly 50% lower

[Chief89]

Thanks for your reply!

What I meant was expat employees. I need expat sales-men from other Southeast Asian countries. I think in Phnom Penh it’s much harder to find, them then in a city like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur where there are already a lot. Also when I can’t find anyone, it’s easier to persuade them to fly over with a job offer in in a city like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, then in Phnom Penh I think.

Edited June 26, 2016 by Chief89

[bark]

Thanks for your reply!

What I meant was expat employees. I need expat sales-men from other Southeast Asian countries. I think in Phnom Penh it’s much harder to find, them then in a city like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur where there are already a lot. Also when I can’t find anyone, it’s easier to persuade them to fly over with a job offer in in a city like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, then in Phnom Penh I think.

Not sure you know what you want. You seem mixed up. What country you want to start a business depends on the type of business.

If it is a food business, then Cambodia is not the place for you. As this country is black listed in EU countries, for Export.

[SOTIRIOS]

...sounds like you want it all...for next to nothing....

[MobileContent]

OP

In Thailand my best bet would be a BOI company. They don’t have the 4 locals : 1 work permit rule normal Thai companies have, and it can be 100% foreign owned. But still it has limited quota for work permits, and it takes 3 – 6 month to start. Does anyone know how many work permits you can expect under this construction?

A friend of mine has a BOI company and he has two Thai staffs and 9 foreigners. When he started the company he had 14 Thai staffs and 5 foreigners. The company develops software for the European and US market.

[mike13]

BOI company is reserved to large investments

and accreditation is a long process

[Chief89]

Thanks for your reply!

What I meant was expat employees. I need expat sales-men from other Southeast Asian countries. I think in Phnom Penh it’s much harder to find, them then in a city like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur where there are already a lot. Also when I can’t find anyone, it’s easier to persuade them to fly over with a job offer in in a city like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, then in Phnom Penh I think.

Not sure you know what you want. You seem mixed up. What country you want to start a business depends on the type of business.

If it is a food business, then Cambodia is not the place for you. As this country is black listed in EU countries, for Export.

Thanks for your reply! J

We provide an online service to restaurants and hotels in Southeast Asia. We need to open 1 (head)office in Southeast Asia where sales men from all Southeast Asian countries are represented (telemarketing.)

.

That is why it needs to be a country where this is possible. An country where it is relatively easy to hire other Southeast Asian nationalities. The 3 countries I mentioned are just examples of countries which kind of construction I could use, I was hoping on feedback from other members if they know countries where I can start a business that meet my criteria (get Asian work permits relatively easy.)

The 2^nd question was how many work permits I can expect under a BOI company in Thailand.

If anyone knows a better business identity in Thailand then the BOI that meets my criteria (get work permits for Asian nationalities relatively easy.) Then I would be happy to hear them. J

...sounds like you want it all...for next to nothing....

As stated in the topic title, I am looking for a country which has easy work permit regulations towards Asian nationalities.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Chief89

[Chief89]

OP

In Thailand my best bet would be a BOI company. They don’t have the 4 locals : 1 work permit rule normal Thai companies have, and it can be 100% foreign owned. But still it has limited quota for work permits, and it takes 3 – 6 month to start. Does anyone know how many work permits you can expect under this construction?

A friend of mine has a BOI company and he has two Thai staffs and 9 foreigners. When he started the company he had 14 Thai staffs and 5 foreigners. The company develops software for the European and US market.

Thanks for your reply! J I can definitely use this helpful information! was looking for some insights on work permit numbers in a BOI company.

BOI company is reserved to large investments

and accreditation is a long process

Thanks for your reply!

True! That’s why I was hoping on insights in countries which has easier procedures to foreign companies. Starting BOI will take between 3 – 6 months. And Investment needs to be 3.000.000 within the first 3 years, I think? + the actual costs of setting up the business.

http://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=typical_costs_of_starting_and_operating_a_business

In Malaysia it’s easy to set up a foreign business, and in Cambodia it’s easy to get a work permit. If anyone knows other Southeast Asian countries which have fairly easy laws towards foreigners wanting to open a business, or getting a work permit, I would be happy to hear! J

[MobileContent]

BOI company is reserved to large investments

and accreditation is a long process

Not really. I am in the tourism industry working having developed software reservation systems developed in Bangkok and all what we needed was 3 million Baht capital which have to be fully paid up within 1 year.

This software is still used by some of the largest booking portals in Asia and Europe and also we sold the licences as a one time fee (around 14 million Baht) it was tax free. Software Park Changwattana was our contact and they arranged everything with the BIO including the walk-ins with the immigration to getting the work permits.

[thaiturkey]

BEWARE OF MALAYSIA !

It has become very sleazy in recent years for obvious reasons. The Police and Immigration are far worse than in Thailand....very dangerous.

I have just been badly cheated there, and remain unable to obtain justice.

I have some quality Thai friends, but I now trust hardly anyone in Malaysia....even a close friend of 30 years, a rich Chinese, deserted me in my hour of need. The Malaysian Chinese stick together and protect one another, including really despicable people.

In conclusion, a sick society, the result of 60 years of racist, corrupt ,Malay dominated politics.

[speedtripler]

BEWARE OF MALAYSIA !

It has become very sleazy in recent years for obvious reasons. The Police and Immigration are far worse than in Thailand....very dangerous.

I have just been badly cheated there, and remain unable to obtain justice.

I have some quality Thai friends, but I now trust hardly anyone in Malaysia....even a close friend of 30 years, a rich Chinese, deserted me in my hour of need. The Malaysian Chinese stick together and protect one another, including really despicable people.

In conclusion, a sick society, the result of 60 years of racist, corrupt ,Malay dominated politics.

is there not corrupt ,racist sleazy politics in thailand too ?

[Chief89]

BEWARE OF MALAYSIA !

It has become very sleazy in recent years for obvious reasons. The Police and Immigration are far worse than in Thailand....very dangerous.

I have just been badly cheated there, and remain unable to obtain justice.

I have some quality Thai friends, but I now trust hardly anyone in Malaysia....even a close friend of 30 years, a rich Chinese, deserted me in my hour of need. The Malaysian Chinese stick together and protect one another, including really despicable people.

In conclusion, a sick society, the result of 60 years of racist, corrupt ,Malay dominated politics.

Thanks for the warning!

I have read something about this on the internet, that there are a lot of problems between races there. I’ve never been to Malaysia myself.

Could you elaborate a bit on which situation you were in? Without revealing your identity ofcourse.

BEWARE OF MALAYSIA !

It has become very sleazy in recent years for obvious reasons. The Police and Immigration are far worse than in Thailand....very dangerous.

I have just been badly cheated there, and remain unable to obtain justice.

I have some quality Thai friends, but I now trust hardly anyone in Malaysia....even a close friend of 30 years, a rich Chinese, deserted me in my hour of need. The Malaysian Chinese stick together and protect one another, including really despicable people.

In conclusion, a sick society, the result of 60 years of racist, corrupt ,Malay dominated politics.

is there not corrupt ,racist sleazy politics in thailand too ?

I think what Thaiturkey meant is that even between “Malaysians” there is a lot of racism. There are Malay-malays, Chinese-malays and Indian-malays. Each of them having different laws and taxes, not in each groups favour of course. This creates a lot of friction within the country itself.

But to get back to the topic: if anyone knows a country other than Cambodia or Malaysia where it is relatively easy to get a ASEAN work permit or set up a foreign business, please let me know.

[siam2007]

If you have never been to Malaysia, you for sure should not set up a company there. You should basically not set up a company anywhere, where you have not lived a reasonable amount of time and know the business climate and conditions.

Having said that, life in Malaysia is certainly not more expensive than in Thailand. I have lived in both countries for a long time. and I like the varieties of food on offer in Malaysia a lot more (but that's another story)

[Chief89]

Thanks for the tip!

[Tomtomtom69]

Thanks for your reply!

What I meant was expat employees. I need expat sales-men from other Southeast Asian countries. I think in Phnom Penh it’s much harder to find, them then in a city like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur where there are already a lot. Also when I can’t find anyone, it’s easier to persuade them to fly over with a job offer in in a city like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, then in Phnom Penh I think.

Not sure you know what you want. You seem mixed up. What country you want to start a business depends on the type of business.

If it is a food business, then Cambodia is not the place for you. As this country is black listed in EU countries, for Export.

Why?

Any links to this?