Starting company with Thai wife and myself.

[BigButSmall]

Hi all, 

 

I am wanting to start a company with my wife who is Thai.

I also want to work for her legally but the company can be in her name fully etc I dont care about that.

My question is what forms of companies can we look at in this situation,  does it have to be a limited with 4 additional thais so I can get a work permit? The problem there is that we dont need more employees other then my wife and I.

As of now she has done the work on her own as a "personal" company set up(not sure what the proper english term is) but does accounting 6months at a time and pays taxes.

 

If there are any other avenues or options would greatly appriciate the info.

 

 

[Asiantravel]

"As of now she has done the work on her own as a "personal" company set up "

 

what comes to mind is the question at the end of the day will your contribution be worth all the hassle and cost you will likely have to endure?

[BigButSmall]

Well yes but thats not the question im asking,  the answers to my original question would help to answer that also. 

 

I saw ubonjoe answer this in an other thread which is why I wanted to find more info:

On 12/25/2016 at 10:04 AM, dbrenn said:

Is it possible to get a work permit as a sole trader, or in a limited partnership? I thought that work permits were only possible through a limited company.

Yes it is possible. But unless married to a Thai there would no extension possible since immigration requires it to be a registered company.

I know of person that gets his work permits working at his wife's restaurant. There are many that have 51/49% partnership with rheir wives getting work permits.

 

There was further discussion but no reply:

 

To clarify, if you are married to a Thai and have an extension-of-stay based on marriage (or Non-O Multiple), you could get a work-permit from the Labor Dept to work for your wife's business (say she owns 100% - sole-trader), even if:

1. It is not a registered company meeting capital requirements,
2. It does not have 2* Thai employees on the books (* 4 Thai employees required at some labor-dept offices),
3. You do not earn a specified threshold-income.

 

[Savilesghost]

On 27/12/2016 at 4:20 PM, BigButSmall said:

Well yes but thats not the question im asking,  the answers to my original question would help to answer that also. 

 

I saw ubonjoe answer this in an other thread which is why I wanted to find more info:

Yes it is possible. But unless married to a Thai there would no extension possible since immigration requires it to be a registered company.

I know of person that gets his work permits working at his wife's restaurant. There are many that have 51/49% partnership with rheir wives getting work permits.

 

There was further discussion but no reply:

 

To clarify, if you are married to a Thai and have an extension-of-stay based on marriage (or Non-O Multiple), you could get a work-permit from the Labor Dept to work for your wife's business (say she owns 100% - sole-trader), even if:

1. It is not a registered company meeting capital requirements,
2. It does not have 2* Thai employees on the books (* 4 Thai employees required at some labor-dept offices),
3. You do not earn a specified threshold-income.

 

On what basis is he getting a WP working at his wifes restaurant ? ....this in all likelyhood is not possible, think someone is telling you lies, the 49/51% ownership is irrelevant for being issued a WP

 

 

 

[vaultdweller0013]

17 hours ago, Savilesghost said:

On what basis is he getting a WP working at his wifes restaurant ? ....this in all likelyhood is not possible, think someone is telling you lies, the 49/51% ownership is irrelevant for being issued a WP

 

 

 

 

The statement about the WP was by Ubonjoe from the thread below, so I tend to believe it. I was watching the thread to see if anyone would end up giving more details on the case you are asking about, but instead it devolved into the typical flame fest and ended up being locked.

 

You might have better luck posting this or getting a admin to move the topic to the "Thai visas, residency and work permits" sub-forum since that forum gets more traffic and has a number of knowledgeable regular posters. 

[williamgeorgeallen]

On 27/12/2559 at 3:05 PM, Asiantravel said:

"As of now she has done the work on her own as a "personal" company set up "

 

what comes to mind is the question at the end of the day will your contribution be worth all the hassle and cost you will likely have to endure?

foreign work permits are difficult to justify. i was spending about 150k per year on mine and each year it got more difficult to get, especially after the army took over. if you are doing it for a visa better just get a marriage or better a retirement visa if possible.

[timendres]

1 hour ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

foreign work permits are difficult to justify. i was spending about 150k per year on mine and each year it got more difficult to get, especially after the army took over. if you are doing it for a visa better just get a marriage or better a retirement visa if possible.

 

Agreed 100% ! WPs are an expensive, time consuming, pain in the A$$.

[BEVUP]

He may be doing this to one day get Residency

[Autonuaq]

You say you only need you and your wife to do the job.

 

Meaning other thai can do what you do?

Theb no change to get a work permit.

 

And only 2 can do all.

 

You are married then need 1.000.000 Thb.

 

As well you work for 3 thai, each costs minimum wages per day full per month

Insurance and taxes.

 

You have to make a lot of profit to pay workers to do nothing. You start a charity company?

 

Think your plan has to be revisitied

[BigButSmall]

7 hours ago, vaultdweller0013 said:

 

The statement about the WP was by Ubonjoe from the thread below, so I tend to believe it. I was watching the thread to see if anyone would end up giving more details on the case you are asking about, but instead it devolved into the typical flame fest and ended up being locked.

 

You might have better luck posting this or getting a admin to move the topic to the "Thai visas, residency and work permits" sub-forum since that forum gets more traffic and has a number of knowledgeable regular posters. 

 

Exactly this thank you! 

 

I dont need it for the visa,  nor im I a russian lol. I have a yearly non O,  going through the limited route would cost us around 250k a year extra with the hassle so if so, we will do that,  its not about that. When I saw ubonjoe make that comment made me interested in other avenues.

 

Lot of naysayers on this forum(well in this world) but start asking how instead of why not and you can be a success

 

I have had a limited company and wp some 4 years ago,  so im familiar with the process,  what im after is other avenues if any for a thai wife/western husband to run a business by the law.

[metisdead]

A post using a foreign language has been removed as this is the English language side of the forum.  English is the only acceptable language anywhere on ThaiVisa including Classifieds, except within the Thai language forum, where of course using Thai is allowed.

[sandemara]

Well, Bigbutsmall, you gave yourself the best advice in your last post, when you used the phrase "to run a business by the law". You really would be doing the smart thing to consult an experienced lawyer, specialist business advisor (many young guns have set up shop in BKK) or accountant. Do some shopping, try several advisors - many give the first consultation free. It's a small investment of your time and minimal money, with the prospect of great gains.  Good luck.

[William C F Pierce]

What you are asking is about the law on partnerships which is possible under Thai law. Some examples of this are Thais and foreigners in partnership as Real Estate Agents, so marriage is not an absolute criteria you require. Some real estate agent sites do give advice on this, but it is best to do it through and set it up through a Thai lawyer. The costs are not as high as a western country and you will save yourself a lot of money and hassle in the long run.

[NiwPix]

Hi,
It sounds like she is running the business as a "Sole Proprietorship". Under this business model it is possible to obtain a work permit. It is the easiest / simplest business setup there is, but more risk than a limited company. Just google "sole proprietorship"
However, there are other things that might hinder you from obtaining a work permit. There are certain jobs reserved for Thais only. Make sure your job does not fall in that category.
I am not sure if and how many other Thais you will have to hire as another requirement to obtain the work permit. It can be 0, 2 or 4. If you are required to hire two or four Thais, you don't reeeeally have to hire them. You just need to pay their monthly social security ( currently 900฿ per person ). Best to use your wife's relatives for this.

[Legends]

I signed up just for this particular thread, I'm curious how this plays out. I'm wondering about doing something like this myself, only not with a wife.

 

If you gave money to a Thai person to start a business, as you say, for a sole proprietorship, it seems that as others have mentioned it's theoretically possible for them to hire you (for a visa). How much investment money did/does it cost for your wife to start/run the business in Thailand?

 

I'm just curious if this is like a "her+a laptop is the business," or is this like a cafe or something. I guess I don't need to know the details...

 

Alternatively, if anyone here is hiring for or has tips on starting a business in Thailand let me know. My background is in marketing (mostly for a music school) and security software development.

 

Anyway, let us know how it works out.

[BigButSmall]

Just wanted to give everybody an update. I never did get any info then doing it co ltd route with me for 4thais which is what we ended up  doing. Feel like its wasting money but gotta spend money to make it I guess… 

[Brandonpm]

I am currently looking into the same thing. Wanting to start up a small hostel business in either Bangkok or the south. Wanted to know the easiest way possible with a Thai friend. If it is started as a sole proprietorship by her does there need to be a minimum start up capital and can k still obtain a work visa to run the business?

[williamgeorgeallen]

On 6/1/2560 at 0:30 AM, NiwPix said:

Hi,
It sounds like she is running the business as a "Sole Proprietorship". Under this business model it is possible to obtain a work permit. It is the easiest / simplest business setup there is, but more risk than a limited company. Just google "sole proprietorship"
However, there are other things that might hinder you from obtaining a work permit. There are certain jobs reserved for Thais only. Make sure your job does not fall in that category.
I am not sure if and how many other Thais you will have to hire as another requirement to obtain the work permit. It can be 0, 2 or 4. If you are required to hire two or four Thais, you don't reeeeally have to hire them. You just need to pay their monthly social security ( currently 900฿ per person ). Best to use your wife's relatives for this.

my business which i still own but dont run any more we have 2 thai staff and also pay social for their wives. this is a good arrangement.  i tried to have 4 thai staff but it was pretty much impossible to find 4 good ones. have probably tried 30 thai workers over the last 9 years. business has been going 9 years and i never invested 2 million in capital. maybe it is different now, not sure how they check that. the work permit my manager has is very difficult to keep running. last year they sent around 3 lots of officials to take photos of the business. you need a good lawyer/accountant, preferably one with contacts at immigration and the labor office.

[williamgeorgeallen]

On 12/3/2560 at 1:00 AM, Brandonpm said:

I am currently looking into the same thing. Wanting to start up a small hostel business in either Bangkok or the south. Wanted to know the easiest way possible with a Thai friend. If it is started as a sole proprietorship by her does there need to be a minimum start up capital and can k still obtain a work visa to run the business?

will be very difficult to make enough money to pay for a work permit and visa from a small hotel. also i dont know what job you would be allowed to do in a hostel. most jobs are reserved for thais.

[simon43]

As mentioned in this thread, it is legally possible to get a work permit when working for a registered Sole Trader.  But in practice, the issue of a WP may be refused by your local labour office, who often prefer a limited company arrangement.  Your job in the business should be something that a Thai cannot do, such as manager of foreign guests.  If you speak a language other than English and Thai, then this is further justification for you to get a WP because a Thai cannot speak this language.

 

Bear in mind that you cannot get a WP as a manager and then start doing menial or service work in your hotel - you have to strictly adhere to the job responsibilities in your WP.

[williamgeorgeallen]

17 hours ago, simon43 said:

As mentioned in this thread, it is legally possible to get a work permit when working for a registered Sole Trader.  But in practice, the issue of a WP may be refused by your local labour office, who often prefer a limited company arrangement.  Your job in the business should be something that a Thai cannot do, such as manager of foreign guests.  If you speak a language other than English and Thai, then this is further justification for you to get a WP because a Thai cannot speak this language.

 

Bear in mind that you cannot get a WP as a manager and then start doing menial or service work in your hotel - you have to strictly adhere to the job responsibilities in your WP.

also you can only work at the address specified on the work permit. i got done with the wrong address in my work permit. cops held my passport and it took 2 years to get through the courts. was a costly exercise. all because they basically made it impossible to move my work permit from samui to pattaya. suritani and chonburi labor offices dont seem capable of achieving this simple task.knowing what i know now i would have just spent the money to cancel my work permit and start a new one. hind sight is perfect of course.