Doing Business in Thailand

Our  American cousins have what they call the American Dream” “first expressed by James Truslow Adams in 1931, citizens of every rank feel that they can achieve a “better, richer, and happier life” (Source Wikipedia) meaning that anyone has a chance to become one day another Bill Gate. In Thailand we have another dream, far more modest; it is called the “Bar Owner” dream or the Bar Owner illusion to be more accurate.

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Originally posted 2009-11-06 05:07:54.

While the purpose of this blog is to inform on how to do business and not to do politic I will nevertheless from time to time dedicate a post to the ongoing Thai Political Crisis.It seems that the time of a possible reconciliation of all parties as not yet come and that the political situation is about to become even more muddy if it was possible and we are to enter another period of incertitude

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Originally posted 2009-09-13 08:02:00.

I recently read an article in the Bangkok Post were a Revenue Department Official was quoted discussing the matter of a possible corporate income taxes reduction. This official was saying that while corporate income tax may be higher than in other countries Thailand was however one of the country in the world where the VAT rate was the lowest.  This gave me the idea to compare the ranking of Thailand in relation to personal income tax, corporate income tax and VAT.

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Originally posted 2009-10-11 06:54:42.

The infamous blacklist

There are a lot of lists most of us dreamt to be on (fortune list, most influent people, most eligible bachelor and so on….) but there is one you definitively don’t want to be on, Thailand immigration blacklist.

Note: I would be unfair to Thailand if I did not state that Thailand is not the only country with an immigration blacklist. All countries have one.

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Originally posted 2009-08-08 06:36:36.

In this post we will discuss the voting rights of shareholders at the shareholder meeting of a Thai limited company depending of the amount of their shareholding.

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Originally posted 2009-11-23 04:47:10.

What are the activities eligible for promotion under section 7 of the BOI list?

This post concludes our series on the BOI (9 posts in total). If you have a question I did not deal with in the BOI series do not hesitate to complete our FAQ form. It was posted first on the 5th august but had to be reposted following technical problems

Reminder: As you already know the Board of Investment is the agency in charge of promoting certain sectors of Thai economy. As such the BOI role is among other to determine:

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Originally posted 2009-08-06 03:18:47.

Note: This post is not entirely new. This subject was first posted as a Page called “Thailand Ratings”. I’m about to modify the look of the blog and decided that some of the subjects discussed in pages would now be treated as a post. Of course I updated the content of this post to reflect the current situation.

As we all know, Thailand was one of the victims hit hardest by the 1997 crisis, and many of Thailand’s top developers and financial institutions were bankrupted by the crisis.  Earlier in 2009 I was asking whether the 2008 financial crisis would see Thailand revisiting the troubles of 1997.

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Originally posted 2009-10-10 07:20:10.

What is the current legal definition of a Foreigner?

In this post I will discuss how the concept of “foreigner” is defined by the Thai Foreign Business Act (formerly “Alien Business Act”) as well as the changes that the Thai Government wanted to bring to this definition in December 2007. While the attempt to change the definition of the FBA definition of the term of foreigner ultimately failed the fact is that it was the second such attempt since the enforcement of the FBA and that Foreign Investor coming to Thailand should keep in mind that said matters could resurface at any time in the future. Read more…

Originally posted 2009-07-21 12:25:37.

Thailand foreign land ownership policy is often criticized by foreign buyers and to make their point the critics often refer to other countries in Asia that allows foreign land ownership. The message being Thailand should change its policy and allows foreigners to own land because otherwise Thailand will be at risk to see buyers going to purchase in Asian countries that have more opens policies in this regard. I think that those critics are unfair to Thailand and I will explain why in this post

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Originally posted 2009-10-03 04:33:32.

Is there any limitation as to the amount of foreign currency you may bring in?

You may transfer foreign currency into Thailand or bring it in cash without any limit.

However if you bring into Thailand in cash an aggregate amount of foreign currency exceeding USD 20,000 or its equivalent you must declare it to a customs officer and it you transfer foreign currency exceeding USD 20,000 or its equivalent you will need to file a Foreign Exchange Transaction Form (“FETF”).

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Originally posted 2009-08-02 06:44:07.

It is definitively a strange start of the year in Thailand. During the past week there has been very few legal or economical news worth to report which explain my silence. As to the political scene there have been no major developments yet but this did not keep many commentators and journalists to entertain themselves by calling out “Wolf!”or in this particular case commenting on a possible Coup and even worth “Civil War” in Thailand.

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Originally posted 2010-01-07 08:18:32.

One question that many investors are asking is whether it is expensive to do business in Thailand? The answer is mixed. On the positive side, Bangkok is according to a CB Richard Elis survey ranking 151^st out of 179 markets in terms of office rental costs. Average rental costs in Bangkok for prime grade office are around 694 THB per square meter/per month (or 21 USD).

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Originally posted 2009-12-11 06:52:35.

Another big problem in Thailand for the professional who like us provide visa services is that foreign visas applicants are often confusing the names of the visas they are having and the benefits attached to say visas. This is why we will dedicate this post and the next post to give definitions of visas terms.

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Originally posted 2009-10-24 09:13:01.

Once again the foreign community is busing with rumors of a next hike of work permit fees that would soon increase up to 7,000 THB. Of course as a foreign investor I regret any increase of fees or anything which will make the situation more difficult for foreign investors in Thailand. Read more…

Originally posted 2009-09-01 10:50:05.

This post is a continuation of our series Thailand Visas: Setting the Record Straight. I wrote this series with a “back-to-basics” kind of approach because I don’t believe that it is possible to understand Thai immigration regulations without having first an understanding of basic terms such as visa, visa class, visa exemption, passport stamp, entry visa, departure visa, multi or single entry and so on…

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Originally posted 2009-10-26 09:27:19.

As previously explained, the Thai Civil and Commercial Code recognizes possessory rights and/or ownership rights and there are several kinds of documents to evidence various levels of rights to land, ranging from documents evidencing mere squatters or occupation rights to full ownership rights.

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Originally posted 2009-09-16 04:12:16.

One thing I find interesting when blogging is that Google and WordPress have tools that permit me not only to check what articles are the most successful but also the search queries of my blog readers. Now when looking at the queries I notice that there is still a lot of confusion among readers as to definition of legal concepts such as Thai or Foreign Private Limited Company and nominees. I tried hereinafter to clarify those concepts.

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Originally posted 2009-10-07 04:38:15.

What is personal income tax?

Personal income tax is the tax that is levied on the income of any person that is not subjected to corporate income tax such as:

- Individual, ordinary partnership, a body of person which is not a juristic person, a deceased person and an undivided estate.

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Originally posted 2009-08-01 08:07:03.

 The Business Development Department just announced the creation of a special unit dedicated to check companies’ compliance to the Foreign Business Act. The purpose of the new agencies is to insure more efficiency in insuring compliance to the Foreign Business Act. What does it mean for foreign investors in Thailand?

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Originally posted 2009-12-06 09:49:32.

Pursuant to Thai Immigration Law; any foreign citizen who wishes to enter the Kingdom of Thailand is in principle required to obtain a Visa from a Royal Thai Embassy or a Royal Thai Consulate-General prior to entering Thailand.

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Originally posted 2009-07-29 10:42:10.

Being involved in an accident is not fun when you are living in your own country where you have a grasp of what your legal rights are but it is even worth when you are in a foreign country like in Thailand. Not one day pass without a foreign resident or tourist being involved in a car, bike, trucks, bus or even boat accident. What should you do if you are involved into an accident?

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Originally posted 2009-12-22 10:21:42.

What are the activities eligible for promotion under section 4 of the BOI list?

Reminder: As you already know the Board of Investment is the agency in charge of promoting certain sectors of Thai economy. As such the BOI role is among other to determine:

What are the activities which are eligible for promotion

What are the conditions attached to said promotion

What are the privileges attached to said business activity

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Originally posted 2009-08-05 15:03:42.

If you want to start a restaurant in Thailand the first question you will have to ask yourself is: May a foreign investor legally open a restaurant in Thailand? The answer is No, Restaurant and Bar business are services activities under the Foreign Business Act List 3 which activities may be exercised by foreign investors only upon applying and receiving a Foreign Business License. The only exceptions are US Citizens who benefit of the US Amity Treaty and may operate a restaurant under a 100% US form.

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Originally posted 2009-11-05 02:44:17.

I have generated for Readers convenience a TABLE OF CONTENT of all the post I published to date and in which I give my opinion on political or business related news in Thailand.I hope this table will help you to navigate more easily in my blog 

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Originally posted 2009-11-14 08:06:15.

I have generated for Readers convenience a TABLE OF CONTENT of all the post I published to date on how to buy a property in Thailand.I hope this table will help you to navigate more easily in my blog.

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Originally posted 2009-11-14 06:50:40.

The Business Development Department (BDB) which is the unit of the Ministry of Commerce that is handling new companies registration just issued the updated figures of new companies registration at end of October 2009. Overall 2009 was even worth than 2008 but there are reasons to expect better results next year

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Originally posted 2009-12-05 01:48:19.

Today in the newspaper was an article about the future of Elite Card which future will be decided tomorrow by the government. One of the options to be considered tomorrow by the cabinet would be to completely stop the program. The company has currently 2570 Members but in order to diminish the liability in case of closure there is already talks to disqualify some members that would not fulfill the qualifications to obtain the card.

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Originally posted 2009-11-16 03:58:00.

Is it difficult to enter and stay in Thailand?

How many times did I hear foreign clients complaining about Thai Immigration policies and how difficult it is to live or stay in Thailand? Believe me we are the lucky one because Thailand gives us VIP treatment in comparison to what Thai citizens have to go through to visit our countries. Read more…

Originally posted 2009-07-21 14:54:28.

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” (Gen3:6).

This extract of the genesis sum up the story of foreign investment in Thailand.

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Originally posted 2009-08-17 06:51:07.

An investor that desires to buy a business in Thailand will have several options as follows:

1. Acquisition of Shares

2. Transfer of the Entire Business Assets

-          with immediate liquidation of the transferor company

-          without liquidation of the transferor company

3. Amalgamation

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Originally posted 2009-09-11 06:14:37.