What is the Education Visa?
The education visa is the visa granted to foreign citizens who want to pursue studies in Thailand.
This type of visa covers the cases of enrollment in a government educational institution or in a private educational institution (High School or University) and is also available to foreign citizen that whishes to conduct training or research into a university or research institute.
Work Permits Requirements - Update
In France we have this joke of a Prime Minister giving a speech to restore confidence and saying:
" Last year we were on the brink of a cliff but I'm proud to tell you all that we have made a big step forward ".
What is the Visa Exemption?
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.
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.
Extending a Non Immigrant Visa B for one year
A foreign investor conducting a business in Thailand or working for a Thai company may if all conditions and documentary requirements are fulfilled file an application and obtain a one year visa.
February 1 2010
Categories: Thailand Business, Thailand Company Registration
Why review the private limited company set-up?
The private limited company is the legal vehicle that is the most commonly used by foreign investors in Thailand that is why we will review hereinafter the formalities of registration of a private limited company.
Originally posted 2009-07-24 11:17:21.
February 1 2010
Categories: Opening Bank Account, Thailand Banking
May a foreign citizen open a bank account in Thailand?
The answer is of course yes, or more accurately yes, but…
As a matter of fact the issue of the opening of a bank account by a foreign non-resident is one of the most confusing issues for foreigners in Thailand because there is a huge discreptancy between the theory and the practice.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-08-02 05:24:27.
February 1 2010
Categories: Thailand Visas & Work Permit, Thailand Work Permit
Contrary to a common belief there are no minimum wages applicable to foreign workers. But because there is always a but in Thailand the Immigration Department has developed a minimum wage schedule applicable to foreign workers who benefit of a work permit and wants to apply and obtain a one year B visa extension.
Read more…
Originally posted 2010-01-16 07:20:22.
February 1 2010
Categories: Thailand Business
One the Real Estate front the question that got everyone agitated is whether the Government will extend the privilege of discounted taxes and government fees on property transactions as the deadline for the end of this privilege (28 March 2010) is coming closer.
Read more…
Originally posted 2010-01-11 03:45:58.
February 1 2010
Categories: Thailand Business, Understanding Thailand
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.
Read more…
Originally posted 2010-01-07 08:18:32.
February 1 2010
Categories: Understanding Thailand
Are Thai employees reliable?
Absolutely, however, as with everything there are always exceptions but if, you treat your Thai employees well and with respect, you will notice that they will give you the loyalty that you do not expect to find anymore.They will be hard working and, committed; they will protect your interests and the interests of your company as if it were theirs. Over time the company will become a second family for them up to the point where you will see an employee in tears informing you that she is leaving your company for a new job. Such moments, are a real reward.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-07-23 06:05:50.
February 1 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
Thai journalists are so bored by this surprisingly politically “quite” beginning of the year that they have decided to entertain themselves by calling out “Coup”. And for the past week there has not been one newspaper that does not have at least one article per day on the subject of a possible coup.
Read more…
Originally posted 2010-01-26 23:24:06.
February 1 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
Is Thailand open to foreign investment?
Absolutely, many foreigners are exempted from visas requirements and as you will see foreigners are welcome to invest in nearly all sectors of activities in Thailand without needing any prior authorization providing that they do a minority investment (less that 49% of a business shares in a few cases less than 25%).
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-07-24 07:41:19.
February 1 2010
Categories: Thailand Business, Thailand Company Registration
In a previous post I explained step by step the formalities to incorporate a Thai Limited Company. Many readers have contacted me to request whether I could also post the english translation of Thai Limited Company most important documents for information. After the Memorandum of Association (please see previous post) please see below a translation of the Minutes of the Statutory Meeting. Please note that this is an unofficial translation only.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-09-04 07:35:27.
February 1 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
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.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-10-10 07:20:10.
February 1 2010
Categories: Property General Issues, Thailand Property
Issues that may occur when using an agent
Most buyers purchasing real estate in Thailand will do so buy purchasing through the services of an agent.
The first difficulty buyers will encounter is that Thailand does not have for the time being (if there are, they aren’t enforced) a regulation that would obligate professional real estate agents to formally notify the buyer that they’re acting as the seller’s agent.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-07-26 03:27:37.
February 1 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Company Registration
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
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-12-05 01:48:19.
February 1 2010
Categories: Property General Issues, Thailand Property
Should you purchase off plan?
From experience, we know that most problems occur when buyers purchase property “off plan”. Whether or not the transaction has a favorable outcome will depend solely upon one single factor: Did the buyer purchase from a reliable developer or not? Truth be told, purchasing off plan is no more dangerous when purchasing offshore than in your home country, as long as you are purchasing from a reliable developer who operates in the country where you are purchasing.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-08-10 06:01:41.
February 1 2010
Categories: Understanding Thailand
So, the mountain labored and brought forth a mouse, and after a lot of declaration of the contrary the NTC will not auction the 3G licenses before the end of the year. History has repeated itself (please see my previous post on the subject “Ridiculous Thailand: The 3G license drama (2)”). The NTC already did it in 2006 announcing that the 3G licenses would be issued within the end of year 2006 and they were not, and they will not be issued by end of 2009. What next then? Will we have to wait another 3 years before something happen again on this front. I mean some countries are already experiencing with 4G now.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-07 11:40:27.
February 1 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand
In this post I tried to make a table that shows for each type of activities the percentage of foreign ownership allowed in Thailand. This kind of exercise is always difficult because there are so many variables applicable that the table format is not always ideal. Anyway this is a work in progress and we will try to improve the presentation over the next weeks.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-17 04:56:52.
February 1 2010
Categories: Understanding Thailand
For service providers that rely on foreign investment like us, 2008 was a bad year and I remembered in October 2008 whishing for the year to end and for a fresh start in 2009. Obviously, the subprime crisis and the seizure of Bangkok airport by the yellow shirts shattered any chances of fresh start. Curiously and despites everything that happened 2009 was not as bad a year as it could have been. Still the year is about to come to an end and it is now time to think about what 2010 may bring us. Unfortunately, prediction are difficult with a political situation at a standstill and the business community holding its breath and waiting to see what will happen next.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-30 03:53:22.
February 1 2010
Categories: Property General Issues, Thailand Property
In yesterday post we discussed Bangkok condominium market. Now what is Bangkok new homes market situation?
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-08-27 10:40:41.
February 1 2010
Categories: Understanding Thailand
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
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-14 08:06:15.
February 1 2010
Categories: Leasehold Ownership, Thailand FAQ, Thailand Property
Is it worth purchasing a property in leasehold second hand?
Someone today’s asked whether it is worth purchasing second hand a property in leasehold?
Here again all depend what kind of property your purchase.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-08-13 17:03:44.
February 1 2010
Categories: Property General Issues, Thailand Property
[There was a formating problem in our Sunday post. I reposted it again]. People purchasing real estate in Thailand are often fulfilling the goal of a lifetime. In the pursuit of their life dream they will often toss caution to the wind, lose all common sense and ignore some simple precautions.Truth is that the actual formalities to transfer a real estate property are fairly straight, simple and may be completed in a few hours which leads many buyers to believe that purchasing a property in Thailand will be a simple transaction when it is not always the case. [ this post was published earlier as a page. We updated it and republished it as a post].
Originally posted 2009-10-19 03:05:09.
February 1 2010
Categories: Thailand FAQ
This is the end of the road for Thailand Elite Scheme in Thailand. The Government has approved on Tuesday the principle of the auction and has assigned the Finance Ministry the drafting of the conditions of the Auction which should be completed within one month.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-12-16 11:10:44.
February 1 2010
Categories: Property General Issues, Thailand Property
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
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-10-03 04:33:32.
February 1 2010
Categories: Land Ownership, Thailand Property
Assuming that Thai authorities take as announced a hard stance in relation to the matter of “companies that own land with Thai Shareholders that may be deemed nominees” and assuming that the company do not fight back the accusations. What would happen then?
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-02 09:59:13.
February 1 2010
Categories: Thailand Property
Dear Readers, if you have been wondering why I barely posted during the past two weeks the reason is that I was finalizing the second edition of my book “How to Safely Buy Real Estate in Thailand” to be published beginning of February 2009.
Read more…
Originally posted 2010-01-14 10:24:58.
February 1 2010
Categories: Thailand Visas, Thailand Visas & Work Permit, Thailand Work Permit
Extending a Non Immigrant Visa B for one year
A foreign investor conducting a business in Thailand or working for a Thai company may if all conditions and documentary requirements are fulfilled file an application and obtain a one year visa.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-07-29 09:31:15.
February 1 2010
Categories: Condominium Ownership, Thailand Property
If you are an individual and are selling a real estate property in Thailand you will be liable to pay personal income tax on the gain you will realized on the transaction at the time of the transfer at the Land Department. Now how does the Land Department Officer actually calculate the withholding tax payable by individual Sellers? Read more…
Originally posted 2009-12-09 09:26:58.
February 1 2010
Categories: Property General Issues, Thailand Property
In Thailand claims on land may be divided in two categories: The major and the minor claims. In this post we will introduce the highest claims on land that are the Nor Sor Sam or Certificate of Use (NS-3), the Nor Sor Sam Gor or Confirmed Certificate of Use (NS-3K) and the Chanote (NS-4) claims.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-09-14 02:59:08.
February 1 2010
Categories: Thailand Property
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.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-14 06:50:40.
February 1 2010
Categories: Thailand BOI, Thailand Business
BOI promotion: How to get started?
In this post we will review how to prepare yourself for a BOI application. We will use for this post the example of an investor that want to invest in the manufacturing sector. Note that most of our comments are generals and will also apply if you invest into another sector of activity.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-08-05 14:36:44.
February 1 2010
Categories: Property General Issues, Thailand Property
To buy or not to buy in Thailand?
This is one of the questions that many careful investors are asking now.
Of course due to what happen in Thailand in 1997 where many banks and developers went bankrupt and where hundreds of buildings where left unfinished a lot of buyers are wondering whether it is the right time to buy a property in Thailand?
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-07-25 23:54:08.