This post conclude for the time being my series on visa. In this post I tried to make a comparative table showing the most commonly used types of visa, their benefits and requirements. Note that some of the visa I discussed here have already been discussed in several posts already. I just want to permit readers to compare different type of visa without to switch from one post to the other.
Introduction to the Visa B
What is a Non Immigrant Visa B
Foreign investors who wish to come into Thailand to conduct a business or to work must first obtain a Non Immigrant Visa B with a Royal Thai Embassy.
The Non Immigrant Visa B will allow you to stay in Thailand for a period of not more than 90 days at a time. This visa may be granted for a single entry or multi entries.
On the 11 September 2009, Thai news reported a new crackdown on back-to-back Tourist visa applications under the form of an extended screening of visa applicants. Unfortunately I must say that this latest measure does not surprise me and is only one side of a new policy started by the immigration department around two years ago as part of a “spring house cleaning”.
What is the The Non-Immigrant Visa “O-A” (Long Stay) Visa
The Non-Immigrant Visa “O-A” (Long Stay) is a visa for people that are aged 50 years and more who wish to stay in Thailand for a period of not exceeding 1 year without the intention of working.
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.
May 24 2010
Categories: Thailand Company Registration
According to the yearly study of the World Bank “Doing Business 2010″ Thailand ranks 12th out of 183 friendly countries to do business. As a professional which role is to assist foreign investors doing business in Thailand I should welcome any such survey. I mean the friendlier Thailand looks to foreign investor the better it is for my business.
Note that tomorrow I will conclude with my “Buying a Business” posts series
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-09-10 03:28:25.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
Note: This post is not entirely new. This subject was first posted as a Page called “Nominee Issue”. 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 posts. Of course I updated the content of this post to reflect the current situation.
The “Thai Nominee” issue is the more acute problem of foreign investment in Thailand and we will discuss here the many aspects of this problem.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-10-12 01:18:43.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
In today and tomorrow post I will comment on the Global Corruption Barometer 2009 just published by the World Bank. Overall, 70 countries were surveyed, 12 of which are Asian countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea).
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-09-30 04:55:13.
May 24 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.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
Hi just to remind you that you may from now on read DoingBusinessThailand blog on your iphone. The application can be downloaded for free on Itune Store.
Originally posted 2010-01-27 03:44:29.
May 24 2010
Categories: Thailand BOI, Thailand Business
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
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-08-05 14:46:31.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
Note: This post is not entirely new. This subject was first posted as a Page called “Nominee Issue”. 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 posts. Of course I updated the content of this post to reflect the current situation.
This post is a continuation of my previous post on the nominees issue and i will try here to explain how does one make the distinction between a real shareholder on a nominee.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-10-13 03:15:26.
May 24 2010
Categories: Thailand Business, Thailand Company Registration
What is the disclosure requirement?
The disclosure requirement was one of the measures taken by the Thai Government to avoid the use of Thai nominees by foreign investors. Since August 14th 2006, the Department of Business Development is compelled to require at time of incorporation of a company that the company Thai shareholders justify the source of their investment if certain circumstances are met.
Originally posted 2009-07-24 10:40:28.
May 24 2010
Categories: Thailand Business, Thailand Company Registration
The private limited company is the legal vehicle that is the most commonly used by foreign investors in Thailand and we will hereinafter review the formalities of registration of a private limited company. In this article we will only review the conditions of incorporation of a Private Limited Company to the exclusion of nominees and Thai/foreign shareholders ratio which are discussed in other posts. [This post replace our previous post on the subject “How to register a company step by step”.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-10-20 07:09:45.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
Land Development is an activity that attracts many foreign investors in Thailand. I often wonder why because it is really a tricky activity to invest into if you are a foreign investor for several reasons as follows:
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-10 06:17:05.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business, Thailand Foreign Business Act
The hot potato of the moment is the Thai Nominees issue and there has not been one day for the past two weeks without an article or another in Thai press on the subject.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-09-02 05:51:07.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Understanding Thailand
The key to success when doing business in Thailand will be “understanding”, and you cannot arrive in Thailand and immediately jump into the fray because you will inevitably fail.
Read more…
Originally posted 2010-02-01 00:33:01.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Company Registration
Preference Shares are opposed to ordinary shares. In Thailand, ordinary shares like in most countries entitle their holders to a share of ownership of the company including a voting right (1 vote per share) and a right to the company dividend or the company benefit of liquidation.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-24 03:04:41.
May 24 2010
Categories: Thailand Foreign Business Act
What is the Foreign Business Act?
The Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (A.D.1999) (“FBA”) was enacted on March 4, 2000 to replace the Alien Business Act of 1971. The FBA does not regulate the entire matter of foreign investment in Thailand. The FBA purposes are:
- to define businesses activities, which exercise by foreigners, is prohibited or controlled and
- to define what a foreigner is.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-07-21 08:54:44.
May 24 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.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
How well are Thai employees protected in Thailand?
Yes they are well protected by the Labor Protection Act (1998) that applies to all businesses with at least one employee and which provide sanctions for employers who disregard the law.
The Labor Protection Act has been recently amended and the new amended act has been enforced in 28 May 2008. The new Act contains provision to protect indirect or outsourced workers and to empower the Courts to order an amendment of employment contracts, work rules, regulations or orders that are not fair.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-08-06 03:09:51.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand
Any employees between 15 to 60 years old and their employers must make monthly contribution to the social security. Now what are the exact costs of social security in Thailand?
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-12-13 09:45:23.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business, Thailand Company Registration
This is the third of a series of posts about Thai private limited company corporate documents translated in English.
The articles of associations of your company are another important corporate document of your company. As a matter of fact the decision on the content of the company articles of associations is actually taken during the statutory meeting.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-09-07 10:22:26.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
I have made a lot of posts about starting a business in Thailand but I never discussed the issues that need to be addressed when buying a business. In this post I will first address some general issues to consider before buying a business in Thailand
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-09-08 09:45:55.
May 19 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 documents for information. Today and the next few days I will post the translations of the main corporate documents of a Thai Private Limited company. Please note that this is an unofficial translation only.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-09-03 14:40:40.
May 19 2010
Categories: Thailand BOI, Thailand Business
What are the mining and base metals activities eligible for promotion under section 2 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
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-08-03 07:09:13.
May 19 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
A reader told me the other day that my series of “starting business in Thailand” was a bit skeptical as if I was marked by doubt that it was possible to do business successfully in Thailand.
Not at all, Thailand is as good a place to do business as any other. What I’m trying to convey in this series of articles is that investors should not expect miracles because they will be confronted to 3 problems.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-12 02:41:19.
May 19 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.
May 19 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business, Thailand Company Registration
There is a lot of confusion as to minimal capital requirements when doing business in Thailand and I will try to clarify this issue in this post.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-09-28 05:31:43.
May 19 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Foreign Business Act
Many countries are currently negotiating Free Trade Agreements with Thailand and the citizens of those countries are waiting impatiently for the benefits they will get out of these free trade agreements. Hopefully, they will finally be able to invest in Thailand without having to make allegiance to “You-Know-Who” “He/She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” that is to say the Thai Wife, Boyfriend or the Thai shareholder that may be deemed a nominee.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-09 05:26:48.
May 19 2010
Categories: Thailand Business, Thailand Company Registration
While companies are juristic persons and cannot be as such subject to the punishment of imprisonment it does not mean that a company may not be prosecuted for a criminal offence in Thailand. To the contrary, companies may be prosecuted the same way as individuals.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-12-15 10:20:04.
April 21 2010
Categories: Thailand Business, Thailand Company Registration
The first option available to a foreign investor who wants to start a business in Thailand is to register a non-trading legal vehicle (for example Representative Office). Hereinafter we will discuss the characteristics on Non-Trading Legal Vehicles the most common of which is the Representative Office. [this post is an updated version that replace one of my first posts]
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-10-15 00:09:26.
April 17 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
They are more than a few Tom, Dick and Harry that come to do business in Thailand armed with a “colonial” false sense of superiority. This is a mistake, even if Thailand did not yet achieve European, Japanese or US standards in all matters do not be mistaken about it. Thailand is a developed country. At least economically, politically that is a story for another day.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-03 08:15:01.
February 1 2010
Categories: Thailand BOI, Thailand Business
What is the BOI?
The Board of Investment or BOI is an agency set-up by the government to provide investment incentives to foreign or local investors that invest in promoted or priorities activities.
The two main objectives of the BOI are to decentralize Thailand Industrial’s base and to attract special types of investment (priority activities). Read more…
Originally posted 2009-07-21 12:51:10.
February 1 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand
According to the Bangkok Post, Assumption University and the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission have jointly polled 2,129 people on the issue of corruption in Thai society.Hopefully, the entire results of this survey will be published soon, but some interesting elements of the survey have already been revealed by the Bangkok Post.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-20 10:24:24.
