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 BOI, Thailand Business
What are the activities eligible for promotion under section 6 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 15:11:55.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand
I wish you all a Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for 2010 and I hope that we will see many of you in Thailand next year. Now if Somchai (Santa) Claus was Thai what would be the wish list of the Foreign Community in Thailand?
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-12-24 07:15:15.
May 24 2010
Categories: Doing Business In Thailand, Thailand Business
For reason I cannot come to understand many foreign investors view Thailand as a place where you can do business as you want without having to worried of the potential consequences. Nothing could be farthest from the truth than this belief.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-08 07:06:53.
May 24 2010
Categories: Thailand Business
The Pattaya Mail reported today that, according to sources from several police divisions a serious crackdown on Bar Businesses would begin next month that would target GoGo bars, Beer Bars, Gay Bars and any other bars which are charging bar fines to the customers to let their employees leave work early. Now according to the Pattaya Mail, the police “suspects that many of these rendezvous are sexually related”.
Read more…
Originally posted 2010-01-22 14:27:04.
May 24 2010
Categories: Thailand Business, Understanding Thailand
Is Thai Legal System Different?
If I had to qualify the Thai legal system, I would say that Thailand is a country ruled by Civil Law with a touch of Common Law. Civil law is one of the predominant system of law in the world. The other being common law, which is the legal system developed among Anglo-Saxons people.
The main difference between the two systems is that civil law is laid down from abstract rules and judges must apply those rules to the various cases before them. Read more…
Originally posted 2009-07-23 05:17:20.
May 24 2010
Categories: Thailand Business
This is my second post on the subject of Minimum Capital Requirement. I will discuss this time the minimum capital requirement for foreign BOI promoted companies. For Non BOI companies please refer to my previous post Doing Business in Thailand: Minimal Capital Requirements dated of 21 January 2010. Read more…
Originally posted 2010-02-05 00:50:18.
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: Thailand Business
I have the pleasure to inform you that the second edition of my book “How to Safely Buy Real Estate in Thailand” shall be available in Thailand Bookstores starting from the 10th of February 2010 at a price of 625 THB. Later this month it shall also become available on Amazon.com, Nobles and Barnes and Theebooksale.com websites among others. It contains 54 chapters and 342 pages of useful information for anyone interested to buy real estate in Thailand. Read more…
Originally posted 2010-01-27 20:56:39.
May 24 2010
Categories: Thailand Business
Many foreign investors living in Thailand call themselves “permanent resident” which is actually incorrect. A permanent resident of Thailand is a foreign national that has applied and obtained a Resident Permit (or Certicate of Residence) pursuant to Chapter 5 Section 40 to 52 of the Immigration Act. What are the benefits of this status and how to obtain it?
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-11-19 01:27:34.
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: Thailand Business
Many employers in Thailand have found themself condamned for unfair dismissal as a result of court proceedings filed by employees that were terminated following a disciplinary action for violation of the company working rules. The reason for this is that Thai laws are very formal and that the disciplinary procedure must be in conpliance with the law or the working regulation of the company in order to be valid and opposable to the employee.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-12-01 02:34:02.
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: Thailand Business
I deleted yesterday post and reposted today a new version
A reader remarked that I posted a lot of information as to real estate selling prices but did not give to date any information as to construction prices. The problem is that while there is actually a lot of data available on this matter, the information provided is not always coherent. In the post I cancelled I only posted the highest price range information but i felt that to do so was only giving you part of the picture.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-10-06 08:05:27.
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: Thailand Business, Understanding Thailand
Should you be wary to do business with Thai people?
Not really because Thai people are honest. There are always exceptions of course but as a foreigner coming to do business in Thailand you have to be more wary of citizens from your own country than from Thais.
Read more…
Originally posted 2009-07-24 04:10:21.
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.
