Doing Business in Thailand

There is a heated debate about whether prices have increased in Thailand or not. Of course they have increased. 15 years ago you could eat in the street for 10 to 15 thb. Today most of the food you find in the street is at prices from 35 to 45 THB. Now i dont think average salaries have increased by 300% during the same period. So the short answer is yes prices have increased in Thailand and for the biggest part during the past 4 years.

This brings me to another question. Is Thailand a cheap country where to live? Because if you are a tourist it may seems so. I mean where in the world can you spend vacations in a five star hotel for 80 to 100  USD per night. Short answer in Thailand and nowhere else. Then the fact is that booze is cheap, clothes you buy in markets are cheap and food (by comparison to European standard ) is cheap as well.

So for a tourist Thailand is definitively a good deal. But what if you are living there and want to live by the same standards you would be having in Europe? This is a different matter. For example you buy a car. Fact is that cars in Thailand are far more expensive than in Europe but your income will be far lower than you could expect in Europe. Therefore not only the car will cost more but in addition you will have to work more in order to get it than you would do in Europe. In France you can get deal that covers Internet, Mobile Phone and TV (orange open for example) and the whole package will cost you less than what you would paid in Thailand for equivalent services. And this is the same with every aspect of life. You want to buy branded clothes, branded cosmetics you will pay the same or twice  what you would paid overseas to get them. Therefore when living in Thailand life can become far more expensive than you would expect. But of course booze and partying is still cheap

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.

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.

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.

This year again the buzz is to know who made it on the Billionaires list. I’m still not on it and i guess you are not too. This being said only five Thais made it on Forbes list. What surprised me is not so much who made it but who did not make it. See the thing is that Thailand has a huge shadow economy (shadow economy being all financial and commercial transactions that are not done officially and do not generate taxes or social securities payments).

Read more…

Originally posted 2012-03-09 16:01:53.

When you are a foreigner and you want to married in Thailand the process has become far more complicated that it use to be. Firstly I would like to remind you that Thailand religious wedding with the monks has no binding effects. In Thailand, marriage must be registered to be binding.

Read more…

Originally posted 2012-01-23 23:18:54.

One of the interesting aspects of blogging is that I can see the Google searches that bring readers to my blog. Today a reader had a query which read “how to efficiently bribe Thai Police?”. Now, I don’t know about you but when I read this kind of query I cannot help but guess that someone is in trouble and expect to get out of it through the help of a bribe.

Read more…

Originally posted 2009-12-03 12:50:50.

I’m very surprised that no one is pointing how disgraceful is the attempt of the Democrats to find fault in Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra meeting with a group of businessmen at the Four Seasons Hotel on Feb 8 2012.I mean this matter has been doing the first pages of Thai newspapers for two weeks fuelled by the Democrats attempts to dirty her character. Firstly there was a lot of innuendo that suggested that this meeting may have been a private one. Then when it was disclosed that she met businessmen talks of impropriety have surfaced.

Read more…

Originally posted 2012-02-20 15:53:26.

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 s in Thailand because there is a huge discrepancy between the theory and the practice. If you don’t feel to do this by yourself just contact us (through our contact form) and we will assist you with the formalities.

Read more…

As Mr. Thoreau said “it takes two to speak the truth, one to speak and another to hear”.Maj Gen Sanan said yesterday that “people nationwide wondered what had really caused the coup and that national reconciliation could not happen without the truth being revealed”. He certainly is right on this one the truth is necessary in order to reach national reconciliation.

Read more…

Originally posted 2012-03-22 15:40:11.