Setting up in Thailand

[Guest]

Hi all i hope one of you knowledgable types may be able to give me some advice.
I may have found a way to work from anywhere i can find an internet connection and it could lead to me employing some locals if the business expands.
How do i go about getting a thai bank account/ residents visa/ setting up a business?
I am only 32 so i cant retire there. Will they let you live there if you have your own income?

I hope you can be of some help.
Thanks

[Bit Beefy]

Im far from the best person to speak to but the few guys that i know that live in thailand and work from there still do visa runs every few months.. As for bank accounts easy to open just need ure ID and some cash. But thats just what i know, im sure the other guys know more about how it works.... Good Luck

[Snick]

If you want to go legit its a hassle, you have to incorporate, pay taxes, pay fees, and need about $50K USD in registered capital.

If you stay under the radar its easy, but you do have to worry about your visa.

A tourist visa is for 30 days, but you can get a new one by simply walking across the border and coming back in. You can also try and get a business visa which is good for 90-day stays and expires after one year (i.e. you have to do a visa run every 90 days, not every 30). Getting a business visa would require having a Thai national give you a letter stating that they are interested in doing business with you, you then take that letter to the Thai consulate/embassy in your country as part of the application.

Bank accounts are not too hard, but they suck. Better to keep your cash in USA and take it out using an ATM. Bills and such can easily be paid in cash at the bank or 7-11.

[Guest]

I am from the UK and im worried if i keep my money in a UK bank account i will get clobbered for tax.

[mardhi]

You can set up a business easily - you need to set up a 2,000,000 baht registered capital company and have at least 4 Thai employees in order to get a one year visa (dont confuse this with the work permit - you can get a work permit for any number of employee's, but Immigration will not grant you a 1 year stay).

With a work permit, things are much much easier plus after 3 years you can apply for residency. You cannot have a company bank account without a work permit, nor a post paid mobile phone.

The way you can do it, is that your company in UK or wherever its set up 'contracts' the Thai company to do work for it - the Thai company invoices out some stuff and the UK company pays the Thai company for services rendered. Its actually pretty straightforward. Things to consider:

1. There are minimum salaries to obtain work permits - for a British passport holder its 50,000 baht salary a month - you will then pay about 4,500 in taxes so your net income to yourself is 46,500 per month.

2. The income must be at reasonable levels in order to RENEW the work permit - you cannot run the company at a continual loss after say year 3 for the simple reason that the government say, well how the F**k can they afford to hire a farang when they make no money.

3. You have to have a business address and your staff have to work there - Immigration can and do sometimes check up - Basically if you rent a small office, this would suffice and you have a receptionist. Other hires could include a driver and a office maid, as well as one other + you. Salary for the Thai staff must equal Govt minimum wages and you have to match their social taxes (typically 5%)

Once your "legal" things are so much easier - its not exactly expensive to do it correctly - for example, the 2,000,000 baht capital could be paid in and then immediately used for something else, like buying a condo. Everything though must be correctly Tax recorded otherwise you will have problems come end of year and work permit renewal.

Cheers
Mardhi

[Bravo]

(mardhi @ May 16 2006,20:58)     You cannot have a company bank account without a work permit, nor a post paid mobile phone.    

You can have a bank account without a work permit but it can only be a deposit account. You will get an atm card with it and can transfer money in and out. All the major Thai banks are OK, suggest you look at Kasikorn, Siam Commercial or Bangkok Bank

[mardhi]

(Bravo @ May 16 2006,21:22)

(mardhi @ May 16 2006,20:58)     You cannot have a company bank account without a work permit, nor a post paid mobile phone.    

You can have a bank account without a work permit but it can only be a deposit account. You will get an atm card with it and can transfer money in and out. All the major Thai banks are OK, suggest you look at Kasikorn, Siam Commercial or Bangkok Bank

As an individual you can have an account, but as I said, not a company account either as a savings account or a current/cheque account. These rules are increasingly being applied - you might have gotten one a few years ago but today I would be very surprised.

Incidentally you dont get an ATM card with a company account as every withdrawal needs to have a copy of the company stamp on that withdrawal slip or cheque.

Banks are under a lot of regulatory pressure not to break these rules - you might find a branch somewhere that does open one for you - but they not operating in accordance with Bank Of Thailand rules.

Also, most banks will not allow Internet banking without a work permit.

Let me put it this way, you MIGHT find a branch somewhere that will open a company account - but be prepared to do a lot of walking around multiple banks finding that elusive branch.

Cheers
Mardhi

[Guest]

Well i wont have the capital to that scale at the start as i will be working for myself. I was thinking of a personal account and doing a visa run every so often. I estimate my turnover when i first arrive to be only 140,000 baht. Nothing will be purchased or sold within Thailand. So would i get away with this?

[mardhi]

(admirer_uk2005 @ May 17 2006,01:14) Well i wont have the capital to that scale at the start as i will be working for myself.  I was thinking of a personal account and doing a visa run every so often.  I estimate my turnover when i first arrive to be only 140,000 baht.  Nothing will be purchased or sold within Thailand.  So would i get away with this?

In that case you are better of applying for a Multiple entry B (or business) visa before you leave the UK. The only place you will get this is at the Thai consulate in Hull (just google it for the address and contact number) - Do not go to the embassy in London - they will not be keen to approve a visa without lots of evidence, Hull as a consulate, fall outside of that requirement.

That would give you 1 year of stay, but I recall you have to leave every 90 days - just going in and out of Thailand is probably sufficient.

Your unlikely to be get a work permit on the money you have accumulated in a year, (ie 140,000 * 12 months) once you have fed yourself, paid for a room etc - so then you might have to go back to the UK and get another B visa from Hull. You wont get another one in Asia, the embassies are well aware of this loophole and they now require lots of evidence of business and taxes in Thailand before they issue 12 months multiple visa's - at best you would end up with a 3 month one visit visa.

Cheers
Mardhi

[Bit Beefy]

Great info guys

[Guest]

thanks for the help i will keep this in mind