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ducksnutz
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Hey Sauron,
Are you still in the shade business??
Did anyone realise that the posters name is a common slang for a stiffy dick??
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 9:55 pm on Jan. 31, 2003
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ringthebells
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I have to agree with sauron. one who wants, can do the business.
I have my own business. exporting and selling local. had to start selling local as exports suck.
it is not easy, but I am in the office everyday before 10 am, and I leave seldom before 8 or 9 pm.
I have a marketingassistant who is making the contacts. but it is always me who is closing the deal. it is clearly an advantage, being a farang.
I have aquired already customers like orange and yontrakit.
and I am still aquiring more.
rtb
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 4:52 am on Feb. 3, 2003
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BoomARang
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RTB - Way to go Bro!!!! Its good to see people making it on their own initiative!
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 5:40 am on Feb. 3, 2003
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Kaymanx
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Quote: from ringthebells on 5:52 pm on Feb. 3, 2003
I am in the office everyday before 10 am, and I leave seldom before 8 or 9 pm.
RTB, and just what do you think you are doing in the office ? Posting messages on this forum during office hours!! Naughty Boy!!
Well, it's not just those who live in Thailand that get distracted by the bars. Those that visit often and then return to their offices in their home countries also remain distracted by those great memories and by this great forum. Look at me, habitually logging in even during office hours far away from Thailand !!! So I guess we have only ourselves to blame -- not Thailand's bars.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 6:02 am on Feb. 3, 2003
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ringthebells
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kaymanx
at least I don't get paid for it....
it became sort of a habit, since I joined in january. was registered once before but never posted and lost the password.
rtb
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 4:53 am on Feb. 4, 2003
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Hermanolobo
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You may want to look at this link:-
Message 31 by Xanadu
http://groups.google.com/groups...
Here are some observations from my own experience, which may give you some
insight.
Generally speaking, unless you are considering a sizeable investment in a
business (which will almost certainly require Thai nationals to be involved,
and preferably under a BoI scheme), there is absolutely no incentive or
assistance available to a small entrepreneur from any government agency (If
there is I'd like to know about it)..
Foreigners in Thailand are not encouraged in any way (in fact one could
think discouraged) to provide valuable and appreciated services to tourists,
for example; services that Thais alone can never provide in the same way,
due to the different cultures. But Thailand's (Chinese Thai-controlled)
government and business community are happy to take the tourists' money.
"Come, spend, then leave" is what they really want, unless there is a chance
some of them can get rich off you if and when you might be successful
Attempting to re-locate and start a small business in Thailand now was and
is not an easy task, and not for the faint-hearted or easily frustrated. A
50-something Brit, I have now been here six years, starting, five years ago,
with very little capital, a small service-orientated business, conventional,
above-board and legal, with nothing to hide, aimed primarily at the western
market, namely, local ex-pats and tourists. Because I was lucky enough to
find a somewhat niche business which so far hasn't attracted too much
attention from possible competition, I am surviving, but it's a struggle,
and not very profitable yet in spite of regularly increasing turnover. The
extra profit seems to get eaten up by increasing fees and operating costs.
The only way forward is to try and expand, but without extra unfettered
capital, extremely risky.
As a newcomer, after researching the type of business you might want to go
into (business plan etc. as others have mentioned), you will need a smart
lawyer (but beware - get a personal recommendation from someone you have got
to know reasonably well beforehand) to form a company. You can now be the
sole
director of a Thai company, but not the major shareholder (possible risk),
you will also need to employ a minimum number of Thai staff, and pay them
and yourself a minimum wage, on which you will also have to pay income tax
and social security, to support your application for a work permit and
non-immigrant visa.
However, even with that all done and complied with, every year (or every
visa renewal), there is the ongoing requirement of regular submissions to
several government and municipal departments, and a whole heap of stuff to
take to Immigration. There is no coordination between Immigration and the
Dept of Employment (whose fees have recently increased dramatically), and
it's like starting from scratch every year, as nothing is
"kept on file" or carries forward from the previous year's application.
So after the lawyer, you need the services of an on-the-ball accountant to
take care of the ever-increasing intrusive bureaucracy (all accounting and
most other paperwork must be submitted in Thai). Without an efficient
accountant, not necessarily expensive, it's impossible to run a legal
business. Company accounts must have an annual audit also. However, the
accountant should be able to provide all the necessary renewal documentation
without calling on the lawyer again. It will probably take longer to be
processed, but the savings are worth it.
If you operate from a visible location such as a shop or business premises,
(beware of being liable through a lease to pay an annual withholding tax of
12% of the rent), and they are chasing internet-based business too, various
inspectors will visit and check the validity of business documents and
licences. Again there seems to be no coordination or data sharing between
agencies, which invariably results in more duplication of paperwork.
Having a Thai partner may make an application easier initially, but the
risks far outweigh any possible advantages (and you are right to be
concerned about the odd business "ethics" of the Chinese Thais).
Apart from the paperwork submissions, often in triplicate, with every single
page signed and stamped with the company stamp, and the work permit/visa
maintenance, there are now added costs due to conditions imposed on
foreigner-operated businesses, such as compulsory VAT registration and
Social Security for yourself and employees etc. etc. - and every year there
seems to be more. They are adding more and western bureaucracy to their own
formidable mountain of red tape. However, taxes and fees are still low by
comparison to the west.
.
Running a small business in Thailand has become a minefield, and getting
more restrictive and discriminatory towards Westerners. Add a Thai
partnership (business and/or personal relationship) into the equation and
chances of success are likely to be low or nil in my opinion. Even if
honest, their logic(?) is quite different to ours!
In spite of it all, I am happy to persevere. Life for me, on the whole, is
still better here than anywhere else!
Starting from scratch again, knowing what is involved and what I know now?
I'm not sure about that!
I wouldn't try and dissuade someone from following his dream, but be
prepared for a considerable amount of problems and frustrations along the
way, if you try it in Thailand! But to be realistic, the same would probably
apply almost anywhere. The more research and local knowledge you can obtain
by living here and observing, before going into anything yourself, the
better. Bring enough money you can live on some extra you can afford to lose
too!
After having read the above, you may consider buying into an already
established business or consider a partnership with a fellow ex-pat living
here. ÝDON'T! I won't go into detail, as I did not make that mistake myself,
but am very aware of the likely pitfalls . There are some ex-pats here who
would put the Thai Chinese (even the Nigerians!) to shame. Be warned.
Good luck Ý- you'll need quite a bit of that as well!
Xanadu
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 6:17 am on Feb. 4, 2003
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ringthebells
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guys.
you could also open a company in hongkong that has a branch office in thailand.
or one in th EU, which would do the same.
but this only works if you export.
rtb
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 6:21 am on Feb. 4, 2003
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Sauron
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That is one of the many sour grapes "I couldn't make it or didn't have the balls/connections.capital/persistance" posts.
But leave it up. Anyone who will be dissauded by the half truths and half lies in there, wouldn't likely make it anyway.
1. Know the right people.
2. Learn the language.
3. Know which businesses are restricted to Thais.
4. Learn how not to be a professional victim.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 7:26 am on Feb. 4, 2003
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Sauron
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There are advantages to an OFFSHORE Hong Kong company IF you are manufacturing elsewhere, but not if there is an equity interest from the HK company in the (Thai in the present example) onshore entity.
Offshore HK companies are taxed 0% as long as they have no HK derived income/business activity.
You can set up a HK pffshore company for a few thousand $US and a similar sum to maintain it annually.
An EU corporation is general is of little worth because it will be taxed to death.
There are a few remaining exceptions such as an Isle of Man ("Manx") corporation, but the handwriting is on the wall for these, the OECD is pressuring them to rescind tax free status for their offshore companies. They are also somewhat costlier to set up/maintain than HK osshore companies.
There are NO advantages to an ONSHORE HK corporation as you are subject to 16.5% tax and the overhead is murderously high.
Do your homework and deal with professionals not Internet scam artists. If you read critically you can however collect a lot of potentially useful data on the Net, but you will soon see (1) a lot is contradictory (2) a lot of websites have dead links for email -- at least I never got an answer.
There is a law office in Bangkok that claims to do turnkey HK Offshore companies for 60,000 baht, but I am still investigating them, and don't want to post about them till I ascertain they are not a ripoff.
There's an accounting firm in HK that is only a little more expensive, but they are harder to check on. Thai lawyers I KNOW how to check on.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:44 am on Feb. 4, 2003
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