Mekong Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 I stand corrected - Non Imm B appears to have no such provision. Ford and others clearly make their representations to do business in Thailand at a much higher level. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Business Handbook Section 5: Starting a business in Thailand Page 18 (10) Construction except: (a) Construction of things that provide basic services to the public with respect to public utilities or communications and which require the use of special instruments, machinery, technology or expertise in construction and a minimum capital of the alien of at least 500 million baht ( Other categories of construction as stipulated in ministerial regulations (11) Brokerage or agency undertakings except: (a) Trading in securities or services concerning futures trading in agricultural commodities, financial instruments or securities ( Trading in or the procurement of goods or services needed for production by or providing the services of and enterprise in the same group © Trading, purchasing (for others) or distributing or finding domestic or overseas markets for selling goods made domestically or imports as an international trading business, with a minimum capital of the alien of at least 100 million baht (d) Other lines of business stipulated in ministerial regulations (12) Auctioning, except: (a) International bidding that is not bidding in antiques, ancient objects or objects of art that are Thai works of art, handicraft or ancient objects, or of historical value ( Other types of auction as stipulated in ministerial regulations (13) Domestic trade concerning indigenous agricultural produce or products not prohibited by any present law (14) Retail trade in all kinds of goods where the total minimum capital is 100 million baht or more, or the minimum capital of each store is 20 million baht or more. (15) Wholesale trade in all kinds of goods with a minimum capital for each store of more than 100 million baht (16) Advertising undertakings (17) Hotel undertakings, except for hotel management services (18) Sale of food or beverages (19) Plant breeding and propagating, or plant improvement undertakings (20) Doing other service businesses except for service businesses prescribed in ministerial regulations. Come om Gobbie I have been running companies in Thailand for over 20 years now, do give me some credit in knowing the rues and regulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Come om Gobbie I have been running companies in Thailand for over 20 years now, do give me some credit in knowing the rues and regulations. You misspelt 'ruining'. Seriously, ThaiHome is my go-to guy on all matters relating to the Thai economy. Everytime I get something wrong, ThaiHome is happy to tell me exactly where to go ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Well if ruining companies in Thailand for over 20 years then I must be very lucky indeed, only know a handful of fiends who have survived as long as I have taking care of Non-Imm B and arranging work permits, it's a nightmare. Conversely I have seen in excess of 500 expats who thought they could succeed hear only to end in failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 No argument from me - I only wonder how many of them thought they could simply buy a bar, get married and wait for the money to roll in ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 IMHO there are 2 types of Bar owners, the flight by night chancres with no business Aquinas at all who will last 6 months if lucky and the guys with F&B experience form college days onwards. The majority of F&B graduates tend to manage bars for THAI companies rather than risk their own capital There are so many restrictions in "Thai Only Trade" go to an city in the world and you will meet alien taxi drivers, not so in Thailand. I have been an engineer for over 30 years but I an not allowed to be one in Thailand, I have to be CEO of my own consultancy company. go figure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zen4dummies Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 You can add the following; After paying millions for a bar, the farang owner cannot be caught behind the counter or there would be grounds to be charged with working in Thailand without a work permit. A friend sent me this list from http://www.thailawon...gners-jobs.html Prohibited Jobs for Foreigners in Thailand 1. Labour work except labour work in fishing boats under the next category below. The said work which is forbidden to aliens shall not apply to aliens who have entered into Thailand under an agreement on hire of labour concluded between the Government of Thailand and other nations, and also aliens whose status has been prescribed as legal immigrant and who possess a residence certificate under the law governing immigration. 2. Agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry or fishery, except work requiring specialized knowledge, farm supervision, or labour work in fishing boats, particularly marine fishery. 3. Bricklaying, carpentry, or other construction work. 4. Wood carving. 5. Driving motor vehicles or vehicles which do not use machinery or mechanical devices, except piloting aircraft internationally. 6. Front shop sales and auction sale work. 7. Supervising, auditing, or giving service in accountancy, except occasional internal auditing. 8. Cutting or polishing precious or semi-precious stones. 9. Haircutting, hairdressing, or beautification. 10. Cloth weaving by hand. 11. Mat weaving or making utensils from reed, rattan, jute, hay, or bamboo. 12. Making rice paper by hand. 13. Lacquer work. 14. Making Thai musical instruments. 15. Niello work. 16. Goldsmith, silversmith, or gold/copper alloy smith work. 17. Stone work. 18. Making Thai dolls. 19. Making mattresses or quilts. 20. Making alms bowls. 21. Making silk products by hand. 22. Making Buddha images. 23. Knife making. 24. Making paper or cloth umbrellas. 25. Making shoes. 26. Making hats. 27. Brokerage or agency except in international trading. 28. Professional civil engineering concerning design and calculation, systemization, analysis, planning, testing, construction supervision, or consulting services, excluding work requiring specialized techniques. 29. Professional architectural work concerning design, drawing/making, cost estimation, or consulting services. 30. Dressmaking. 31. Pottery. 32. Cigarette rolling by hand. 33. Tour guiding or conducting. 34. Hawking of goods & Thai typesetting by hand. 35. Unwinding and twisting silk by hand. 36. Clerical or secretarial work. 37. Providing legal services or engaging in legal work, except arbitration work; and work relating to defense of cases at arbitration level, provided the law governing the dispute under consideration by the arbitrators is not Thai law, or it is a case where there is no need to apply for the enforcement of such arbitration award in Thailand. Some interesting ocupations there. I think that I have been guilt of several catagories. Making Thai dolls for one. zen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 Let's imagine, for a moment, that you did have past experience in Farangland and that you had the interpersonal skills to pull the whole 'running a bar in Thailand' thing off. Let's assume that, Jehovah willing, you had a good location and reliable staff who could keep their hands out of your till. So there you are - living the dream, smiles all round. Sure, its hard work - 72-hour weeks minimum - and you are constantly looking over your shoulder to see if any of your competitors resent your success. - sooner or later, you are going to have to throw out a drunk or, worse, a group of drunks - sooner or later, someone will be badly injured (or worse) in your bar or at the front door - sooner or later, someone is going to want more than 'tea money' - sooner or later, you will encounter a 'low season' that defies all logic All of the above is pure speculation from an armchair expert, but I don't see how you can run a business from a condo on Upper Suk, popping in to shout your 'mates' a round or two before rifling through the till for enough money to finance your Tilac's next raid on Emporium. OK, some of that might be a tad dramatised, but how many of us have sat in the same bar for 10+ hours, night after night ? Ever tried to get to sleep after witnessing a vicious assault (or been threatened with same by drunken fuckwits) ? I'm sure the rest of you could add a few more to this list, but I just dont think everyone is cut out for that life, regardless of how 'attractive' it might seem when you look at the asking price for some bars, Just my (totally uninformed) two bahts worth. Gobble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 Gobbie A bar owner / manager is allowed on his premises during all working hours,the restrictions apply to serving customers hence the reason they employ a head Bar Man, head Waitress and a secretary. They are allowed to do stocktaking and set menus, liase with suppliers, arrange maintenace on the property and even oversee renovations. in fact they are allowed to very much everything except serve a customer. So there is no "Running a Business" from upper Sukhumvit" as you implied, a western Bar Manager has to be in situ more so than his equivalent in the west, not only does he have to take on all responsibilities he also needs to find trustworthy Thais to put in positions of power. It is more difficult to run a bar in Thailand than in the west due to the draconian rules, not something I would ever consider doing personally. As a point on interest the most successful western bars in Thailand have employed the Same Head Bar Man, Head Waitress and Secretary for numerous years, it is a four person team where mutual trust is installed in each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 You've misinterpreted me - I wasnt referring to the rules. I was referring to the notion that some Farang seem to have that the bar will somehow 'run itself' when things get up and running. While I suspect that is true to some extent in the '4 person team' environment you outlined, I have only seen small bars where there might be the bar owner, a manager (possibly ..) and the girls. For all the trust placed in the Thai cashier in one particular Soi 22 bar, talking to her over a 3-month period I got the impression that she was less than happy with her lot. The other girls could go with customers, while she was left to serve customers and tabulate the bills etc - when I ran into her a year or so later, she had left that bar and was working in a restaurant. They may not be doing much more than sitting on a stool or leaning on a pool cue, but it has to be one of the most boring jobs in the universe IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Mr Gobbledonk, let us both agree that we are approaching the situation from opposite directions. From what you have intimated on this forum you prefer the "No Rules" titty bars, hell even I did for my first couple of years but it soon wears thin, maybe you will find out next year. I am not right and you are not wrong, we just have differing opinions so lets just leave it at that' If you ever want to share a cold one at Golden Beer Bar I would be happy to join you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.