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Challenges of setting up new a new business in Thailand

As exciting as it sounds, your aim of setting up a business in Thailand will have to be refined with a tad more awareness and understanding of the regulations of the country pertaining to this subject. The fact of the matter is, establishing a business anywhere in the world, except your motherland is an elaborate task and calls for a lot of diligence and patience and here, Thailand is no exception. But, in order to make things a tad easier for you, in the following segment, we will be jotting down some of the most glaring challenges that you are likely to face while starting a new business in Thailand.

• Construction permits

Waiting for your construction permits to come through is one of the toughest things that you have to deal with while setting up a business in Thailand. There are innumerable steps that go into acquiring the permit and it takes a minimum of 157 days (more than 5 long months) for the documents to get verified and registered with the authorities. The local Metropolitan Authority is responsible for processing all the inspections, approvals, and permits regarding the construction involved in the business. Besides, as an entrepreneur, you will also be expected to request approval from a building controller to start off without any backlogs.

• Registration of the company

For the uninitiated, foreigners are not allowed to hold complete ownership of businesses in Thailand. Therefore, there are two ways of approaching it; a) you can look for a partner to share the stocks of the company with, or b) get voting rights in the Kingdom. Nevertheless, if you are a US citizen, you can apply for a 100% foreign-owned company. Certain areas like agriculture, land trading, art, and culture and media are off-limits for foreigners. The only other way of gaining 100% ownership of your company in Thailand is by getting it BOI registered.

• Opening a bank account

Opening a bank account for your business is, undoubtedly, the most complicated stage of company registration Thailand. Firstly, there are a few banks that might even reject your plea of letting you open a corporate account; thus, the only other recourse you will be left with is a savings account. Secondly, the bank will not furnish you with a debit card. In light of this issue, you will have to make your transactions either through bank transfer/deposit or direct cash. On top of that, acquiring loans to grant your business with the required momentum will make way for a distinct narrative altogether.

• Identifying a trustworthy investor

As we have mentioned in the preceding section, persuading a local investor to become a stockholder in your company qualifies as indispensable. In a far-off land where you are hardly acquainted with its people and culture, finding a trustworthy investor will be quite taxing. Hence, the best way to ensure that you are in the right hands and have gotten in touch with a credible investor, seek assistance from a business consulting firm that has been in the industry for some while now and will know exactly what you need.

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