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Starting a restaurant or opening a small shop.


soistalker

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5 hours ago, Jonnapat said:

Don't do it, far too many places with no customers. Big risk.

 To the OP, have you done:

- any form of market survey specific to the dishes you plan to sell and

- who are the potential buyers?

- and how many locals would buy when in low tourist season etc?

- the total numbers of real potential buyers in the location and how that might fluctuate?

- And what are the typical daily revenues you need to be successful and your realistic estimate of actual revenue?

- same for profit margins?

- can you buy the ingredients you need at good prices, is there any risk that ingredients might not be available?

- and have you done any risk hypertheticals?

- is the planned location subject to flooding etc?

- and any plan B if your Korean food business model doesn't work?

 

 

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14 hours ago, soistalker said:

My wife (South Korean) and I (American) want to open up a restaurant in Jomtien. We are both on tourist Visa exemptions on arrival. How do we set this up?

You invest in setting up a Thai company limited under the Thai-American amity agreement.

 

You will need a so-called business visa, i.e. non-immigrant "B", to work, and a paid in capital of 2 million baht, and 4 Thai employees, for one work permit. For two work permits I think you can (still) get away with 3 million baht in company capital, but you need 8 Thai employees.

 

Some work is reserved for Thais, so you can be management, or chef, but not cook or waiter.

 

There are several recent threads about establishing a business in Thailand, with numerous post with good advises. You'' need a lawyer to establish the company, and give you further advises before doing it.

 

My advise: Do your home work, many have opened a restaurant in Thailand – including some of my friends – and almost equally many has failed, whilst a few survive, and fewer have a successful business...????

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God Almighty, I am truly shocked that ANYBODY has replied to this post!

 

Here is a guy saying they're both foreigners, now "buying" an apartment in a "company" name, and asking questions like can they buy it in the same company name.

 

I can not IMAGINE anybody being that naive (read stupid) to not know the answer to that question themselves!

 

And for them to be that (whatever) to invest in a condo in a "company name" not knowing who owns the company, and not know the procedure to set up a business, and are asking on this forum instead of at a lawyers office......

 

Well I call troll number one.

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There is no reason to purchase a condo via a Company.
A foreign national is allowed to purchase a condo, as you do not own the land.

A small Korean restaurant would do well, if run well with English speaking staff etc.
A small American restaurant would do similarly well.
The main problem will be with Thai staff. Assuming neither of you can speak or read Thai.

But, to give you an example and hope, there is an amazing restaurant in Bangkok called the Smokin Pug. An American husband and wife team own and run the restaurant.





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Under the amity treaty between the US and Thailand, if you establish a company in the US, that company is free to engage in business in Thailand, with 100% foreign ownership. Some restrictions apply.

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You do not need lawyered for this, an accountant can handle all. Yes you would open restaurant in company name , same company that bought a condo .

 

once you rent the premises, you will do a visa run to either Penang or Lao and get a single entry non b visa. Which later you can extend based on business if you employ 4 Thai .

 

note for your gf to qualify for non b visa , you would need to change company registered capital from 2 million to 4 and employ 8 staff.

 

not too sure if it’s wise to keep both condo and biz in the same company but having 2 companies also means paying double accounting and auditing.

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17 hours ago, Racha Bates said:

Lots of incorrect info and advice given here, be careful what you believe. Lawyer - yes, seek professional advice, I now get my legal advice from a lawyer in Surin, ones in the Bangkok/Pattaya area can be too "familiar" with foreigners and may not treat you seriously.

 

And as an aside, my work permit took 2 months to come in from the date I started looking into it, and in retrospect I could've done it in 2 weeks with all the correct information that I eventually put together. I did it on my own... well, with the help of a Thai friend of mine.

 

I run 3 separate business under one company name: 1 selling Thai desserts, 1 in real estate, and 1 in cosmetics, all in Thailand. To open the company, the info given here is correct, a Thai national(s) has to hold 51% initially, but I (actually not me, the Thai national) only needed to show 1,020,000 THB in a bank account, not the 3 million said on this thread.

but he said his wife is korean!!

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On 6/24/2019 at 11:52 AM, KittenKong said:

I live in Jomtien and I have seen more failed businesses here than I can shake a stick at.

 

The only ones that seem to survive are those that dont have high rent to pay.

Agreed Kitten.

A money pit fraught with endless frustration, constant irritation, and government oversight/taxation/paperwork/intrusion/harrasment.

 

OP: Do yourself a favor and find a good hobby to waste your time and money on. It's so much more rewarding.

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Over the years there have been many people asking for advice about opening a restaurant.
Years ago, it surprised me how many Members immediately posted really negative comments. Some suggesting to literally pour whatever money you were going to invest down the drain.
Years later, the majority of the comments are still negative and totally against the opening of a new establishment.
I wonder how many of the comments are from people who actually did open a restaurant.
Yes, there are thousands of restaurants in Pattaya, Bangkok, Chang Mai and all over other parts of Thailand that have opened and within a few months closed.
But, there are also many more that have succeeded, grown and become established restaurants.
It seems that the businesses that have the owners who are involved on a daily basis succeed. If the owners switch off and leave it to their employees then disaster is not far from the horizon.


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4 hours ago, TommyTucker said:

Yes, there are thousands of restaurants in Pattaya, Bangkok, Chang Mai and all over other parts of Thailand that have opened and within a few months closed.
But, there are also many more that have succeeded, grown and become established restaurants.

I see far more that have failed than I see that have succeeded. Particularly in Jomtien which is what the OP is thinking about.

 

Within 5 minutes walk of my condo there are at least a dozen places that have failed within the last year, and most are still vacant. Even the ones that haven't failed dont seem to be doing very well.

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4 hours ago, TommyTucker said:

Over the years there have been many people asking for advice about opening a restaurant.
Years ago, it surprised me how many Members immediately posted really negative comments. Some suggesting to literally pour whatever money you were going to invest down the drain.
Years later, the majority of the comments are still negative and totally against the opening of a new establishment.
I wonder how many of the comments are from people who actually did open a restaurant.
Yes, there are thousands of restaurants in Pattaya, Bangkok, Chang Mai and all over other parts of Thailand that have opened and within a few months closed.
But, there are also many more that have succeeded, grown and become established restaurants.
It seems that the businesses that have the owners who are involved on a daily basis succeed. If the owners switch off and leave it to their employees then disaster is not far from the horizon.


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Those who succeed, know the business, know the thai way of doing business, have a large network, and connections, and have a personality who draw people, and they are 100% present. They also have enough to invest, and run the business the first two three years, before they start making money, and have stayer mentality. Know the location, know their customers needs, and also have a pertner who i willing to work hard, and also how to handle staff and make them loyal to you, and make them stay. The hardest for many, is to find staff and service minded staff who give the extra service, and also make customers come back. 

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On ‎6‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 7:29 PM, HarrySeaman said:

It is old but very sage advice that if you want to make a small fortune start with a big fortune and buy a business in Thailand.

 

Making money with a restaurant in any part of the world is difficult, just look at what happened to Jamie Oliver recently. 

 

Add in all the problems of Thai majority ownership (even if it is "supposed" to be only on paper) requirement, Thai regulations about whether or not you can work since you are a farang, and if you can work you have to have a certain number of Thai employs for every farang. 

 

My advice is simple, don't even try in Thailand.  Take your money somewhere else with a more friendly business climate for the two of you.

 

You said everything I would have said. 

On visa exempt on arrival- I doubt can do anything business wise on that.

Best advice is "don't", but many have tried and failed before and many will try and fail in the future.

Not going to state the main problem on here, but any been in LOS more than a week know what it is.

If the OP has enough for a business, they have enough to live in LOS without working, as long as don't want to live like millionaires back home.

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On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 12:57 AM, TommyTucker said:

Over the years there have been many people asking for advice about opening a restaurant.
Years ago, it surprised me how many Members immediately posted really negative comments. Some suggesting to literally pour whatever money you were going to invest down the drain.
Years later, the majority of the comments are still negative and totally against the opening of a new establishment.
I wonder how many of the comments are from people who actually did open a restaurant.
Yes, there are thousands of restaurants in Pattaya, Bangkok, Chang Mai and all over other parts of Thailand that have opened and within a few months closed.
But, there are also many more that have succeeded, grown and become established restaurants.
It seems that the businesses that have the owners who are involved on a daily basis succeed. If the owners switch off and leave it to their employees then disaster is not far from the horizon.


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and if the American owner so much as hands a customer a drink he can go to jail, be fined and deported. Why would anyone risk that?

I knew a Brit restaurant owner in Pattaya, had a place near Bamboo, and gave OJ in a very large glass. He told me that if he cooked his own breakfast in his own kitchen, off to jail he would go. He had no reason to lie to me.

Eventually he gave up because of all the <deleted> and the constant new regulations designed to make some people rich.

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On 6/27/2019 at 5:38 PM, VocalNeal said:

Are US citizens still able to own 100% of the company. They used to be able to. 

This may not exempt the company from needing 3-4 employees for each "farang" work permit. 

 

16 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

and if the American owner so much as hands a customer a drink he can go to jail, be fined and deported.

 

On 6/24/2019 at 6:17 PM, Salerno said:

 

Quote

 

Amity Treaty, Thailand - USA

The treaty allows for American citizens and businesses incorporated in the US, or in Thailand to maintain a majority shareholding or to wholly own a company in Thailand, and thereby engage in business on the same basis as would a Thai national. 

 

 

 

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On 6/24/2019 at 2:29 PM, HarrySeaman said:

It is old but very sage advice that if you want to make a small fortune start with a big fortune and buy a business in Thailand.

I was going to say the same, very fast way to make a small fortune by investing a large one. It goes without saying though that any parties that would stand to benefit in Thailand, whether lawyers, landlords or potential business partners will be eager to convey how it's a smooth and easy process... 

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