Foreign Business Ownership Laws Changing in Thailand

[Tom Case]

Hi,

I am involved in a business that has a company registered in Thailand. Up to now, we have been able to have 100% foreign ownership, as long as we had the right number of Thai shareholders etc.

I understand this week, that the Thai Government is thinking of changing the law, so that all companies must be at least 51% Thai owned. Seems to stem from the games that the former Prime Minister was doing with Shin Corp.

This will have a huge impact on major foreign companies operating in Thailand. We may have to pull out of the market if these laws come into effect.

Anyone else facing similar issues?

[Rob O'Byrne]

Originally Posted by Tom Case

Hi,

I am involved in a business that has a company registered in Thailand. Up to now, we have been able to have 100% foreign ownership, as long as we had the right number of Thai shareholders etc.

I understand this week, that the Thai Government is thinking of changing the law, so that all companies must be at least 51% Thai owned. Seems to stem from the games that the former Prime Minister was doing with Shin Corp.

This will have a huge impact on major foreign companies operating in Thailand. We may have to pull out of the market if these laws come into effect.

Anyone else facing similar issues?

Tom,

Yes we are facing problems due to these changes in regulation. Also the changes in the labour laws are quite significant. I think it now stands at having to have 8 Thai employees for every Westerner. We have basically had to stop hiring Westerners in our Bangkok office. That is fine, but it just narrows the field in terms of our recruiting ability. I can understand why these changes are occurring, but it must be damaging for business in the short/medium term.