We do apologise for our lengthy absence, but Thai Biz 101 is now back and will be posting regularly in conjunction with the Sutlet Group, PB Legal Services and FCA Thailand (all providing business services and solutions to Thailand’s corporate community).
As an update - Sutlet Group has been very busy over the past few months, recruiting the management team necessary to take the business to the next level. This includes:
Stuart Blott as our new General Manager - Stuart has 9 years of management experience in Thailand has has worked in IT, membership programs, tourism & hospitality and corporate team building. With an eye for operations and marketing, Stuart aims to lead the team to new levels of performance and customer service delivery. Stuart is based at our Bangkok office.
David Mitchell as our new Business Development Manager, with a focus on financial solutions and accounting. David will be based at our new Pattaya office and will oversea all financial services, providing our clients with a level of expertise unparalleled in Thailand. Davids international success and experience has involved both private sector and senior government enterprises.
One last Sutlet Group update! Our Chairman, Chris Thatcher, was recently elected to the British Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors! Congratulations to Chris.
Thats all for now - keep posted for more Thai Biz 101 updates!
As we have stated before it has been rumored for a while that the main Immigration Office in Bangkok was going to move. At first we received information that it would be September but now there is another official document purporting to the office opening in early October - there is not a hard date listed at this time.
On a recent visit to the Immigration Department at Suan Plu, I noticed that a new system was being tested. Namely a fingerprint scanner and photographs while you wait, both scanned into the computer and printed out on the application form.
Fingerprints are new to any application through the Immigration Department. Obviously photographs have been used for years, always a specific size and they had to be fairly up-to-date, the Officers were very strict on the photographs. By taking the photograph at the desk of the Officer receiving your application, the size is automatically taken care of as is the newness of the photo.
The shops opposite the Immigration Department always did a roaring trade in photocopies and photographs, they will be losing business with photographs once the new system goes live. The Immigration Department is due to move to a new building so these shops would be losing their business anyway as soon as the move takes place.
The whole move towards modernising the way the applications are made is heartening and in theory will speed things up.
We will keep you updated as to the progress of the new system.
Have you twittered lately? Perhaps you have not even heard of Twitter or maybe you have and you wonder why should you care. It might be easy enough to quickly dismiss the rise of social networks as a fad but by doing so your company maybe missing out one of the next big trends in marketing and consumer behavior. Before we go too deep though let’s step back and examine the evolution of social networks.
On 23rd July 2009, the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) and the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand (JFCCT) held a seminar at the United Nations Conference Center. The Seminar was called Looking Forward - numerous speakers discussed the current investment climate in Thailand and put forth many ideas about securing a better future for Thailand.
Nandor von der Luehe, the Chairman of the JFCCT - also presented at the Seminar with a vision for concrete steps that could be taken to increase FDI in Thailand. Below is a small synopsis. All of the content from the Seminar can be found online.
Nandor von der Luehe identified the current needs as being:
Opening up the Services Sector
Review of the Foreign Business Act lists
Liberalisation of services - implementing reforms and changes
In April The Nation announced that the Social Security Office was going to announce a cut in the rate that employees and employers pay to the Social Security Fund. Currently the rate is 5% and a possible reduction of 3% was discussed. This was reported back in April but nothing was signed until the 9th of July and a reduction will be effective from July until December of this year. The rate will only be reduced by 2% - thus the current rate of Social Security deductions will be 3%.
This was to be formally announced on July 14th but has yet to be announced in the English language newspapers. The rate will return to 5% starting in Jan 2010. It is hoped that the reduction will benefit local businesses during a time of weak export demand, lower tourist arrival numbers and a local recession.
Obviously we are just getting started so don’t look for much more than this post for the time being but we wanted to at least tell you what the plans are for the site. Doing business in Thailand can be rewarding but often the path to success is a road full of obstacles, but success can be achieved. Setting up companies, obtaining licenses, permits, and navigating the intricacies of Thai law, employment regulations and of course just dealing with operating in a foreign country is not easy. However the more information you have the better decisions you will be able to make.
Our goal is to be that center of information. Plain and simple. It will take some time to realize this vision but no time like the present to start implementing it.
We will start to post information shortly and have plans for sections on Accounting, Legal Services, Work Permits, Company Setup and ancillary but important information regarding such things as which Thai Embassies to use abroad for help with your Thai company needs.
Thanks for showing up and feel free to leave any questions or comments.