Can Singaporean do business without thai partnership involved?

Hi everyone,
I hope you can advise me more on it for my dad.

He wanted to buy a small commercial building in Chiang Rai, Thailand for small business by himself or with his Daughter and he has no more trust in own Thais relatives/ex Wife for partnership.

Any other choice my dad can do it by himself? I heard need lawyer too?  Any recommendations or advise? I would like to know the whole process cost too if there is choice of everything by himself.


Thank you so much.

yes, it is called BOI

Thank you for your reply😊
Where can I get the correct info about BOI?
I did research but makes me confused of understanding it.

http://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=index

Hi Red Dot
Singaporeans or foreigners to own a business 100% is possible via Board of investment (BOI) privileges subject to certain fields approved by them.

For example, owing a hotel property is approved. Banyan Tree have few hotels here, HPL have few hotels here and there are hotels in Chiangmai, Bangkok are own by Singaporeans.

You sure need a lawyer to handle the legal aspects especially incorporating a company as M & A is important document for a company.

I'm not sure if the Singapore law firm still have an office here or not. There are few Singaporeans lawyers here working in International law firms that have offices here. Of course their fees are very high.

I suggest you contact Singapore Thai Chamber of Commerce here for assistance. There are many Singaporeans doing business here and some are employed in professional positions such as hospitals, international hotels, hospitality company, International fast food restaurant etc

Make a trip here to meet the respective people so as to have a clear picture before any decision to be made.

StevanDr wrote:

http://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=index


Thank you😊

Rejoice wrote:

Hi Red Dot
Singaporeans or foreigners to own a business 100% is possible via Board of investment (BOI) privileges subject to certain fields approved by them.

For example, owing a hotel property is approved. Banyan Tree have few hotels here, HPL have few hotels here and there are hotels in Chiangmai, Bangkok are own by Singaporeans.

You sure need a lawyer to handle the legal aspects especially incorporating a company as M & A is important document for a company.

I'm not sure if the Singapore law firm still have an office here or not. There are few Singaporeans lawyers here working in International law firms that have offices here. Of course their fees are very high.

I suggest you contact Singapore Thai Chamber of Commerce here for assistance. There are many Singaporeans doing business here and some are employed in professional positions such as hospitals, international hotels, hospitality company, International fast food restaurant etc

Make a trip here to meet the respective people so as to have a clear picture before any decision to be made.


Thank you so much for your info😊

Hi Red Dot

Forgot to tell you few things.

IE Singapore or International Enterprise Singapore has a trade officer, usually his position is First Secretary in the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok. Can approach him for info as well.

As I don't know the purpose of the commercial building in Chiang Rai, thus can't tell you much. Investing in Thailand properties doesn't give good returns compared to SG.

Thailand corporate and personal tax is higher than Singapore, many times. Besides VAT, there's with holding tax.

Corporate expenses claim is more red tape than SG such as all expenses receipts must have company's name otherwise it's unacceptable.

There's a limit amount of buying a vehicle that can be tax deductible for company.

Personal income tax are deducted monthly from salary unlike SG.

You need to talk to someone who is professional on tax and audit too.

Know the laws before making any investment or shopping.

Don't forget, taking money out of Thailand is difficult as Bank require documents etc as they send report to Bank of Thailand for any inward and outward remittance.

There's UOB and OCBC banks here. There's Standard Chartered bank and CEO is from neighbour. Many Singaporeans works in Bank top management like Thai Military Bank as DBS bank is a shareholder.

Other Thai Banks have Singaporeans too as Vice President. It depends on what you need the bank to do for you.

If you need more info, PM me.

Ok. Thank you so much for your info. I will slowly read through to understand it first too😊

Mukimao wrote:

Ok. Thank you so much for your info. I will slowly read through to understand it first too😊


I agree with rejoice,
but I would go trough intermediates, rather directly to BOI

no need BOI, too complicated, if need cheap, good & reliable lawyer/ accountant I can pass you her contact detail.

Eric (Singaporean live in BKK since 2000).

Cheers