Question to land / bar owners in Thailand.

[jimholio]

I've been thinking about it alot now and i just might wanna buy myself a bar or restaurant in Phuket. But ofcourse there are many questions so please if you have any suggestions or answer to any of these questions do your best.

1,) Building Buying or Renting?
How does these things work down there? can a Swedish person buy and own a restaurant down there and if so how would that work?

2,) Working VISA ( Green card )
What is required to get one of these?

3,) Prices
What can i expect to pay for a midsize restaurant in a good location, now im talking roughly.

4,) Income
What is the general income of a business like this. Again im talking roughly.

I think these are the biggest concerns i have right now so if you could help me out i would appreciate it alot.

[LivinLOS]

Will only comment on what I have info..

1) You will have a VERY hard time finding a plot of land for sale within any foot traffic area in the tourist zones.. They simply are not sold and the land and buildings are leased or rented. To take over an existing lease you usually have to pay key money (goodwill) to take over the business as well as the rent. Kind of like purchasing the biz and then paying the ground rents. Be careful how long your ground rent contract (obvious but people screw up all the time) lasts for and ignore any promises that rent can only rise by x% next contract.. People break these agreements by all kinds of means (often selling the ground to another person who is then not bound by the terms of contract) so be aware and consider anything 'promised' after a registered lease to be suspect.

2) work permit goes hand in hand with a VISA.. First you would obtain a non immigrant B visa (via your own company formation or an employer) the company needs to have 2 mil paid up capital and 4 thai emaployess per farang employee.. You then apply for a work permit and pay mimum wage to yourself (55k per month but floats depending on nationality) and tax etc.. If all these things are done then you have a legal non imm B and work permit and can stay within the kingdom. Many people dont do all or even sometimes any of these steps and face issues like visa border runs and legality of working (but it is legal to 'manage your investment' without working)..

Seek professional assistance.. Comapnies like Indo Siam and Sunbelt asia are pros (and Sunbelt does a nice line in established businesses for sale)..

3) location location location.. Totally unpredictable and not something I would even guess at.. I knew of a steal of a deal were 1 mil (plus full time work) would have bought you a 50% stake in a company that given its expansion and established niche biz probably would have made 2 mil profit next your.. Buying into a going concern for 1 x PE !!

4) the same goes.. Can be anything from a loss or pennies to a nice living.. I would advise you not to imagine in any way that it would make you rich.

Good luck.

[jimholio]

Originally Posted by LivinLOS

Will only comment on what I have info..

1) You will have a VERY hard time finding a plot of land for sale within any foot traffic area in the tourist zones.. They simply are not sold and the land and buildings are leased or rented. To take over an existing lease you usually have to pay key money (goodwill) to take over the business as well as the rent. Kind of like purchasing the biz and then paying the ground rents. Be careful how long your ground rent contract (obvious but people screw up all the time) lasts for and ignore any promises that rent can only rise by x% next contract.. People break these agreements by all kinds of means (often selling the ground to another person who is then not bound by the terms of contract) so be aware and consider anything 'promised' after a registered lease to be suspect.

2) work permit goes hand in hand with a VISA.. First you would obtain a non immigrant B visa (via your own company formation or an employer) the company needs to have 2 mil paid up capital and 4 thai emaployess per farang employee.. You then apply for a work permit and pay mimum wage to yourself (55k per month but floats depending on nationality) and tax etc.. If all these things are done then you have a legal non imm B and work permit and can stay within the kingdom. Many people dont do all or even sometimes any of these steps and face issues like visa border runs and legality of working (but it is legal to 'manage your investment' without working)..

Seek professional assistance.. Comapnies like Indo Siam and Sunbelt asia are pros (and Sunbelt does a nice line in established businesses for sale)..

3) location location location.. Totally unpredictable and not something I would even guess at.. I knew of a steal of a deal were 1 mil (plus full time work) would have bought you a 50% stake in a company that given its expansion and established niche biz probably would have made 2 mil profit next your.. Buying into a going concern for 1 x PE !!

4) the same goes.. Can be anything from a loss or pennies to a nice living.. I would advise you not to imagine in any way that it would make you rich.

Good luck.

I must say that it seems rather tricky to start a business down there compared to pretty much any other country in the world. Specially the work permit, but it seems possible, what im worried about mostly is to sign over 51% to a thai partner. And another thing would be the landowner, do you write a contract with them stating that they are not allowed to raise the landprices above x% per year or how does that work?

Iv'e been looking at some restaurants / bars that is currently for sale, and the prices are quite high but comparing that to starting a business here in Sweden it's VERY cheap, which also means that if it doesnt go the way i hope the risc isnt quite as high either.

About the working VISA as you said it's legal to manage your investments without working. Then there should be other options aswell? I mean like going to Cambodia or Malaysia or any other border and request a new Visa and go back to Thailand again legally?

Im not looking to get rich here, i just want to make a decent living while doing something i love in a country that i love.

Thanks for all advices it gave me a little more ground to stand on. I appreciate it and i will contact Sunbelt Asia and see what advices they can give me.

[stevem]

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