Recently someone asked about business in Thailand. Here is my first post on this challenging topic:
First of all, as background information, I learned the Thai alphabet (script with 44 consonants and 32 vowels) nearly 20 years ago, so I have have a pretty decent foundation for the Thai language compared to most foreigners visting or working in Thailand. I can read (slowly) and speak better than 99.99+ percent of all foreigners in Thailand. For this reason, I thought it was ”the right thing to do” to redirect my career to a “new challenge” in the business climate of Thailand as I continue to improve my foreign language skills. I wanted to help Thailand progress in IT and IT security, so where else would I go but where I have second language skills?
This was no small decision as you can imagine. Your career and life changes quite dramatically when you give up a long established consulting practice in the US and dive into business in a foreign land, seeking a new challenge. I can frankly tell you that it is more difficult to do business in Thailand (as a foreigner) than I expected, for a number of reasons. Here is my first off-topic post on this topic.
First of all, it is not legal for foreigners to directly own land in Thailand. Foreigners can ”own” land using a variety of legal loopholes, proxy owners and shell companies; but all of this is risky and not advised. Many foreigners lose a lot of money coming to Thailand and attempting to buy land via various “structures”. Some get lucky, but the entire process of foreigners buying and selling land is quite risky and not recommended.