Introduction: A Representative Office allows a foreign enterprise to develop a physical place of operations in Thailand. The enterprise is then allowed to use the Office to engage in minute non-trading activities inside of the country. These activities are minute to operations that non-revenue-earning activities in Thailand that are listed below. To be eligible for a Representative Office a enterprise needs to have exact operational purposes in Thailand and must complete the significant filing process. Once these two requirements have been met and the government has stylish the application the enterprise will be subject to a few legal requirements to sound the Representative Office, but will receive numerous benefits and the capability to operate inside of Thailand.
Purpose requirements: To originate a Representative Office in Thailand a foreign company's purpose must be one of the following:
· To search for a source of products or services in Thailand that will be used or sold by the enterprise overseas,
· To ensure the capability or quantity of the products made in Thailand,
· To provide the enterprise with guidance concerning which goods or services should be acquired,
· To provide information to individuals in Thailand concerning the company's products or services, or
· To forewarn the enterprise about Thai economic activities.
Notes: The Representative Office must complete at least one of the listed purposes to be operational. However, the Office may not achieve activities exterior of those listed purposes.
Filing Requirements: If a foreign enterprise is setting up a Representative Office for one of the above purposes application process may begin. First, the enterprise must have an Alien enterprise Permit in order to develop a Representative Office. Second, once an Alien enterprise Permit has been acquired the following is a list of documents that must be submitted to the market Registrar along with the significant application:
· Proof of an Alien enterprise Permit,
· An affidavit from the owner or corporate officer that states the company's name, its registration number, its date of registration, its address, and what jurisdiction the enterprise is registered under,
· A list of the company's directors with their names, addresses, nationalities, ages, races, amount of shares held, and information on which directors have the power to bind the company,
· A copy of the company's Articles of Incorporation or Memorandum of Association,
· A copy of the company's Articles of Association,
· An list of the company's capital, the amount of shares along with the par value of each, and the amount of capital stock that has been paid up (the amount of capital assigned to the Representative Office must be 5 million baht over a duration of five years with 2 million baht allocated for the first year),
· A list of the company's shareholders, their nationalities and amount of shares held by each,
· Any documents proving that the Representative Office's owner will have adequate power of attorney to run the enterprise (if the owner is a foreign citizen then a copy of the manager's passport must also be provided and if the owner is Thai then a copy of his or her national Id and household registration must be provided.)
The following is a list of documents that might be needed for the application to be fully processed:
· An literal, article of the company's purpose in Thailand
· An list of why the Office is necessary
· A projection of the impact the Office will have on the Thai economy and society
· A Thai translation of the company's financial article for the last three years
· A list of employees who will work at the Office including their names and salaries
· A prediction for the Office's expenses over the next three years
· An list of the machinery and office equipment to be used at the Office.
Notes: All documents must be notarized at the Notary social before being submitted to the market Registrar.
Benefits and Legal Requirements after Creation: Having a Representative Office in Thailand comes with numerous benefits, the important among which is that enterprise will be able to directly interact with the products, services and information in Thailand. Additionally, Representative Offices regularly are exempt from paying revenue taxes. Also, two work permits are automatically ready to foreign citizens if the office whether advises its enterprise about the Thai economy, advices its enterprise on products or services or provides information inside of Thailand. Five work permits are automatically ready to foreign citizens if the office searches for sources of products and services or ensures the capability and quantity of the products and services.
However, the Representative office must submit an yearly article to the Ministry of business about its activities. Additionally, the Representative Office will have to pay a minimum government fee of 20,000 baht and a maximum government fee of 250,000 baht. These fees are based on the amount capital held by the foreign enterprise with 5 baht expensed for every 1,000 baht of capital held.