Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the differences between Foreign Business Licenses and Amity Certification here in Thailand. For those who are unaware, there was a Foreign Business Act promulgated in 1999; it was promulgated to replace the Alien Business Law that existed to that point. Foreign nationals are not allowed unfettered rights to work or do business here in the Kingdom of Thailand, but they may be able to avail themselves of certain certifications, as well as certain benefits depending on their nationality and background, and depending on the laws and the type of business activity one wants to undertake here in Thailand.

So Foreign Business Licensing should be understood to be something different from Amity Treaty Certification. Now Amity Treaty, what is that? The US-Thai Treaty of Amity which is a bilateral agreement between the Kingdom of Thailand and the United States of America, allows for "National Treatment" of Americans doing business through corporations here in Thailand. So American companies here in Thailand are treated as if they were Thai companies; they will “treated” as if they are a “national”, they'll be treated like a Thai Company if they're certified under the Amity Treaty. That means they can do business as would a Thai Company, with some limitations, but those limitations are far less shall we say onerous than the limitations that are inherent to the Foreign Business Act. 

And let me dive in here. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, that is bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Foreign investment surges in first two months. Quoting directly: "Foreign investment in the first two months of this year saw a 68% increase in the number of projects and a 33% rise in the investment value compared to the same period last year. According to Deputy Government spokeswoman Sasikarn Watthanachan, the latest report on foreign business investment approvals under the Foreign Business Act (1999) reveals that 181 applications were approved in the first two months of this year marking a 68% increase compared to the same period last year. Of the total, 41 investment projects came through the Foreign Business License application channel..." - I'll get to that here in a moment - quoting further: "..with 140 from the Foreign Business Certification letter application." 

Okay, so for purposes of this video, what we are talking about here is the difference between a Foreign Business License and an Amity Certificate. So if you see in that end line, quoting again: "41 investment projects came through the Foreign Business License application channel." - That is the mechanism that operates through the Foreign Business Act of 1999. That is distinguished from again a Certificate associated with Amity Certification basically a certificate granting “National Treatment” to a company here in Thailand, a new business here in Thailand, and both of those are somewhat different from a Foreign Business Certificate which generally comes through the Board of Investment, or it is my understanding now, could possibly come through the Eastern Economic Corridor institution here in Thailand. 

So these are the differences. That's the point I want to make. There is a difference between a Foreign Business License and an Amity Treaty Certificate here in the Kingdom of Thailand.