Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Amity Treaty Companies and we are discussing them in the context of BOI.

BOI is the Board of Investment. Board of Investment can grant certain concessions to companies looking to do certain types of businesses, we will call it “encouraged” businesses here in Thailand. Things where the Government is trying to encourage certain kinds of technological exchanges, innovation, BOI can grant concessions including major tax holidays; concessions with respect to Business Visas, Work Permits; foreign ownership. It is possible to have a Foreign Business Certificate through BOI which allows foreign nationals to own the Company outright. 

Now there is also the US-Thai Treaty of Amity which for Americans can allow Americans to own basically 100% of a Thai Company notwithstanding the provisions of the Foreign Business Act. In both cases, we are talking about this notwithstanding the provisions of the Foreign Business Act. I sometimes get asked the question: "Well which is better, the Amity Treaty or BOI? What is better? Well, it depends on your circumstances, it depends. SMEs oftentimes, although not always may not be optimal candidates for BOI whereas for Amity Treaty it may be. 

The other thing to think about is it depends on your nationality. If you are not an American, well the Treaty isn't going to do anything for you so BOI may be the only option under those circumstances. There may be other options. A standard Thai Corporate structure actually may work just fine depending on the circumstances. 

So again it is probably not the best thing to do to try to compare these but it is probably a good idea to sit down and understand both of them in order to make a decision into how best to proceed. Again, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into both of them, weigh up your options and then proceed accordingly.