Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Amity Companies here in Thailand. For those who are unaware, the US-Thai Treaty of Amity, the bilateral treaty between the United States and Thailand allows for what's called National Treatment of American owned businesses here in the Kingdom, meaning that those companies, companies that are primarily American owned, are treated as if they are Thai companies effectively. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Foreign Business Act, they are treated as if they are Thai Companies and therefore are accorded the same if you will, benefits is the wrong word, but basically treated legally the same. They are accorded the same sort of privileges and immunities in the American vernacular, as are Thai Companies, so it means that they can be 100% American owned. That's pretty important in terms of the Foreign Business Act here in Thailand where in many cases you have to deal with some kind of share structure - 49/51- in favour of the Thai national.

So the thing to take away from this video one is that the Amity Treaty accords certain benefits to Americans here in Thailand that are not necessarily accorded to other nationalities but another thing to take away from it is it is a bilateral treaty. So when it comes to the makeup of the corporation the fact that it pertains to Americans and Thais exclusively can have a bearing on how that Corporation is structured, because if it is structured in such a way where perhaps some third country national has a majority share of the company, that structure isn't going to work under the Amity Certification. Again the Certificate only "works" if you will, if it's either Thai majority owned or American majority owned, and there is even some ambiguity regarding Board representation and any representation whatsoever on the shareholder list. Generally speaking, the best rule of thumb is to view it as bilateral and therefore only pertaining to Thais and Americans. 

That said, Amity Treaty Companies can employ third country nationals, again as could any Thai company. Again these companies are accorded national treatment so they are treated as if they were Thai companies and Thai companies can always hire foreign nationals from any country, so long as you get proper Work Permits and Visas for those individuals. 

So the thing to take away from this video and understand is yes, it is very much possible for Americans to own their companies out right here in Thailand. However, the provisions of the US-Thai Treaty of Amity that allow that has a bearing on the way that a company should or ought to be structured and therefore such companies will have, basically you are going to have to be very aware of that when you are forming it and maintaining corporate compliance so as to be in line with the provisions of the Treaty. That being said, Treaty of Amity Certification does not preclude hiring third country nationals here in the Kingdom of Thailand.