Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing doing business in Singapore. It is kind of a comparative video because I am talking about this in the context of doing business in Thailand as well. What are we talking about here? 

Well in the past roughly two weeks, I have had a great deal of correspondence, as well as consultations and discussions, appointments with various clients who are looking to do business in Thailand. A trend that I have heard not less than once, I have heard it more than once, that Singapore is not as easy as it used to be. In fact "not as easy" I have heard in multiple conversations, that direct quote, when talking about doing business in Singapore. Now I don't know what exactly is going on down there. It's my understanding they have new sort of know your customer rules with respect to banking. There are all sorts of new disclosure requirements associated with corporations in Singapore apparently. Yeah, I don't know the full ramifications of what is going on down there. All I can do is observe what I see anecdotally and what I am seeing is a lot of folks contacting us here in Thailand and asking about options for doing business here or operating a corporation out of this jurisdiction because Singapore just isn't like, it's not as straightforward as it once was.

Whether or not this remains the same remains to be seen. Hard to say if I maybe am not just deal with some outliers who seem to think it is more difficult than it otherwise should be but, when I start hearing it two or three times, that is kind of where I say, "Oh, this might be a trend, might be something worth mentioning in the videos." Again maybe it is not a trend, maybe I am just overreacting or these folks are overreacting, but it is interesting because those looking to do business here in Thailand, yeah there are options. There are Limited Companies here in Thailand; one can get a Work Permit and a Business Visa in order to remain in Thailand and work for one's own company, while here, American citizens can own their company 100% pursuant to the terms of the US-Thai Treaty of Amity. Meanwhile, those from other nationalities and Americans as well, even Thais, could take advantage of what is called the Board of Investment here in Thailand which can provide various concessions including tax holidays to those looking to do business in Thailand. So maybe what Singapore has lost, could be Thailand's gain. I'm not necessarily saying Singapore has even lost anything, I don't know exactly what is going on but when I hear something enough I think it's worth making a video, and it's worth a reminder that yes Thailand remains a solid place to do business here in Asia.