Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing BOI Companies and Visas associated therewith. I thought of making this video after reading actually a recent email - and tip of the hat to the person who sent it - quoting directly: "Hello Benjamin, just want to let you know some oddities I have encountered as an IB Visa holder through a BOI company.”

So for those who are unaware, BOI, the Board of Investment here in Thailand, they actually have sort of a separate - I guess I would call it its own sort of Visa System in a way. They are specifically mentioned in the Immigration Act of '79, and they do kind of their own thing. Now that said, they also do things from time to time that are completely out of line with both their remit from what I am observing, and the actual law. For example, where they say LTR Visas are first of all Resident Visas; they are not. And secondly, that they are work authorized automatically. Never been able to figure out where they come up with the authority to do that because that has never been how Work Permits work here. The other thing is they say on the LTR, "oh you don't have to do 90-day reporting." Well the Immigration Act says what it says; you're either an immigrant or a non-immigrant. If you're a Non-immigrant, i.e. you don't hold Permanent Residence, then yes, you have to do 90-day reporting. That's what the Act says. However, BOI has their own thoughts, but at the end of the day, if you're the foreigner, you are the one who has to answer to Immigration; that's how it works. I mean these are the problems we've seen in the Elite Visa too is where that organization will say one thing, and then Immigration will say something else.

That said, this pertains to Visa's associated with BOI companies. Quoting further: "They have now implemented some new oddities that really extends the red tape to be quite unbearable to be honest. We have been informed of the following. Some people got the Visa renewal rejected due to this”. So what he is saying is, some people have seen their BOI associated Visas rejected associated with: 1. "TM 30 must be done. This is not new, but it must have an end date. The portal paperwork doesn't require this, and if you live here and don't know when the next travel is, it makes sense not setting an end date. But apparently now, if you don't set an end date that should be when your Visa expires, you will be denied renewal." Quoting further: "Using E-Gates in the airport will totally mess up your Tax ID due to they need a copy of your passport with the stamps to verify that you qualify for paying tax in Thailand. So they have implemented this E-Gates without making sure that everything that depends on Entry/Departure information is up to date/working. So basically what I've been told, you can be screwed if you did this. Me and others have already done this because at times it's just E-Gates open for departure at Suvarnabhumi." 

So what they are saying is and I think this plays in with the fact that there was a fissure in the prior government basically between the now governing Coalition partner Bhumjaithai, and at the time they were dominating the old coalition was Pheu Thai. I discussed it. They were trying to roll out all this Digital Wallet nonsense. They were bringing on board OECD. In my opinion they were trying to create through the tax clearance system and now the ability for AI, to immediately collate data with regard to banking. They were trying to create this like unified system that when you pass through the airport, you basically would get stuck in a man trap where they would assess how long you had been in the country; they would assess any foreign fund remittances into the country, and then they would hit you up for tax it seems was going to be the plan. They would hit you up for tax at the airport on your way out. It didn't work out like that. Thankfully, Mr. Anutin who was then the Interior Minister, rolled out the Thailand Digital Arrival Card which allowed for basically, well I mean it sort of forestalled it. By rolling that out, they sort of had to put that on the back burner and then things transpired. They fell out of power, now we haven't seen this. But what we are seeing is this continued attempt to use these kiosks and E-Systems and AI, but it's not really all that good. As I've discussed in other videos, like we were told all of this digitization and AI was going to add so much convenience. All it seems to have added is more hassles, more hoops to jump through, and in such a way that it's almost impossible to get through some of these hoops. As this person is pointing out is it's like if you go through, it messes up your tax ID number. So things to think about with regard to this stuff. It remains to be seen how it's going to play out.

For many the BOI can be a very effective set of concessions to use to do business here in Thailand. There are also other options including the US-Thai Treaty Amity, the Eastern Economic Corridor for example; they all offer benefits to folks looking to do business here in the Kingdom. If you're interested in coming to Thailand to do business, probably a very good idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.