Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing sort of a comparison and contrast if you will, a perhaps cost-benefit comparison between company setup and so-called Long-Term Resident Visas. Now as we have discussed in many other videos, the LTR Visa, so-called Resident Visa does not provide Lawful Permanent Residence here in Thailand. We have discussed that at length; it's just sort of a long Non-Immigrant Visa if you will. Now the question posed is what's the better way to come to Thailand and get set up if you want to operate here? The question posed is, “Is the basically Thai Company set-up, utilize your own company to set up your own Business Visa and Work Permit or go through the LTR route?” 

Well first off, the thresholds financial and otherwise associated with the Long-Term Residence Visa are quite high. In many cases we found that folks that are on something more of a tighter budget find that company setup actually turns out to be more reasonably priced especially in the sense that it doesn't require proof of a great deal of assets. If you don't have the assets to sponsor oneself for the LTR Visa you are not going to be able to get it so it may not be available to a number of people and Company set up may be the only way to do it. 

Now the next question is okay looking at company set up versus LTR, what about tax? Well as we have discussed in other videos and one should keep in mind that all Tax Matters should be handled on an individualized basis - at the end of the day there is no one size fits all sort of tax advice so don't take this as that - but when looking at the stipulated 17% tax rate on the LTR Visa versus some of the options one might have when setting up a company here in Thailand and availing themselves of certain tax mitigation techniques, in my opinion again you should look at it on a case-by-case basis, there are going to be some people greatly benefited by the LTR. And as we discussed when it was first promulgated, I always thought it was going to be a narrow band, a narrow subset if you will of people that were really going to benefit from that kind of Visa. I think that circumstances have proven that out. 

Now that said, when comparing all the costs associated with a Thai Company, you need to do some kind of careful analysis because depending on your situation it may be a really close call between the two things. Another thing to keep in mind with regard to company setup, Thai company setup as well as Business Visa and Work Permit status do put one on track for real Permanent Residence, Lawful Permanent Residence here in Thailand or I should say can put them on track for Lawful Permanent Residence here in Thailand and again residency in its truest sense, Permanent Residence in Thailand, is not part of the LTR package.