Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the Foreign Business Act here in Thailand. We oftentimes discuss this in the context of like incorporation, corporate structures, corporate liability as well as things like the US-Thai Treaty of Amity, Board of investment or BOI certification and concessions, we don't often discuss it in a more practical sense. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, that is bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Chinese gang links under scrutiny. Quoting directly: "Four people were arrested in those raids. Police found out that one of the owners of the pub was a Chinese national, which meant it was in breach of the Foreign Business Act 1999." So I urge those who are watching this video, go check out that article. There is a lot of information in there, it provides a lot of context. What we are talking about here is just the Foreign Business Act sort of in general and yes, entertainment venues for example must comply with the Foreign Business Act if they have a foreign owner involved with them. If it doesn't comply with the Foreign Business Act that not only maybe a civil penalty associated with that activity, there may also be criminal penalties depending on the circumstances associated with that activity as well, let alone if you get into a situation where there's like a nominee structure which is also clearly illegal, again under the Foreign Business Act. 

So the thing to understand as a foreign national doing business here in Thailand is that yes Thailand has a restrictive set of policies and laws associated with who can do business in Thailand and yes it is rather preferential toward the Thais. Now something to keep in mind, yeah there are certifications, certificates that it may be possible to obtain for example a certificate under the provisions of the US-Thai Treaty of Amity that can essentially supersede the provisions of the Foreign Business Act; there is something called a Foreign Business License which allows a business to operate with foreign control notwithstanding the provisions of the Act itself. Then meanwhile you have things like the Board of Investment or BOI as well as the new Eastern Economic Corridor and the concession granting powers which exist under both of those organizations which would allow one to do business notwithstanding the provisions of the Foreign Business and even have total foreign ownership. So again this is all going to be somewhat driven by the specific facts in an underlying case, but understand the Foreign Business Act remains a major piece of legislation and the ramifications on it can have practical implications for foreign nationals doing business here in the Kingdom of Thailand.