Starting a company in Thailand
Starting a business in Thailand and getting a work permit is an option to staying legal in Thailand. The Kingdom of Thailand is just full of opportunities in various different industries. You have well-known tech companies setting up in Bangkok and you have massive factories that are exporting machinery. The possibility to buy a turn-key business in Thailand or starting your own is just one step away.
Just to get you to start thinking about what you might need:
Do you need a work permit?
To do any kind of work, offline or online (it does not matter that your customers are not in Thailand!), you need a work permit as a foreigner. However, you can still be a shareholder in a Thai company without having a work permit (But you cannot work...)
Do you need any business license?
Thailand is big on different licenses! For an example, let say you start you Thai Limited Company (Co. Ltd) and you want to set up an online shop. You actually need an E-commerce license to do so. Always check before and then check again!
Work permit + Thai staff
When you start your Co. Ltd, getting a work permit for a foreigner (like yourself), the company needs have 2 million baht paid up capital and hire 4 thai staff. For the thai staff, you need to submit payroll/ withholding tax filing as well as the social security funds filing.
Import or export?
Again, this comes down to the license part. To do any kind of import or export, your company needs an import/export license to engage in these kinds of activities. It is a good idea to really think what your business will be.
Accounting and tax
Just like any other country, Thailand require you to have an accountant to fill all transactions within the company. This exactly the same as in Sweden, UK, Australia and so on. You can read more here about taxes and tax rates in Thailand.