# How to Start a Business in Thailand?



## masd

Hi there!
I am thinking about starting a 7~Eleven or family mart in Phuket, Thailand. As a foriegner who has visited Thailand several times, I love Thailand and wand to live there and have my own business. I will be glad if there are friends in this forum who are active in 7~Eleven or family mart business and could help me on starting them from the beginning, tell me about legal documents needed and the cost of obtaining work and business permit from government local offices, the amount of investment required, overall status of the 7~Eleven or family mart business in Thailand.

I'm sure that could be a lot of pleasure to be here and share experiences and ideas...

I look forward to hearing from you and strike a conversation!...


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## SWS

masd said:


> Hi there!
> I am thinking about starting a 7~Eleven or family mart in Phuket, Thailand. As a foriegner who has visited Thailand several times, I love Thailand and wand to live there and have my own business. I will be glad if there are friends in this forum who are active in 7~Eleven or family mart business and could help me on starting them from the beginning, tell me about legal documents needed and the cost of obtaining work and business permit from government local offices, the amount of investment required, overall status of the 7~Eleven or family mart business in Thailand.
> 
> I'm sure that could be a lot of pleasure to be here and share experiences and ideas...
> 
> I look forward to hearing from you and strike a conversation!...


................

Please go to the following link. Hope this might give you a general broad picture.

Setting up a Business


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## SWS

Please go to the following link. Hope this might give you a general broad picture.

Setting up a Business


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## Song_Si

there's been a lot written about 7/11s recently. Have you seen how many in Phuket - it is saturated with them.

Thailand pips Taiwan to world's third biggest 7-Eleven base | Earth Times News
Tue, 29 Jun 2010
_Bangkok - Thailand has overtaken Taiwan as host to the third-largest number of 7-Eleven convenience stores in the world, behind only Japan and the USA, media reports said Tuesday.
The number of 7-Eleven outlets in Thailand reached 5,500 this year, surpassing Taiwan's 4,000 stores, but behind Japan's 12,000 stores and the USA's 6,000, the Bangkok Post reported._

Here'a link to the Thai franchise site: à«àÇè¹ ÍÕàÅ¿àÇè¹ ÂÔ¹´ÕµéÍ¹ÃÑº :: Home

Are you a Thai national? If you read through the 'prohibited occupations for foreigners' list 
Thai Work Permit - Prohibited Occupations in Thailand you'll see retailing, food and drinks is in there.


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## eyecatcher

Dont take this as gospel, but for similar reasons i was looking at starting a business in thailand.
During a conversation about the apparent 'monopoly' 7/11 seems to have with locals and toursits alike, i was advised it works on a similar basis to a franchise BUT they are not interested unless you are wanting to 'purchase' and have set up in the region of 30-50 shops.
i think this explains why you are never more than 100m from a 7/11 certainly in the tourist areas/cities.
i was advised to forget it completely.
but this was hearsay.


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## laobali

What others have said is relevant. Tread very carefully. Lawyers and agencies will tell you that it can be done. But it won't be easy or cheap. And there's no guarantee of success.

Google 'foreign business in thailand' and check the first listing.


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## Dave O'Dottu

masd said:


> Hi there!
> I am thinking about starting a 7~Eleven or family mart in Phuket, Thailand. As a foriegner who has visited Thailand several times, I love Thailand and wand to live there and have my own business. I will be glad if there are friends in this forum who are active in 7~Eleven or family mart business and could help me on starting them from the beginning, tell me about legal documents needed and the cost of obtaining work and business permit from government local offices, the amount of investment required, overall status of the 7~Eleven or family mart business in Thailand.


the 7-Eleven corporation was originally started by the Southland Corp. of Texas, USA, but it is now owned by a Japanese company for whom the USA company is a subsidiary. 

7-Eleven - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This means that if you deal with 7-Eleven, you will be dealing with Japanese management. But they will have regional management in thailand who are thai. 

In one branch on Khao San Road in Bangkok, the company has a "YUURI Bakery" really a sort of an ice cream shop inside. This appears to be a separate company. This might be one way to get in on the operation, by getting a "yuuri" franchise and working inside another 7-Eleven. 

All the things you need to know about setting up a franchise will be told to you by 7-Eleven if you get the franchise. They will probably give you an off-the-shelf program as long as you represent enough cash to them. 

someone on this thread mentioned that they might only want you to set up a lot of stores at a time. There may be more ways to skin a cat, however. If you can find the franchisee of one of these operations and offer to rent our or sub-franchise one of his operations. 

In Chiang Mai, thailand, on the outer street running along the north moat, Tesco Lotus has set up a 7-Eleven clone. This happened just within the last year or so and means Tesco feels it can go head to head with 7-Eleven. Since 7-Elevens all over Thailand are doing good business, the market may not be saturated. But if you have trouble getting a 7-Eleven franchise, you may want to approach Tesco, although it may not be a franchise at this point. 

the 7-Eleven format is one of the most successful business ideas in modern history. If phuket is anything like Chiang Mai, there is a lot of property up for rent now.


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