Right off the bat I should say I am not considering doing business in Thailand any time soon - at least not directly in terms of a bricks and mortar establishment. But the Phuket thread talking about loss of face and Thai culture in general got me thinking about the topic and whether there were any specific nuances to doing business in Thailand or whether the universal rules of business still broadly applied. Of course one of those is to know who you are dealing with (culturally speaking), and act accordingly.

There are Thailand-based business owners on this forum and I understand they might not want to delve into this topic for whatever reasons, but any experiences - either direct or anecdotal! - would certainly be of interest to me out of curiousity and also to others "driving by", as it were.

I remember on one of my trips to Thailand I spent a few nights in a bar in Kanchanaburi owned by an ex-pat. One evening two policemen walked in and he served them up a couple of (presumably on the house) Singhas and some bar snacks. He told me that his girlfriend's brother was in the police (he might have been one of the policemen in the bar, I can't remember) and he kept them sweet on the occasions they passed by in return for a bit of sway with the local constabulary. This was duly played out a day or so later when a guy came in, acting really rude and obnoxious, walking round and sizing things up like he owned the place (we tried to make friendly chat with him but he just glared back and wouldn't answer - he was deliberately being difficult) and he stole something from behind the bar and/or took off without paying for his beer, I forget the details. Anyway, a call went in and they picked the guy up later in the day.

So even though networking/connections/friends in high places is a huge strength in business, I could argue that it's even more beneficial in a society such as Thailand where the rules and authorities are, shall we say, more pliable.

Any other specific tips for doing business in Thailand, or any comments on doing so? Personally the lack of enforcement of intellectual property such as brands etc and for people to essentially be able to set up shop overnight in your company's image, as it were, would scare me right off!

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