Bangkok · Situation
Entering a new market in Bangkok
Most market-entry mistakes are structural and made in the first month: the wrong entity, the wrong ownership split, a licence that turns out to gate the actual business, contracts written for the wrong jurisdiction.
The capability needed is temporary by definition. Once the structure is right and the first hires are in, the work drops away — which is exactly why buying it as a fractional or interim mandate fits better than a permanent hire.
What this calls for
- Entity and ownership structure that survives the local foreign investment rules
- Licensing, registration and the sequence they have to happen in
- Employment structure for the first local hires, including permits and quotas
- Transfer pricing and intercompany agreements from day one
- A local finance and compliance calendar somebody owns
What is specific to Thailand
- Severance runs to 400 days of uncapped wages while employer social cost is capped at THB 10,500 a year. A bad executive hire is cheap to carry and ruinous to exit.
- Each foreign executive on payroll needs THB 2m of registered capital and four Thai employees. A consulting contract avoids the quota.
- Statutory audit and TFRS compliance are annual and mandatory even for tiny companies, so the recurring need is a few days a month of senior judgment, not a full-time seat.
- Authority in Thailand is documented, not implied. The DBD company affidavit names the authorised directors and the signing condition, so a fractional CFO who is not a registered director cannot sign bank mandates, tax filings or contracts. Every Thai engagement has to resolve the signatory question separately, usually with a limited power of attorney.
Roles usually bought
CFO
Fractional CFO in Bangkok
Cash, controls, reporting and the numbers investors and lenders will actually believe.
COOFractional COO in Bangkok
Turning a business that works because people try hard into one that works because it is designed to.
CHROFractional CHRO in Bangkok
Employment structure, senior hiring and the people risk nobody looks at until it is expensive.
The Bangkok numbers
Fractional, per monthTHB 120,000–350,000/month (USD 3,700–10,700), typically THB 150,000–250,000 at two days a week. Advisory-only mandates — a monthly board pack and a call — run THB 50,000–90,000.
Full-time, all-inBase THB 250,000–450,000/month for a Bangkok CFO or COO. All-in with 13th month, bonus, medical and car allowance: THB 4.5m–8.0m a year, roughly USD 138,000–245,000.
SeveranceLabour Protection Act s.118: 30 days’ wages at 120 days’ service, 90 at one year, 180 at three, 240 at six, 300 at ten, and 400 days — about 13.3 months — at twenty years. No wage cap. Payment in lieu of notice on top, and restructuring terminations can reach 360 days.