Thailand Investigations Blog
Do You Want to Know the Truth?

It’s easy to take advantage of a business relationship. A little padding on the prices here and there, a bit of taking from the company secretly. Only when the problem has grown too big to conceal – which is usually too late for the problem to be fixed – will the unwitting victim realize that all his or her hard work has been for nothing.

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It is not uncommon for expats who like to establish a business in Thailand to get cheated by their business partners. Especially with expats who fly in and out of the country and are too busy to devote their full time attention to the business and instead trusts someone else to run it for them, these are the kinds of situations that leave many ways for the partnership to be abused.

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Take for example one client of mine. Let’s call him Scott. Scott, being breath taken by the culture and picturesque-ness of the country, decided to start up a travel agency for tourists. But Scott was also an executive in an auditing company that saw him traveling frequently. He planned that the profits from the travel agency, plus his retirement benefits, would allow him to live a good life in Thailand when he retired. His only mistake was his choice in a business partner, a supposedly respectable Thai businessman he met while on assignment.

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Even though he was an auditor, he was largely unfamiliar with general business practices, laws, taxes and fees required in establishing a local business. Thus, he trusted his business partner to handle everything for him.

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His business partner, of course, asked a lot of money from Scott, supposedly to pay for all the fees and expenses incurred by the company. He showed receipts, of course, but being a foreigner, Scott was unable to read them, as they were in Thai. And for awhile, he did receive good news and remittances, of course, from the business partner, owing to the booming tourism in the country. When he could find the time, he also went to check on the business personally, and was satisfied by what he saw. His partner was obviously very intelligent, and ran an organized and successful operation.

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This continued for about two years, when Scott suddenly received notice that his company was bankrupt. Flying to Thailand to see what the problem was, Scott was dumbstruck when he failed to contact or find his business partner.

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After being able to contact my service and track down his partner, Scott found out that his business partner had dismantled the whole business and took the profits to finance his own operation. Scott also discovered that his travel agency business was even more successful that what his business partner let on, with him only receiving half of the amount due him.

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Establishing a business is a risky business, and you need to ensure that you’re putting your trust in the right person. Thailand Investigation conducts background checks and routine investigations that can help you prevent this, so ensure your business’ safety and stability by contacting us. Remember, especially with the global financial crisis today, you can never be too careful with your money.

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