Maybe buying my own business in Bangkok won’t work out. Not surprisingly, it seems that the Thai sellers are a bit dodgy.

After all, why would a Thai sell a profitable business through a brokerage? Shouldn’t they have their own channels? A guy from Jersey is selling his game rooms because he is moving to Pattaya to open his own go-go bar. Even though he is also slightly dodgy (former used car salesman), his reason is plausible, if stupid.

Unfortunately, these businesses are not highly profitable. This is by no means a get-rich quick scheme. If I would want to save some money, I would have to teach part time.

Then there is the disturbing and confusing new immigration law that will be taking effect next year. Formerly, Thailand was a place you could live indefinitely, as long as you crossed the border every three months. Many farang have lived here for years, even working under the table.

But things may be changing, thanks to terrorists, and Prime Minister Thaksin’s xenophobic policies. There is a rumor that you will be limited to six consecutive free 30 day visit passes. Fine, that should keep the terrorists out. Make everyone who wants to stay apply for a visa. But what if they limit the number of consecutive tourist visas you can have? Or what if they eliminate the one-year visas?

Those are only rumors. The new law, due to go into effect next year, is strange and harsh, and affects three groups of people. The first group are retirees. The illogical Thai government should be welcoming foreigners who wish to retire here with open arms, since they will only spend money. Instead they are increasing the amount of money retirees must have in a Thai bank. So they can keep the people who aren’t rich enough out. Stupid, but that does not affect me.

Another strange aspect of the law will affect those married to Thais. Foreign husbands will have to double the amount of money they must have in a Thai bank. While not unreasonable to require that foreign husbands can support their families, what about those who can, but earn less than what is required? Do they plan on breaking up those families? As nonsensical as this is, it also does not affect me.

The part that might affect me if I want to do business here is a new requirement that foreign-owned businesses be “highly capitalized.” The law is poorly translated, but it seems to imply that the minimum investment is 30 million baht. That’s $750,000, a king’s random that I will never be able to meet.

If you can’t meet the requirement, you can’t be legit, and will have to get a tourist visa every three months. Or go home once a year and get a one-year multiple entry. And hope those visas don’t go away. Conversely, you also won’t be paying taxes, saving you a big chunk of money.

Today it occurred to me that maybe this new rule only applies to foreign businesses. The way it is now, if you invest 2 million baht ($50,000), you can go legit by forming a Thai corporation, with 4 Thai partners, and 51% Thai control. There are various ways of dealing with the fact that you don’t have any Thai partners, as well as maintaining de facto 100% control. Since this is technically a Thai, and not a foreign business, I have a hunch that this will not be affected.

Also, this is Thailand, so many laws can be avoided, unless you are very unlucky, or stupid.

However, due to the uncertainty of the climate, it may not be wise to invest here at this time. So I have been trying to formulate a Plan B. I would probably rather do business in China, but unless you have a lot of money to invest, I think you can only stay there for two months on a tourist visa. There’s also Vietnam, but I think you are also limited by tourist visas. Thailand, for now, remains a cheap place that doesn’t kick you out.

I don’t have a Plan B, but Plan C would be to bite the bullet and get a TEFL certification, which would let me fulfill my dream of living in China by teaching English. I still have a lack of enthusiasm for teaching, though.

At least I have an exit strategy. Just buy a ticket and go home. But I have low hopes for finding a job in America, and it would likely take months and months. I could probably live with my mom, but after living in Bangkok, I think I would go crazy in Indiana. I would have to go to San Francisco or New York. Even living in a hostel I would quickly exhaust my savings in those expensive places.

Plus, I like the idea of owning my own business.