Often, yes. Sales managers at larger exporters may speak English, but the people who know production, materials and costs often speak only Thai. An interpreter who understands manufacturing helps you get exact answers and avoid misunderstandings that show up later in the order.
Usually two to three. Factories around Bangkok are spread across different industrial areas, and the drive between two of them can take an hour or more in traffic. Each visit also takes one to two hours if you want useful answers.
Contact each factory at least one to two weeks ahead, in Thai if you can, and through the channel it actually uses, which is often LINE or the phone rather than email. Ask for a confirmed date, time, address and contact person in writing, and check whether you will see the production line or only a showroom.
Most business trips to Thailand go smoothly, but take simple precautions. Only use transport you have booked and confirmed in writing, share your itinerary with someone you trust, never exchange money through strangers, and pay suppliers and service providers by bank transfer, not cash.
Expect questions about your estimated order quantity, your product specifications or drawings, your target market and who you are. Factories use these answers to decide whether a visit is worth their time, so having them ready gets you more meetings and better answers.
Check several signals together: the business type in the company's Thai registration, whether it holds a factory licence, its address, how focused its product range is, its minimum order quantity, and whether it can show live production. No single signal is conclusive, and a trading company is not a problem as long as it is open about what it is.
Expect to pay for most samples, especially custom ones, plus courier costs. Some factories credit the sample fee against your first bulk order, but only if agreed in advance. Before paying, confirm in writing what the sample will show, what it costs, how long it takes and whether the fee is refundable.
Search the company on DBD DataWarehouse+, the public database of Thailand's Department of Business Development, using its Thai name or its 13-digit registration number. Check that it is active, and that the name, address and directors match the quotation, invoice and bank details you received.
If your trial order is well below a factory's minimum order quantity, a wholesaler or distributor holding stock is often the practical first step — but you will have less control over the specification. If you need your own specification or branding, expect to meet the factory's minimum or pay a higher unit price for a smaller run.
Prepare five things: what the product is and its specification, your trial and ongoing quantity, the destination and trade terms, any documents your market requires, and the kind of help you need. Photos and reference brands help, but suppliers need a specification before they can quote.
A photo shows how a product looks, not what it is made of, its grade, measurements or tolerances. A reference brand tells a supplier what you like, not what you need. Suppliers can only quote reliably from a written specification, so use photos to support a specification, not to replace it.
