The State of DioWarriors: New Office First Look, Tariffs

It's not much to see... yet. The new office is coming along well, just slow progress. Moving DioWarriors from the US to Thailand has so far been an interesting experience. There is much to do, at the US side of things and here in Thailand. The big plans still include the US as we are looking at Texas for maintaining our production with the larger machines and 3D Printers we can't take with us abroad. More on the Texas location later. For now let's talk about Thailand.

We've been silent since last year when we closed the DioWarriors Store. This was mostly due to the fact we just had so much to do in such a short time. An American can stay in Thailand without a formal visa for 60 days. This means an I -- an American -- can get off the airline and enter Thailand with just a passport for about two months, but then I would have to exit the country -- the all-important exit stamp in the passport. Then I can enter the country again for another 60 days. It's a cycle of repetition, but doable. There are other types of visa's that one can apply for to extend the length of stay. Each has their own list of requirements from having a local bank account to other requirements. So there are lots of options.

​Concerning DioWarriors, we have to look into a larger place. The current condo is too small. So we bought an office that will double as our residence. It's a modern version of a "shop house." It's got enough space to live in as a residence, and also enough space for manufacturing. It's a new construction too, so there's a list of checkboxes we had to go through to purchase it. It didn't come with any air conditioning, for example, so we had to get those installed. The place just went through it's first building inspection and now there are items revealed in the inspection that needs to be addressed. There will be more inspections.. a cycle of inspections and repair until everything is ready for us to move in. So this will take time.

​We'll have to talk to an architectural firm to alter the interior into a style we like. There's no cabinets, no appliances in the kitchen, there's no place for the washer and dryer. So we have to hire a firm to get this done. Then there's also the business side of things. Since DioWarriors is both design and manufacturing, the office needs higher power requirements. And there's also the issue of using American devices in Thailand... 110 to 220 volts power conversion. Again, this will take some time.

The office is four floors. The photos just shows the nicer views as the rear offices show the adjacent building. I'll post more photos when we get some blinds installed. There is an elevator we decided to install as you can imagine walking up and down four flights of stairs will do wonders for our health, and that is a plus, it will not be pleasant, however, when having to carry something heavy. The elevator goes all the way down to the factory floor.

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The place might look a bit small in these photos, but it really isn't. It should be large enough for our needs at this time, and I can't wait to start filling it with the figure collection and model props and diorama displays. The VSS was also directly on our minds when purchasing this place, so it will be big enough to have that too.

​​So this is the current state of DioWarriors abroad in Thailand. It is also the reason why there hasn't been much in terms of showing new 3D designs or pretty much anything. Honestly I also didn't want to sidetrack and post new prop designs without printing them. The condo I'm at in Bangkok is simply too small to start filling it with 3D prints while at the same time using this place to store a large action figure collection, vehicles, props from the US, etc. I felt it would be wiser to just wait until the new office became ready. So expect more news to come. Folks have been asking if there's any tariff issue we're concerned about or if tariffs will impact DioWarriors. The simple answer is no, especially since we do have a presence in the US. The move of DioWarriors from Florida to Bangkok is one thing, but there's also another move from Florida to Texas. There's a lot more going on with DioWarriors than meets the eye. Until next time....