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2009 rank: #13

2008 rank: #19

This year, Thailand moved six places up the ranking from 19th position, thanks to recent reforms in registering property, protecting investors, trade and paying taxes.

These days, transferring property takes only two days and two procedures. Thailand also strengthened the rights of minority shareholders, making it easier to sue corporate directors, and introduced corporate income tax exemptions for small companies.

But significant obstacles to running a small business remain: starting a business takes 33 days, completing paperwork for taxes eats up 264 hours a year, and recovering debt from a bankrupt business takes nearly three years. The average recovery rate from an insolvent firm doesn't look good for creditors either, at 42.4 cents on the dollar.

NEXT: 14. Finland

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/smallbusiness/0809/gallery.best_countries_for_business.smb/13.html