Company registration
Register a company in Thailand
Setting up in Thailand is fast once the structure is right. The structure is the whole game: the Foreign Business Act decides how much of the company a foreigner can hold, and that decision shapes the capital, the licences and the timeline. This page walks through the choices, then the steps.
First decide who can own it
Under the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542, a company counts as foreign once foreigners hold 50% or more of its shares. Foreigners are restricted from the activities on the Act's three Lists, and List 3 sweeps in a broad “other service businesses” category. In practice that means most service, trading and retail activities default to Thai-majority ownership unless you take one of the routes below. Manufacturing and export activities generally sit outside the Lists and can be up to 100% foreign-owned. Find your activity in the TSIC classification to see its status.
BOI promotion
For qualifying activities the Board of Investment grants up to 100% foreign ownership plus tax and non-tax incentives. The route most manufacturers, tech and regional-HQ investors take.
Foreign Business Licence
Ministry of Commerce permission to run a List 2 or List 3 activity as a foreign-majority company. Slower and discretionary, but it opens restricted service activities.
US Treaty of Amity
US nationals may hold majority ownership in most activities, treated as Thai for FBA purposes. Applied for through the DBD.
Thai-majority company
A compliant structure with Thai partners holding the majority. Common for restricted services where a licence is not practical. Structured carefully so control and economics are clear.
Which route fits depends on the exact activity and who your investors are. This is where structuring it wrong is expensive to unwind, so it is worth confirming before you file.
The registration steps
A private limited company is the standard vehicle. Once the structure and documents are settled, registration at the Department of Business Development is quick.
- 1
Reserve the company name
Submitted to the DBD; a name clears in a day or two if it does not clash or use restricted words.
- 2
Prepare the Memorandum of Association
Registered capital, the shareholder split that fits your FBA route, directors, and the TSIC objective codes the company will operate under.
- 3
Statutory meeting and registration
Directors and the auditor are appointed and the company is registered with the DBD. This is the step that creates the juristic person and its 13-digit ID.
- 4
Tax ID and VAT registration
A corporate tax ID with the Revenue Department, and VAT registration where turnover or the activity requires it.
- 5
Corporate bank account
Opened once the company exists; foreign-owned companies should budget time here, as banks review the shareholding and business plan.
- 6
Work permits and visas
If foreign staff or directors will work in Thailand, Non-B visas and work permits follow, each with its own capital and Thai-employee ratios.
Capital and timeline
A company can register with modest capital, but the practical figure is set by what comes after it: a Foreign Business Licence, a BOI application, work permits and bank comfort all expect capital sized to the plan, not the legal minimum. Restricted activities and each foreign work permit carry their own capital thresholds. Rather than register thin and top up later, it is cheaper to size it once, against the route you have chosen. We will give you the current figures for your specific case.
Get help
Register your Thailand company with Emerhub
Tell us the activity and who the investors are. Emerhub confirms the ownership route, sizes the capital, and handles the DBD registration, tax, bank and work permits end to end.