Apply Your Business License as Foreign Company
Foreign Business License in Thailand
Foreign enterprises who desire to engage in business activities governed by the Foreign Business Act must apply for a Foreign Business License before beginning operations in Thailand.
What is a Foreign Business Act?
Thailand’s business laws are designed to limit some privileges to Thai nationals solely. To defend their interests, the Thai government enacted the Thai Foreign Business Act of 1999, which limits the activities that “foreign” firms may engage in.
The definition of a "Foreigner"
The Foreign Business Act defines the term “foreigner” as:
- A natural person not holding Thai nationality
- A juristic person not registered in Thailand
- A juristic person registered in Thailand but having the following characteristics:
- Half or more of the capital investment is made by or shares are held by those under (1) or (2)
- Partnerships having individuals under (1) as the managing partner or manager
- A juristic person registered in Thailand with half or majority of the capital investment made by or shares held by (1), (2) or (3)
Restricted Activities
The Foreign Business Act clearly defines which activities are prohibited and controlled for foreigners. While some activities are wholly prohibited, others may be undertaken with prior permission from a specified government agency, and still others may not require any specific permission at all. The Foreign Business Act includes three lists for the following purposes:
Includes businesses that are not permitted for foreigners to operate due to special reasons:
- Newspaper business, radio-broadcasting station or radio/television business
- Farming, cultivation or horticulture
- Animal husbandry
- Forestry and timber conversion from natural forests
- Fisheries, especially fishing in Thai territorial waters and in specific economic areas of Thailand
- Extracting Thai herbs
- Trade and auction sale of Thai antiques or objects of historical value
- Making or casting Buddha images and alms bowls
- Trading in land
Includes businesses that are related to national safety or security, or affecting arts and culture, traditional and folk handicraft, or natural resources and environment for which foreigners can only operate upon obtaining a special approval from the Cabinet. The business activities include:
- Group 1 – Businesses concerning national security or safety
- Manufacturing, distribution, repair or maintenance of:
- Firearms, ammunition, gunpowder, and explosive materials
- Components of firearms, ammunition, and explosive materials
- Armaments, ships, aircraft, or military vehicles
- Equipment or parts of any type of war equipment
- Domestic land transportation, water transportation, or air transportation, including domestic aviation
- Manufacturing, distribution, repair or maintenance of:
- Group 2 – Businesses that could have an adverse effect on arts and culture, customs, and native manufacturing/handicrafts
- Trading of antiques or artifacts that are Thai works of art or Thai handicrafts
- Wood carving
- Silkworm rearing, manufacture of Thai silk, Thai silk weaving, or Thai silk printing
- Manufacturing of Thai musical instruments
- Manufacturing of gold-ware, silverware, nielloware, bronzeware, or lacquerware
- Making bowls or earthenware which are of Thai art and culture
- Group 3 – Businesses that could have an adverse effect on natural resources or the environment
- Manufacturing of sugar from cane
- Salt farming, including rock salt farming
- Mining of rock salt
- Mining, including stone quarrying or crushing
- Timber processing for making furniture and utilities
Includes businesses that Thai nationals are not yet ready to compete with foreigners. The issuance of the license for foreigners is at the discretion of the responsible government authorities of the Thai Ministry of Commerce. The business activities include:
- Rice milling and flour production from rice and plants
- Fisheries, specifically breeding of aquatic creatures
- Forestry from re-planting
- Production of plywood, veneer, chipboard or hardboard
- Production of lime
- Accountancy
- Legal services
- Architecture
- Engineering
- Construction, except:
- Construction of infrastructure in public utilities or communications requiring tools, technology or special expertise in such construction, except where the minimum foreign capital is 500 million THB or more
- Other construction, as prescribed in regulations
- Agency or brokerage, except:
- Brokerage or agency of securities or service related to future agricultural commodities futures or financial instruments or securities
- Brokerage or agency for the purchase/sale or procurement of goods or services necessary to production or providing services to affiliated enterprises
- Brokerage or agency for the purchase or sale, distribution or procurement of markets, both domestic and overseas for the distribution of products made in Thailand, or imported from overseas in the category of international business, with minimum foreign capital of not less than 100 million THB or more
- Other brokerage or agency activities, as stipulated in ministerial regulations
- Auctioneering, except:
- Auctioneering in the manner of international bidding, not being auctions of antiques, ancient objects or artifacts that are Thai works of art, Thai handicrafts or antique objects, or with Thai historical value
- Other types of auctioneering, as stipulated in ministerial regulations
- Domestic trade in local agricultural products not prohibited by law
- Retailing all categories of goods having of less than 100 million THB capital in total or having the minimum capital of each shop of less than 20 million THB
- Wholesaling, all categories of goods having minimum capital of each shop less than 100 million THB
- Advertising
- Hotel operation, excluding hotel management
- Tourism
- Sale of food and beverages
- Planting and culture of plants
- Other services, except those prescribed in the ministerial regulations
Capital Requirements
Foreign companies operating in Thailand and holding a license under Lists 2 and 3 of the Foreign Business Act must have a registered capital of at least 3 million THB and must comply with other requirements such as the schedule for the minimum capital to be brought or remitted into Thailand, the ratio of capital and loans to be used in the permitted business, and the number of foreign directors or representatives who may have domicile in Thailand.
If you want to investigate the possibility of applying for a Foreign Business License for your company in Thailand, we can expertly assist you with the preparation of the government forms for the license application, including the necessary Thai translation of your company documents, the submission process, and the collection of the Foreign Business License certificate on your behalf upon approval from Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce.
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