Company registration in Thailand

The costs and legal fees for setting up a Thailand company will vary based on the type of corporate structure and the overall scope of legal work. That is why we encourage our customers to get a quote for their specific case. Our corporate legal fees are almost entirely based on an itemised basis with the complete costs being presented in a quotation breakdown prior to commencing the legal work. The quoted price is inclusive of the associated government fees to offer a complete and comprehensive breakdown and cost analysis. The government fees which are associated with the formation will include: costs for the registration of the company capitalisation, certification of documents, registration of memorandum, application for social fund, corporate licensing, work permit and Thai visa.

For most businesses, a limited company is usually the best option and most straightforward option. It is easy to set up and provides a lot of flexibility and protection for your investment. There is also a possibility to achieve a 100% foreign ownership, whether by acquiring a foreign business license or taking advantage of BOI promotion or US Treaty of Amity. Existing businesses wishing to expand their operation to Thailand, on the other hand, may also opt for some of the foreign structures, such as representative or branch office.

One of the prerequisites for registering a company in Thailand is a local registered corporate address in a commercial building. Bigger and established businesses will probably want to lease their own office space, but smaller operations have two options – a basic virtual office (good enough for company and tax registration) or a more robust registered address solution that also satisfies requirements for VAT and social fund registration as well as foreign work permits. Both options come without the headache of managing your own office space.

Company name search and reservation is done on the website of Department of Business and Development. Your company name will be also registered in Thai language, even if the name of your company is in English. Your Thai company name can be different from the name of your business. You can also use the same name for several companies proved that you accompany that name with a different figurative word. Once approved, the corporate name is only valid for thirty days and no extension is permitted.

The registration duration depends on a number of factors, such as your selected entity, shareholder and ownership structure (foreign vs Thai), business activities and more. In most scenarios, it can take as few as 7 days, but more difficult cases may take up to 6 months. These usually involve foreign ownership and/or the foreign business license.

A majority-Thai limited company does not have any capital requirements as long as it does not employ foreign staff or directors. If that is the case, the capital requirements are 2M THB per foreigner or 1 MB if the foreigner is married to a Thai national. Foreign-owned structures have higher capital requirements and usually start at 3M THB and then 2M THB per an additional foreigner.

A company registered in Thailand is eligible to apply for a corporate savings, checking and/or foreign currency account with online banking. The only limitation is that most business accounts do not include a debit card and a credit card can be applied for after 3 years in business.

There are two main types of obligations for companies in Thailand – corporate and accounting. Any corporate changes in your company, such as change in name, capital, shareholders, address and more need to be registered with the relevant authorities. These are not regular and such compliance only arises at the time of change. On the contrary, Thai-registered companies face monthly and yearly accounting obligations – from filing tax VAT and WHT documents to bookkeeping and annual audit.