Company Registration Services in Thailand.

What company registration in Thailand costs

Company registration in Thailand runs on flat government fees. Registering a private limited company costs 5,000 baht at the Department of Business Development (DBD), plus 500 baht to register the memorandum of association. That's it for the state's share.

You'll still see the old formula quoted around the web, including on several firm websites: a fee per million baht of registered capital. That formula was repealed. A ministerial regulation that took effect on 1 January 2021 replaced it with the flat amounts below, so any page still pricing registration by capital is out of date. The same regulation halved the main fees for electronic filings, but only from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2023, so budget for the full amounts.

Most founders also pay a law or accounting firm to prepare the documents and handle the filing. Those professional fees vary by firm, which is where comparing firms pays off.

Foreign ownership and capital

Thailand restricts what foreign-majority companies may do. The Foreign Business Act reserves three lists of activities, from businesses closed to foreigners outright to service work that needs a licence, and it sets the capital floors: at least 2 million baht to operate at all, at least 3 million baht for anything on the reserved lists. Companies applying for Board of Investment promotion face a separate floor of 1 million baht of investment capital, excluding land and working capital, and a BOI application is the usual route for full foreign ownership in a promoted activity.

Majority Thai-owned structures get scrutiny too. When foreign investment reaches 40 to 50 percent of capital, or stays below 40 percent while foreigners hold signatory authority, the Thai shareholders must prove where their money came from: bank statements from the previous 6 months, a bank certification, or source-of-funds documents.

Which structure fits a given business depends on the activity, the ownership split, and the licences involved. A corporate and business lawyer can check whether a planned structure clears the Foreign Business Act before any money moves.

US owners may also need to assess whether the Treaty of Amity route fits their ownership and activity. Our Treaty of Amity guide explains the certification route and the questions to verify before relying on it.

Not every foreign business needs a Thai company at all. A branch office keeps the foreign parent as the legal operator, needs a foreign business licence for any reserved activity, and must bring in capital of at least 3 million baht. A representative office is limited to non-revenue work, such as sourcing, quality control, and reporting back to the head office, with the same 3 million baht floor, and it stays outside corporate income tax while still filing returns and audited statements. The details sit in the Board of Investment's business establishment guide.

How registration works now: DBD Biz Regist

New company formation has moved online. DBD Biz Regist, the department's filing system, launched officially on 16 January 2025 and works from anywhere, around the clock. Cross-province filing was abolished at the same time: a paper filing now goes to the province of the head office, and the old e-Registration system was discontinued.

One timing rule to know before you start: an approved company name stays valid for 30 days. Miss that window and the reservation lapses, so the name is usually reserved once the documents are ready to file.

How long registration takes

Company registration is not one fixed clock. A complete filing still depends on name reservation, identity verification, signatures, and any questions raised by the registrar, so budget for the preparation around the filing rather than only the DBD review itself.

Routes that need extra approval carry their own clocks, shown in the table above: a foreign business licence decision has a 60-day statutory limit and BOI promotion runs 40 to 90 working days depending on investment size. Whichever route applies, the reserved company name stays valid for only 30 days, so the filing is usually prepared before the name is reserved.

What starts the day the company exists

Registration is the cheap part. The obligations that follow are where new companies get fined.

The 13-digit juristic person number on the certificate doubles as the Revenue Department taxpayer number, and the company is registered as an employer automatically. Employees must go on the Social Security register within 30 days of their employment start date.

Corporate income tax. The standard rate is 20 percent on net profit. A small company, defined as one with paid-up capital under 5 million baht at the end of the accounting period, pays 15 percent on net profit from 300,000 to 3 million baht and 20 percent above that.

VAT. The rate is currently 7 percent. Registration becomes mandatory once annual turnover exceeds 1.8 million baht, either before starting business or within 30 days of income reaching the threshold.

Social security. The contribution rate is 5 percent of the first 15,000 baht of each salary, matched by the employer, with both shares remitted to the Social Security Office by the 15th of the following month.

Monthly filings pile up quickly, which is why many new companies hand the calendar to an accounting firm in Thailand from month one.

Doing it yourself vs. using a firm

The government fees are the same either way. What a firm adds is document drafting, the Foreign Business Act check, the identity and signing logistics on DBD Biz Regist, and the tax and social security registrations that follow. For the mechanics in more depth, the guide to registering a company in Thailand walks through the process, and there's a separate guide for foreigners setting up a Thai company covering the ownership questions.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules, fees and filing channels change; for a specific case, speak with a qualified professional.