How to Register a Company in Thailand (2026 Guide).

The short version: it is faster than most people expect

Registering a Thai limited company is not the months-long ordeal people imagine. The core registration with the Department of Business Development (DBD) can be done in a day or two once your documents are ready, and the government fees for a small company are modest. What takes the time is the thinking that comes before: the structure, the ownership route, and the steps that follow registration, like tax and work permits.

This guide is the practical companion to setting up a company in Thailand as a foreigner. It walks through registering a standard Thai limited company in order, then covers what changes when the company is foreign-owned.

Before you start: structure and ownership

The single decision that shapes everything else is your ownership route, and it has to come first. A Thai limited company with more than 50% genuine Thai shareholders can run almost any business with no special licence. A foreign-majority company has to clear the Foreign Business Act first, usually through BOI promotion, the Treaty of Amity, or a Foreign Business License.

Settle this before you reserve a name. The route decides your minimum capital, whether you need a licence, and how you handle work permits, and changing it after registration is slow and expensive.

The steps, in order

For a standard Thai limited company, the path runs like this.

1. Reserve the company name

You submit up to three candidate names to the DBD through its online system, and the registrar approves the one that meets the naming rules. Approval usually takes one to three working days, and a reserved name is valid for 30 days, with no extension. Pick names that are distinct and not too close to existing companies, which is the usual reason a name is rejected.

2. File the Memorandum of Association

The Memorandum of Association (the MOA: the company's founding document) records the company name, the province, the business objectives, the registered capital, and the promoters. The business objectives matter more than they look, because they define what the company is allowed to do and feed into how the activity is classified.

3. Register the company

A Thai company can now be registered in a single step. The promoters hold a statutory meeting (adopting the articles, appointing directors, and approving the share structure), and the company is registered with the DBD on the same day if everyone signs and at least 25% of the share value is paid up. The DBD issues the registration certificate and a 13-digit company number, which also serves as the company's tax ID. Since mid-2025, this is filed through the DBD's online registration platform.

4. Get a tax ID and register for VAT

The 13-digit number from registration is your corporate tax ID with the Revenue Department. Value-added tax (VAT) is separate. You must register for VAT once your annual turnover passes 1.8 million THB, either before you start trading or within 30 days of crossing the threshold. Below that, registration is optional, though some companies register voluntarily to reclaim input VAT. The standard rate is currently 7%.

5. Register for social security

Once you employ your first staff member, you register as an employer with the Social Security Office within 30 days, and enrol your employees. Contributions are then paid monthly.

6. Open a corporate bank account

With the registration certificate, MOA, shareholder list, and director identification, you open a corporate bank account. This is a bank requirement rather than a government step, and the documents banks ask for vary, so check with the specific bank before you go in.

7. Sort out visas and work permits

If foreign directors or staff will work in the company, the work permits come last, because they depend on the company existing first. A registered company is what sponsors a work permit. The work permits and visas guide covers how the Non-B visa and the work permit fit together.

What you need: shareholders, directors, and capital

The basic requirements for a Thai limited company are lighter than they used to be.

• Shareholders: at least two, reduced from three by an amendment to the Civil and Commercial Code that took effect in February 2023. The company has to keep at least two shareholders.
• Directors: at least one.
• Registered capital: there is no general legal minimum for a Thai-majority company, beyond a par value of at least 5 THB per share and at least 25% of the share value paid up. The practical minimums come from what you want to do with the company, not from the registration itself.

Two situations raise the capital bar. If you want to sponsor a foreign work permit, plan for around 2 million THB of registered capital per foreign hire (or 1 million THB if the foreigner is married to a Thai national). If the company is foreign-majority under the Foreign Business Act, the minimum is 2 million THB for a non-restricted business and 3 million THB for a restricted, licensed one.

Fees and timeline

The government fees for a standard small company are low. Name reservation is free. The MOA and company registration fees scale with registered capital, but for a small company they land at a practical floor of roughly 5,500 THB in total. VAT registration carries no government fee. Above about 1 million THB of registered capital, the fees rise with the capital.

On timing, a straightforward Thai company can be registered within a day or two of the documents being ready, with name reservation adding a few days at the front. Foreign-ownership routes like BOI or Amity add weeks, because the approval or certification happens around the registration.

If the company is foreign-owned

Everything above still applies, with one layer on top: the company has to be allowed to be foreign-majority in the first place. That means classifying the activity against the Foreign Business Act and choosing a route to ownership before you register. It also means the higher capital minimums, and a Foreign Business Certificate or Licence depending on the route.

One thing to avoid entirely: using Thai shareholders as nominees to make a foreign-controlled company look Thai. It is illegal, it is actively investigated, and it is the subject of the nominee shareholders guide. If you need a Thai-majority structure, build a real one with proper shareholder agreements.

After registration: the ongoing duties

Registration is the start of a set of recurring obligations. A Thai company keeps accounts, files an annual audited financial statement, submits corporate income tax returns, and files VAT and withholding tax where they apply. Most small companies hand this to an accounting firm rather than running it in-house, because the filing calendar is unforgiving and the penalties for missing it add up.

When to use a lawyer or a registration service

A simple, Thai-majority company with clean documents is well within reach of a good registration or accounting service. A corporate lawyer earns their fee on the harder questions: foreign ownership, the right share structure, shareholder agreements, licences, and anything where the activity classification is unclear. The more foreign or unusual your setup, the earlier that advice pays for itself.

When you are ready, compare company registration services and corporate lawyers in Bangkok on Justenda, message them directly, and get a fee quote before you commit.

A note on what this guide is

This is general information to help you understand company registration, not legal or tax advice, and fees and procedures change. Confirm the current requirements with the Department of Business Development, the Revenue Department, or a qualified Thai professional before you register.