Company Incorporation in Thailand

Thailand, as another fast-emerging market, is an interesting region to invest in Asia. The country is a major rice producer, and other agricultural products along with textiles as well as footwear are being produced on a large scale in Thailand.

Thailand is member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the ASEAN Free-Trade Area (AFTA). Within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) region, Thailand forms also an important centre for automobile manufacturing.

The political system in Thailand consists of a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is the king, while the head of the government is the prime minister. The judiciary is independent of the executive and legislative branches, and can be considered as reliable. Because of strong government support and incentives for certain industries as well as lower labour costs, it can be interesting to set up a company in Thailand. The government fees and capital investment can be relatively high, depending on the corporate vehicle and the number of people employed.

Most commonly a Limited Company is used as a legal form to set up a business in Thailand. You can either establish a Thai or a Non-Thai Company. A Non-Thai Company must have at least three shareholders if it is a private limited company. A public limited company must have at least 15 shareholders. Of those shareholders at least 50% have to be Thai residents. In this case, all the shares may be held by foreign investors. Investment in some industries (including land sales) are subject to approval by the government and can only be made by a Thai Company. In such case the majority of the shares must be held by local partners.

Under certain circumstances, other legal forms can be interesting options as well. These would be,for example, a (limited) Thai Partnership or a Thai Representative Office. For further information concerning this jurisdiction, please feel free to contact us at any time. We will have the perfect solution for you.