Start with what the business will do, who will control and perform the work, where it will operate, and how customers and money will move. Company registration is one workstream; it should not be treated as permission to conduct every activity. Use this hub to prepare the facts and questions that the responsible authority and appropriately qualified Thai professionals will need.
Review status: Review overdue. Last recorded review 30 August 2025; substantive corrections were checked 9 August 2026 without marking the family current.
Professional review: Not performed. No qualified Thai corporate, tax, employment or legal approval. This is general information, not Thai corporate, investment, tax, accounting, labour, immigration or legal advice.
Describe the activity before selecting the entity
Write down:
- the goods, services or digital functions the business will provide;
- who the customers and contracting parties will be;
- where sales, delivery, staff, premises and equipment will be located;
- who will own, control, manage and perform work for the business;
- how revenue, supplier payments and cross-border payments will flow;
- any sector permission, professional qualification, premises approval or other operating condition that may apply; and
- which facts are confirmed, which are assumptions and which require written authority or professional advice.
Registration, ownership permission, sector licensing, tax registration and permission for an individual to work are separate questions. Do not sign a lease, advertise a regulated activity, appoint nominee shareholders or promise a launch date based only on a generic checklist.
Action: Create an activity record and take it to the responsible authority and qualified adviser before selecting or filing an entity.
Compare routes by function, authority and risk
A Thai limited company, branch, representative office or another lawful arrangement may serve different purposes. Do not choose from a label alone. Compare:
- the activities the route is intended to perform;
- the foreign parent, investor, control and liability facts;
- whether the route may earn income or contract in the proposed way;
- the registrations, permissions and sector rules that may apply;
- accounting, tax, audit, employment and record-keeping consequences; and
- how future investment, control changes, sale or closure would be handled.
This comparison does not recommend a route. The responsible authority and qualified Thai corporate, tax and sector professionals must assess the actual facts.
Related guides: company registration, branch and representative-office factors, BOI promotion and foreign ownership.
Treat foreign participation as an activity-and-control analysis
Use this sequence:
- Record the proposed investors, beneficial ownership, voting, management and funding facts.
- Define each activity the Thailand operation will perform.
- Check the current foreign-business and sector-specific restrictions with the responsible authority.
- Identify whether an exemption, Foreign Business Licence or Certificate, investment-promotion route, treaty route or sector permission might be relevant.
- Obtain written, fact-specific advice before relying on a route or filing structure.
Nominee shareholding is prohibited. Do not use a Thai person as a shareholder merely to conceal foreign ownership or control, and do not treat a share percentage as the complete legal analysis. The site does not design ownership workarounds or certify a structure.
Related guide: foreign ownership and the Foreign Business Act.
Plan beyond registration
Use the lifecycle as a coordination map, not as a universal sequence or deadline:
activity and structure advice → entity filing → activity or premises permissions → tax and accounting setup → banking and records → employer and SSO workstreams → immigration and permission to work → recurring and event-driven obligations → director/shareholder changes → sale, liquidation or closure
Some steps may run in parallel, may not apply, or may require an earlier authority decision. Record the responsible authority, adviser, evidence and confirmed status for every step.
Related guides: company registration, business compliance and closing or selling a business.
Build a calendar from the entity's facts
Do not copy a generic compliance calendar. Create one row for each confirmed obligation with these fields:
| Field | User entry |
|---|---|
| Entity and accounting period | Enter the registered facts |
| Activity, licence or promotion condition | Enter the exact instrument or condition |
| Employer, SSO and workforce status | Enter the confirmed status |
| Tax or VAT registration status | Enter the confirmed status |
| Responsible authority | Name the authority |
| Obligation and trigger | Quote or describe the exact requirement |
| Current official source | Add the URL, instrument and version |
| Deadline | Enter only after current confirmation |
| Responsible professional or person | Name the accountable role |
| Evidence and completion status | Link the retained record |
| Last checked and next check | Record both dates |
Deadlines can depend on the entity, accounting period, transaction, taxpayer, employee, licence or authority instruction. This site does not generate a definitive filing calendar from incomplete facts.
Related guides: business compliance, tax and social security.
Separate company, immigration and permission-to-work questions
Registering or owning a company does not by itself decide whether a person may enter, stay or perform work in Thailand. For each founder, director, employee or contractor, record:
- the work they will actually perform and where;
- the proposed employer or engaging entity;
- immigration status and any relevant conditions;
- the current permission-to-work route and responsible authority;
- whether an occupation or sector restriction needs checking;
- employer, payroll and SSO obligations; and
- the professional or authority confirmation still required.
Do not rely on a universal capital, salary, nationality, shareholder or employee ratio. Do not begin work based on company registration or an online summary alone.
Related guides: employment and work permits and social security. Visa and immigration decisions remain separately governed.
Assign each question to the right professional or authority
| Role | Questions to assign | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Thai corporate lawyer | Activity and structure, ownership and control, contracts, permissions, governance, change or closure | Confirm qualification, scope, conflicts and written advice |
| Accountant or auditor | Books, accounting period, statements, controls and audit work | Confirm appointment and entity-specific obligations |
| Thai tax adviser | Registrations, transaction and payment treatment, filings and evidence | No tax outcome without facts and written advice |
| Labour or immigration specialist | Employment terms, employer duties, immigration and permission-to-work workflow | Confirm authority route and avoid outcome promises |
| Sector authority or qualified specialist | Activity, premises, product or professional permission | Authority decision controls; identify the exact instrument |
Thailand Expat Services provides general information and may coordinate an introduction to an independent provider. Before any transfer, disclose the provider's identity and role, the proposed scope and fee, whether the provider is independent, and any referral compensation payable to the site. Obtain consent before sending contact details. Do not send passports, shareholder registers, financial statements, tax records, bank records, employment files or other sensitive documents through the general enquiry form.
Official source routes and evidence boundaries
- DBD online services directory — identifies current service channels; a listed service is not permission or approval.
- DBD transaction-manual inventory — use the exact current transaction manual and live registrar request; there is no universal filing checklist.
- BOI announcement inventory — the exact current Thai announcement and issued certificate control any promoted-project question.
- Biz Portal — activity/licence discovery only; results are not a complete permission inventory.
- Revenue Department e-services — service routing only; no tax result or filing duty is inferred.
- Department of Employment — current authority route for work questions; no application result is inferred.
- Social Security Office — employer and insured-person questions depend on the actual facts and current instruction.
- Immigration Bureau — immigration status remains separate from company registration and permission to work.
- Federation of Accounting Professions — role and credential-check context; no appointment, audit duty or independence is inferred.
Source routes checked: 25 August 2026. This access check does not redate the page, clear its overdue status or constitute professional approval. Blocked or unavailable source content is not treated as support.