Forming a company in Thailand provides many benefits. Under the auspice of your company you can hire employees, buy property and conduct business. The requirements of setting up a company in Thailand are not hard and can be accomplished within a week or two if you have the correct paperwork at hand.
The process of setting up a company in Thailand will go more smoothly if you retain the services of a lawyer skilled in this process and other corporate dealings. Asia Law Network has several lawyers that specialize in exactly this kind of work. Simply log onto our site and filter your search by legal specialty (corporate law, in this case) and country to find the perfect, pre-verified lawyer for setting up a company in Thailand.
There are several different types of Thai companies, each with different benefits. For foreigners, the most common is the Thai Limited Company, which is structured similarly to a Limited Liability Company in the US. It must have a director and at least three shareholders who can be given more or less power within the company by granting them ordinary or preferred shares.
The steps for setting up different sorts of companies are similar. For the purpose of this article, we will assume the company is the most popular sort, the Thai Limited Company. We will cover the other company structures in future articles.
Step 1: Reserve the name of your Thai company
For this step of setting up a company in Thailand, you must choose three possible names ranked by preference. Names that are too similar to existing companies, misleading, risque, overly political or using words related to the monarchy may be rejected. This is the reason that you need two more backup names should your first choice not be accepted.
Check with the Business Development Office at the Ministry of Commerce to find out more about how to choose an acceptable name when setting up a company in Thailand.
Once you have chosen your names, they must be registered with the Department of Business Registration. If the process has been properly followed, you should hear back with your name registration approval within three days.
Once a name is approved, you have 30 days to perform the rest of the process for company formation in Thailand and extensions are not given.
Step 2: File a Memorandum of Association (MOA)
The next step is that you must file a Memorandum of Association with the Business Development Office at the Ministry of Commerce. You must include the approved business name, a proposed business address, the scope of the company’s business, capital information and the signatures and contact details for the shareholders.
Once processed and approved, the Business Development Office will issue the Company Affidavit.
Step 3: Convene a Statutory Meeting
At this stage, you must gather all company directors, shareholders and other parties involved. At this meeting, a share structure and Board of Directors must be approved, an auditor needs to be appointed and the articles of incorporation and bylaws both written and passed.
Step 4: Company Registration
The next step in setting up a company in Thailand is to submit the application for company formation in Thailand. This must be done within three months of the statutory meeting.
There is a cost for registering a company and it is dependent on the amount of registered capital held by the new company. Company registration costs 500 THB for each 100K THB of registered capital. The minimum charge is 5K THB while the maximum charge tops out at 250K THB. To find out more about capital requirements for setting up a company in Thailand, remember to check back with the Knowledge Archive for future articles on the subject.
Step 5: Tax and VAT registration
If your business is going to be paying income tax, you must obtain a Tax ID number and VAT (value added tax) Certificate from the Central Filing Office of the Revenue Department within 60 days of company registration. If you do not own the property where your business is registered, this will involve getting written permission from the property owner that you are permitted to run a business there. To find out which kinds of businesses need to pay income tax in Thailand and which are exempt, remember to check back with the Knowledge Archive for future articles on the subject.
Follow these five simple steps for setting up a company in Thailand. Contact any of the qualified lawyers in Thailand listed on Asia Law Network to help you through the steps for company formation in Thailand. They can assist with everything from registering your business’s name to filing your tax paperwork.
This article is written by Adrian Mah from Asia Law Network.
This article does not constitute legal advice or a legal opinion on any matter discussed and, accordingly, it should not be relied upon. It should not be regarded as a comprehensive statement of the law and practice in this area. If you require any advice or information, please speak to practicing lawyer in your jurisdiction. No individual who is a member, partner, shareholder or consultant of, in or to any constituent part of Interstellar Group Pte. Ltd. accepts or assumes responsibility, or has any liability, to any person in respect of this article.