Foreign Business Licence Thailand | FBA Lists 1

The Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 restricts foreign-majority companies from certain activities. List 1 is closed. List 2 needs Cabinet-level approval. List 3 activities may be licensed by the Director-General with the Foreign Business Committee's approval. We classify the activity first, then prepare the application.

Governing authority / legal basis: Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999), Lists 1–3; administered by the Department of Business Development, Ministry of Commerce, with the Foreign Business Committee
Turnaround: Document preparation typically runs 2–4 weeks depending on how fast the overseas shareholder's certified documents arrive. The registrar's own consideration period is set by the Act and the current queue — check the Department's published notice for the activity, and treat any date we give as an estimate, not a commitment.
Fees: Quoted per matter once we see the shareholding, the activity and the documents already on file. Government and registrar fees are charged at the authority's own rate and are separate. Confirm scope and fees with our staff by phone, Line or Email before any filing is prepared.

What we handle

Activity classification

A written opinion on which List the intended activity falls into, and whether it is restricted at all. Many activities are unrestricted and need no licence — that finding saves the whole application.

Route comparison

Where the applicant is US-owned, or the activity is on the BOI's promotion list, a Treaty of Amity certificate or a BOI promotion may reach the same result on a different track. We set the three routes side by side before filing.

Application preparation

The application form, business plan, capital and employment particulars, and the supporting corporate documents the registrar asks for at the counter.

Foreign document chain

Overseas certificates of incorporation, board resolutions and powers of attorney, notarised abroad and legalised for use in Thailand, with certified Thai translations.

Documents required

Document	Issued / prepared by	Watch out for
Description of the intended activity	Client	Written in operational terms — what is sold, to whom, where the work is performed. The classification turns on this, not on the company's name.
Shareholding structure	Client	Nationality of every shareholder and the percentage held. Foreign status under the Act is determined by shareholding.
Certificate of incorporation of the foreign shareholder	Overseas registry	Notarised and legalised for use in Thailand, with a certified Thai translation.
Board resolution and power of attorney	Foreign parent	Authorising the Thai filing and naming the signatory.
Passports or ID of directors and authorised signatories	Client	Names must match the transliteration already used on the Thai company record.
Minimum capital plan	Client	The Act sets a minimum capital for restricted business; the amount and remittance schedule are part of the application.

Document lists, official fees and acceptance conditions vary between offices, branches and provinces, and change by notification. Confirm with the receiving authority before you act on this page.

How the process runs

1
Classification opinion
We read the activity description against Lists 1, 2 and 3 and tell you whether a licence is required, unavailable, or unnecessary.
2
Route decision
If a licence is required, we compare the Foreign Business Licence route with Treaty of Amity certification and BOI promotion, and you choose on the merits.
3
Document assembly
Foreign corporate documents are notarised and legalised abroad, then translated and certified for the Thai file. This is usually the longest leg.
4
Filing and queries
The application is filed with the Department of Business Development. Registrar queries are answered from the same document set so the answers stay consistent.

Why files get rejected

List 1 activities are not open to foreign-majority companies at all — no licence exists to apply for. Restructuring the activity, not the application, is the only route.
Nominee shareholding to disguise foreign control is an offence under the Act. We do not arrange it and will not file an application built on it.
A Foreign Business Certificate issued on the back of a BOI promotion or the Amity Treaty is a different instrument from a Foreign Business Licence; they are not interchangeable on the record.
Approval is at the discretion of the authority. Nobody can promise an outcome, and any adviser who does should be treated with caution.
Until 28 February 2027 Thai and foreign public documents move between countries by consular legalisation rather than apostille; build that time into the schedule.

Frequently asked questions

คำถามที่พบบ่อย (FAQ)

Can a foreigner own 100 percent of a Thai company?+

Yes for activities that are not restricted by the Foreign Business Act. Where the activity is restricted, full foreign ownership needs a Foreign Business Licence, a Treaty of Amity certificate for US ownership, a BOI promotion, or another statutory exemption. The activity, not the ownership percentage, is the starting point.

How long does a Foreign Business Licence take?+

The Act sets a consideration period once the file is complete, but the practical timeline depends on the registrar's queue and how many rounds of queries the file attracts. Preparing the overseas documents usually takes longer than the review itself.

Is a licence needed to open a representative office?+

A representative office is limited to non-revenue activities such as sourcing and quality control. The scope is narrow and the treatment differs from a trading or service company, so the activity list should be checked before choosing the vehicle.

What happens if we operate without a licence?+

Operating a restricted business without the required licence exposes the company and its responsible persons to penalties under the Act. Where activity has already started, tell us early — the remediation path differs from a clean application.

Do the foreign documents need an apostille?+

Not yet. Thailand's accession to the Apostille Convention takes effect on 28 February 2027. Until that date, documents issued abroad are legalised through the consular chain and then translated for the Thai file.

Authoritative Sources

References & Citations

Official government, legal, and international sources cited throughout this page.

1
Department of Business Development· แหล่งทางการ
Department of Business Development, Ministry of Commerce ↗
www.dbd.go.th
2
boi.go.th· แหล่งทางการ
Thailand Board of Investment ↗
www.boi.go.th
3
Department of Consular Affairs· แหล่งทางการ
Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs ↗
consular.mfa.go.th

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General information, not legal advice on your specific matter. We are not a bank, not an insurance broker and not an agent of any state authority, and we do not guarantee any authority's decision.

Talk to us before you file — reply within 24 hours

Tell us your nationality, visa category and the deadline. Our staff confirms the scope and the fee by phone, Line or Email before any work begins.

Chat on Line Call 094-8958999 Email contact@thainotary.co.th

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Deep Context and Service Standards

Sourced from the Lawyer Act B.E. 2528 (1985), the Lawyers Council Regulation on Notarial Services Attorneys B.E. 2546 (2003), the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019), the Hague Apostille Convention of 1961, and official publications of the Department of Consular Affairs (MFA).

Firm Overview and Practice Framework

Thai Notary Service is a full-service Thai law office providing document notarization, certified translation, legalization chain management, and international document consultancy. Our team includes Notarial Services Attorneys licensed by the Lawyers Council of Thailand under the Royal Patronage, and we operate offices in Bangkok, Greater Bangkok, and a partner network in every province across Thailand. We serve individuals, expatriates, cross-border couples, students, corporates, multinationals, and government agencies requiring documents with legal effect both inside Thailand and abroad.

All notarial acts follow the Lawyer Act B.E. 2528 (1985) Section 27 read with the Lawyers Council Regulation on Notarial Services Attorneys B.E. 2546 (2003), the sole legal basis authorizing Thai attorneys to certify documents comparable to a foreign Notary Public. Every attorney on our team has completed the accredited training and examination administered by the Lawyers Council and holds a verifiable registration number searchable on the Lawyers Council public registry.

By choosing a firm that houses Notarial Services Attorneys in-house, clients consolidate a multi-stage legalization chain under one accountable roof: attorney notarization, followed by Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) legalization at the Department of Consular Affairs, followed by embassy or consular legalization for the destination country. Since 21 November 2024 the Kingdom of Thailand has become a party to the Hague Apostille Convention (Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents). Documents apostilled in Thailand are now accepted in more than 125 member states without embassy re-legalization, materially reducing turnaround time and cost.

General Information and Firm Framework — Deep Context

The firm operates under an ISO 9001:2015 quality-management framework and enforces data protection consistent with the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019). All client documents are stored with AES-256 encryption at rest and in transit and are retained for ten years in accordance with lawyer-record obligations under the Lawyer Act.

Our team combines Notarial Services Attorneys, NAATI-certified translators, and legal specialists in intellectual property, taxation, cross-border family law, corporate law, and immigration law, together with a support team dedicated to documentation, translation, and government-agency liaison.

Fees are transparent and disclosed both on the website and in the pre-engagement quote, separating professional fees, government fees, travel disbursements (if any), and other line items. The firm issues VAT invoices and official receipts and accepts payment by bank transfer, credit card, PromptPay, and cash.

Trust Standards — PDPA, SLA, Quality Assurance

On data protection, the firm strictly follows the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019), Sections 24, 26, and 27 — collecting, using, and disclosing personal data only to the extent necessary for the engagement, disclosing purposes, and obtaining consent from data subjects in advance. Clients retain the right to inspect, obtain a copy, rectify, erase, or withdraw consent at any time through the firm's Data Protection Officer (DPO). For clients in the European Union, processing follows GDPR Article 6 (lawful basis) and Article 46 (Standard Contractual Clauses).

Our Service Level Agreement targets an inquiry response within one hour during business hours (09:00–18:00, Monday to Saturday), attorney appointments within twenty-four hours, standard notarization within one business day (or two to three hours on express service), certified translation within three to five business days per ten A4 pages, MFA legalization within two business days on standard service (one business day express), and embassy legalization typically within three to fifteen business days depending on the mission's own policy.

Every deliverable passes a three-tier quality-assurance chain: (1) the responsible attorney or translator, (2) a Senior Attorney or department head reviewing substance and formatting, (3) a Quality Control desk performing the final pre-delivery check. Any firm-side error is remedied at no additional cost, and if a document is rejected by a government authority due to a firm-side error, we cover the entire re-filing fee.

Contact and Initial Consultation

Initial consultation is complimentary via Line @thainotary or by phone at 094-8958999. The team responds within one hour during business hours. Every inquiry is treated confidentially under the Lawyers Council ethics rules and the Personal Data Protection Act.

Foreign Business Licence under the Foreign Business Act