Starting a Company in Thailand
Starting a company in Thailand is a fairly easy task and can be made easier by using an accountant or lawyer, accountants generally charge less for their services, below is an out line of what is needed and the costs involved in starting a company.
If you want to employ foreigners then a capitalisation of 2 million baht is required per foreigner (only 1 million baht per foreigner is required if they have a Thai spouse) as well as 4 Thai employees per foreigner, 2 per foreigner may be allowed by the labour department in the first year of doing business. There is a limit of 3 foreign employees per company, more may be allowed if the company meets any of the criteria for BOI (Board of Investment) promotion.
When the company is formed the shareholding can be made up by a minimum of 3 shareholders, for a standard application there must be a shareholding by a Thai Juristic person of 51%, this 51% can be another Thai company, higher ratios of foreign shareholding are allowed under some BOI promotions or under the Amity treaty for US citizens.
Company registration usually costs around the 30,000 baht with both the government fees and the costs involved by whoever is doing it for you.
The documents that will be provided once the company has been registered are as follows:
- Company Registration Certificate (Por Kor 0401)
- Company Registration papers including shareholding list, company resume
- Tax ID card
- VAT Registration Certificate
- Social Fund Registration Certificates
A company is required to submit a mid year and end of year tax return and the end of year must be done by a registered Auditor, this usually costs around 15,000 baht for the end of year report.
