ทนายความ + ผู้สอบบัญชี CPA ในทีมเดียว · ประสบการณ์กว่า 15 ปี · 4 สาขาทั่วประเทศ
092-0170000English desk
Foreign businesses and residents in Thailand rarely have a purely legal problem or a purely accounting problem. A work permit depends on payroll evidence, a property purchase depends on how funds were remitted, and a BOI privilege depends on a chart of accounts. These pages set out how each of those works, what it costs, and where our clients most often get caught.
Speak to our teamCompany registration
A Thai private limited company needs at least two shareholders, one director and a registered address. Incorporation itself takes three to seven working days once names are approved; VAT registration, social security enrolment and corporate banking add another two to four weeks. Foreign ownership above 49 per cent generally requires BOI promotion, a Foreign Business Licence or a treaty route.
Company registration in detailBOI promotion
BOI promotion allows one hundred per cent foreign ownership of an eligible activity, with corporate income tax exemption of three to eight years for activity groups that qualify, machinery and raw material duty relief, and streamlined visas and work permits. Preparation typically takes four to eight weeks, the committee decision two to four months depending on project size, and privileges begin only after the promotion certificate is accepted and the conditions are met.
BOI promotion in detailVisas and work permits
To employ a foreigner in Thailand the company generally needs paid-up registered capital of two million baht per foreign hire, plus four Thai staff for each of them, and the foreigner needs a Non-Immigrant B visa before the work permit is issued. Allow two to four weeks for the visa and one to three weeks for the permit. Board of Investment promoted companies are exempt from the ratio and use the investment centre channel described on our BOI page instead.
Visas and work permits in detailProperty and real estate
Foreigners may own a condominium unit outright provided the building's foreign quota of forty-nine per cent of total floor area has room, but may not own land in their own name. Land is normally held through a registered thirty-year lease, a superficies or usufruct right, or a lawfully structured Thai company or BOI-promoted entity. Transfer costs total roughly six to seven per cent of the assessed value and are shared by negotiation.
Property and real estate in detailLitigation and dispute resolution
Thai civil cases begin with a complaint filed at the court with jurisdiction, and court fees are two per cent of the claimed amount capped by statute. A first-instance judgment typically takes eight to eighteen months, with mediation offered throughout. Limitation periods are strict — commonly two years for service claims and ten years for contractual debt — and expiry cannot be repaired by negotiation.
Litigation and dispute resolution in detailLaw firm services in Thailand
Instructing a Thai law firm begins with a written scope, a power of attorney permitting counsel to act, and identification documents. Thai practice runs on signed paper and official records rather than recollection, so the strength of any matter depends on what can be documented. Deadlines are statutory and unforgiving, so any matter with a possible time limit should be assessed before negotiation begins, not after.
Law firm services in Thailand in detailNotarial Services Attorney
Thailand has no separate notary profession. Notarisation is performed by attorneys holding a Notarial Services Attorney licence from the Lawyers Council of Thailand, who may witness signatures, attest copies and take oaths. For overseas use the attested page usually continues to consular legalisation, and from there either to the destination country's mission or along the apostille route, depending on which the destination recognises.
Notarial Services Attorney in detailAccounting and tax compliance
A Thai company must keep books in Thai, remit withholding tax and social security monthly, file VAT monthly if registered, submit a half-year corporate tax estimate, and file audited financial statements with the annual corporate return. Dormant companies file too. We run that cycle while reporting to owners in English, and map Thai statutory accounts to the group's own reporting labels.
Accounting and tax compliance in detailNAATI certified translation
Documents submitted to Australian government bodies from outside Australia must be translated by an accredited translator whose full name, credential number and contact details appear on the translation. NAATI certified Thai to English work is the safest route for migration, citizenship, skills assessment and tertiary admission files. Most Thai civil documents are turned around in two to four working days, and we can add notarial certification or Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalisation on the same file where the receiving body wants the original chain proved as well.
NAATI certified translation in detailPolice clearance certificate
A Thai police clearance certificate is issued by the Royal Thai Police records division in Bangkok on the basis of a fingerprint search. Applicants inside Thailand attend in person with passport and supporting documents; applicants abroad have prints taken locally on the correct form and submit through an authorised representative or a Thai embassy. Normal processing runs about three to eight weeks depending on nationality and on whether any record needs manual checking, and the certificate is then translated and legalised if the receiving authority requires it.
Police clearance certificate in detailBookkeeping and monthly compliance
Every Thai company must keep statutory accounting records, appoint a qualified bookkeeper, file monthly withholding tax and, if VAT registered, monthly VAT returns, submit a half-year corporate income tax estimate, hold an annual general meeting, and file audited financial statements with the Department of Business Development and the Revenue Department. Monthly returns fall due in the first half of the following month; annual filings follow the meeting date. Late filing brings surcharges and fines that grow with time, and unlike a commercial dispute they are not negotiable.
Bookkeeping and monthly compliance in detailContract drafting and review
Thai law lets parties choose the governing law of a commercial contract, but enforcement against assets in Thailand goes through the Thai courts, which work from the Thai text and from documents that carry the correct stamp duty. A bilingual contract should state which language prevails, identify the signatory's authority against the company affidavit, allocate stamp duty, and choose either the Thai courts or arbitration with a seat and language that the parties can actually use. Certain contracts also have mandatory content set by statute — employment, lease, hire purchase, agency and consumer contracts among them.
Contract drafting and review in detailImmigration and long-stay
Thai long-stay is built in layers: a visa category obtained before travel, an entry stamp granting an initial permitted stay, then extensions of stay granted annually by an immigration office against category-specific evidence. Long-stay residents must report their address every ninety days, their landlord or host must notify their residence under TM30, and anyone leaving the country on an extension needs a re-entry permit or the extension is lost. Overstay carries fines by day and, beyond defined periods, entry bans, so remedying it early is materially different from being caught at the airport.
Immigration and long-stay in detailFamily, divorce and inheritance
Where both spouses agree, a marriage registered in Thailand can be dissolved at a district office on the same day, provided both attend with identification and a written settlement covering property, children and maintenance. Where one spouse refuses, the case goes to the Family Court on statutory grounds, and the judgment addresses custody, parental power and division of marital property. Assets acquired during the marriage are in principle divided equally; assets owned beforehand or received by gift or inheritance stay separate. Parental power over a child born outside marriage sits with the mother until the father legitimises the child or the court orders otherwise. Thai immovable property of a deceased person is distributed through a Thai probate court, which appoints an administrator before any transfer can be registered.
Family, divorce and inheritance in detailEmployment and labour disputes
An employee dismissed without one of the statutory causes is entitled to severance pay calculated on continuous service, plus payment in lieu of the notice period where notice was not given, plus untaken annual leave. Statutory causes — dishonesty, an intentional criminal act against the employer, serious negligence causing loss, a serious breach of lawful work rules after written warning, unexcused absence for three consecutive working days, or a custodial sentence — must be stated in writing at the moment of dismissal or they cannot be relied on later. Probation does not remove severance entitlement once service reaches the statutory threshold, and a genuinely fixed-term contract avoids severance only in the narrow categories the Act allows. Labour Court cases are free of court fees, which is why unlawful-dismissal claims are filed readily.
Employment and labour disputes in detailCorporate tax and monthly filings
A Thai company files corporate income tax twice a year — a half-year estimate and an annual return after the audited accounts — and both are due within statutory periods after the relevant period ends. A VAT-registered business files a monthly VAT return whether or not it traded, and withholding tax returns for the payments it made in that month. Registration for VAT becomes compulsory once annual revenue from taxable supplies passes the statutory threshold, and can be taken voluntarily before that. Late filing produces a fixed fine plus a monthly surcharge on the tax due, and an underpaid half-year estimate carries its own penalty. Input VAT is only creditable against a valid tax invoice with the buyer's correct name, address and tax ID.
Corporate tax and monthly filings in detailInternational trade and customs
An importer or exporter in Thailand registers with the Customs Department under its own name, files each entry electronically, and is responsible for the tariff classification, customs value and origin claimed on that entry — even where a freight forwarder or broker prepared it. Import duty is calculated on the customs value, with VAT and, for some goods, excise assessed on top; free trade agreements can reduce or remove the duty where the origin criteria and documentation requirements are met. Customs may conduct a post-clearance audit within the statutory period, and an assessment carries duty, VAT, penalties and a surcharge. Controlled goods need the relevant agency's licence before importation, and the absence of a licence is not curable at the port.
International trade and customs in detailLand, building and local taxes
Land and building tax is assessed annually by the local administrative organisation on the appraised value of the land and structures, at rates that differ by use — agricultural, residential, other or vacant — with statutory exemption thresholds for a principal residence and progressively higher treatment for long-unused land. On transfer, the Land Department collects a transfer fee based on appraised value, then either specific business tax (sales by a dealer, or inside the statutory holding period) or, failing that, stamp duty, and finally a withholding charge computed on the seller. Rental income is taxable income and must be reported, and a company owner also faces corporate tax on gains and rent.
Land, building and local taxes in detailStatutory audit and assurance
A Thai limited company, branch, or representative office must have its yearly financial statements examined by a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Thailand and supervised by the Federation of Accounting Professions. The signed statements go to the shareholders for approval at a general meeting within four months of the accounting year end, then to the Department of Business Development, normally within one month of that meeting, while the corporate income tax return follows within one hundred and fifty days of the year end. The auditor cannot be the person who wrote the books, and an unsigned set is not accepted by either authority.
Statutory audit and assurance in detailPayroll and employer obligations
A Thai employer must deduct personal income tax from each salary payment using the progressive annual rates spread across the year, register every employee with the Social Security Office within thirty days of starting work, remit the employer and employee contributions monthly, issue payslips, file the monthly withholding return and an annual reconciliation, and give each employee a withholding certificate for their own tax return. Employees on work permits are treated identically for payroll purposes, and their declared salary must remain consistent with the minimum stated in the permit and visa file.
Payroll and employer obligations in detailRegistered address and virtual office
To register a Thai company and then register for VAT at a virtual office address, the provider must give you a signed consent from the property owner allowing the address to be used as your registered office, proof of the owner's title or lease, a house registration document for the premises, a map, and a dedicated signboard bearing your company name. The premises must be physically inspectable, and an officer normally attends before VAT registration is approved. A pure mail-forwarding service without those documents and without a real inspectable room will not obtain VAT registration.
Registered address and virtual office in detailOur full site is written in Thai and English across services, provinces and practical guides. Use the English search to find a service, a calculator or the office nearest to you.