How to Be an Entrepreneur in Thailand

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Running a business in Thailand as a foreigner is possible but costs more than most people expect. This guide covers company structures, BOI promotion, work permits, monthly compliance, and the mistakes that end foreign businesses here every year.

Thailand has become a compelling base for foreign entrepreneurs. The cost of running a business is 40 to 60 percent lower than in Western markets. There are many choices of human resources, from qualified locals to specialized expats who moved to Thailand and okay with lower salaries than they would earn at home.

In addition to that, there’s the BOI’s incentives, including multi-year tax holidays and 100 percent foreign ownership for qualifying businesses. And the quality of life in Thailand is real.

This is no wonder why there are many people who want to do business here. But there are also many disadvantages too that no one talks about, including in the bureaucratic process, piles of paperwork, and chilled working environment.

This guide covers what you actually need to know: which company structure suits your business, how BOI promotion works and whether you qualify, how to legally work in your own company, what monthly compliance actually costs, which city fits your business model, and the mistakes that end foreign businesses in Thailand every year.

Key Takeaways

Check BOI eligibility before anything else, as it changes the ownership structure, employee requirements, and tax obligations entirely.
Non-BOI companies are restricted to 49% foreign ownership under the FBA; BOI promotion, the US-Thai Treaty of Amity, or a Foreign Business License are the paths to higher ownership.
Nominee shareholding is now actively prosecuted, with the DBD requiring Thai shareholders to prove genuine financial capacity since January 2026.
A first-year non-BOI company with one work permit realistically costs around THB3 million, including capital, staff, and compliance fees.
Monthly filings are mandatory even with zero revenue; missing them creates penalties and can block your visa renewal.
Opening a corporate bank account requires your work permit to be in hand, as banks are turning away applicants on tourist or short-term visas.
Budget 12 to 18 months of full runway before starting, covering capital, salaries, accounting fees, visa costs, and living expenses.

The Right Starting Point: Does Your Business Qualify for BOI?

If you are planning to do a business in Thailand, this is the question to answer before everything else, because BOI promotion changes almost every other calculation.

The Board of Investment (BOI) promotes investment in sectors that align with Thailand’s economic development goals. If your business qualifies, BOI-promoted companies can be

100 percent foreign-owned
are exempt from the usual requirement to hire four Thai employees per foreign work permit
receive corporate income tax exemptions for up to 8 to 13 years
faster work permit processing through the BOI One Stop Service Center.

So, in short, it’s the most recommended way to set up a business here.

Qualifying sectors for 2025/2026 include:

Software development, SaaS platforms, AI, machine learning, and data analytics
Digital platforms and e-commerce infrastructure
Data centers, cloud services, and digital infrastructure
Advanced manufacturing, automation, and robotics
Electric vehicles and related components
Renewable and clean energy
Biotechnology, agritech, and precision agriculture
Healthcare technology and medical devices
R&D activities and innovation centers

The minimum registered capital for most tech and service activities is THB1 million. The BOI application is submitted via the BOI e-Investment platform and requires a detailed project plan.

The honest assessment: if you can structure your business to qualify for BOI, you should. The 100 percent ownership, the waived Thai staff quota, and the tax holiday make every other aspect of running the business meaningfully easier.

The Foreign Business Act and Your Other Options

If your business doesn’t qualify for BOI, you need to understand the Foreign Business Act (FBA) of 1999, which restricts foreign ownership to 49 percent in most sectors.

Any company with 50 percent or more foreign ownership is classified as a “foreign” company and faces restrictions across three lists:

List 1: Completely prohibited, including media, rice farming, land trading, and manufacturing of Buddha images. No exceptions.
List 2: National security and culture, including domestic transport, aviation, and arms. Requires Cabinet approval, which is not a realistic path for most entrepreneurs.
List 3: Sectors where Thais are “not yet ready to compete,” including retail, hotels, restaurants, accounting, legal services, construction, advertising, and most service businesses. Requires a Foreign Business License (FBL), which is a complex and discretionary approval.

Most SME owners fall squarely into List 3 territory. Your practical options are below.

Thai Majority Company (51% Thai, 49% Foreign)

This is the most common structure for businesses that don’t qualify for BOI. You register a Thai company where Thai nationals hold at least 51 percent of the shares, and your 49 percent stake gives you legitimate minority ownership.

For this to work, your Thai shareholders must be genuine co-investors with real capital. Nominee structures, where Thais hold shares on paper while the foreigner retains all practical control, are illegal under the FBA and are now being prosecuted at scale.

Warnings about Nominee Structures: Starting 2025 until present Thailand have been cracking down nominee ownership. As of early 2026, over 110,000 companies have been flagged for investigation by the DBD. New regulations effective January 2026 require Thai shareholders to submit three months of bank statements proving they personally funded their shares, making paper nominees much harder to register. So, it’s not a legal grey area. Don’t do that.

US-Thai Treaty of Amity (Americans Only)

American citizens and US-incorporated companies can hold majority or 100 percent ownership in most sectors under the Treaty of Amity, treated essentially as Thai companies under the FBA. You apply through the US Embassy in Bangkok (a 1 to 2 week process) and then register with the Ministry of Commerce.

This does not apply to List 1 activities, but it covers most List 3 businesses.

If you are American and your business would otherwise require a Thai majority structure, using the Amity Treaty is a straightforward choice.

Karsten Aichholz

ExpatDen Founder

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Company Registration

Once you have chosen your structure, registration is a 1 to 2 week process for standard companies, or 3 to 6 months if you are applying for BOI promotion. For a full breakdown of fees and structure options, see our guide to Thailand company registration.

What You Need

A Thai Limited Company requires at minimum two shareholders and one director, plus a registered office address.

Company registration in Thailand must be completed online through the DBD Biz Register online platform.

The Process

Reserve your company name with the DBD. This takes 1 to 3 days. The company name must end with “Company Limited” (บริษัท จำกัด).
Prepare the Memorandum of Association, listing company objectives, shareholder details, and initial capital.
Hold the statutory meeting, where shareholders formally approve company formation.
Register with the DBD online.
Register for VAT if revenue exceeds THB1.8 million per year, or if you will be sponsoring foreign work permits (in practice, most companies doing so will need VAT registration).
Register for Social Security if you have employees.

While it’s possible to register a company in Thailand yourself, it’s much easier to just hire an accounting or a law firm to register a company for you. The process is all in Thai language.

For accounting services, our Bangkok accounting services guide covers firms that work regularly with foreign-owned companies.

Visa and Work Permit

After you register a company, you can’t work in Thailand right away. You will need a visa and a work permit for that.

Basically, you will need to:

Apply for a Non-Immigrant B visa from outside of Thailand
Come to Thailand with it and then apply for a work permit
Then, extend your Non-Immigrant B visa.

See our full guide to the Business Visa and Thailand work permit for the complete document checklist and processing timeline.

Good to know: If your company isn’t promoted by the BOI, your company needs to have at least THB2 million in registered and paid-up capital and have at least 4 full-time Thai employees to sponsor your visa and a work permit.

Monthly Compliance

After you register a company, operating a company in Thailand comes with mandatory recurring filings whether you are generating revenue or not.

Here’s what you need to do:

Monthly Filings

VAT return (PP30): Due by the 15th of the following month if you are VAT-registered. 7 percent on sales; reclaimable on business expenses.
Withholding tax (PND 1, PND 3, PND 53): Filed by the 23rd of the following month (online filing) on salaries, service payments, and rent.
Social Security (SSO): Contributions of up to THB875 per employee per month, due by the 15th.

Quarterly and Annual Obligations

Half-year corporate tax (PND 51): Estimated advance payment on corporate income tax.
Annual corporate tax return (PND 50): Filed within 150 days of fiscal year-end.
Annual audit: Required for companies meeting certain thresholds.

For a full calendar of what is due and when, see our tax filing timeline guide for business owners.

Tax Rates

Corporate income tax varies depending on the structure of your business and goes like this:

Corporate income tax: 20 percent standard rate.
SME rates apply if registered capital does not exceed THB5 million and annual revenue stays below THB30 million: 0 percent on the first THB300,000 of net profit, 15 percent on THB300,000 to 3 million, and 20 percent above that.
BOI-promoted companies pay 0 percent during their tax holiday period of 8 to 13 years depending on the activity and location.

For a full breakdown of how Thai income tax applies to you personally as a foreign business owner, read our guide to Thailand income tax for foreigners.

Our guide to common taxation mistakes in Thailand is worth reading before your first year of filing.

The Cost of Setting Up a Business in Thailand

While it’s affordable to live in Thailand, it’s not affordable to run a legally compliant company with foreign work permits.

Here is what a realistic first-year budget actually looks like for a non-BOI company with one foreign work permit:

One-time setup costs:

Company registration (with a legal or accounting firm): THB30,000 to 50,000
Paid-up capital required for work permit: THB2,000,000
Visa and work permit fees: THB10,000 to 20,000

Ongoing annual costs:

4 Thai employees at approximately THB15,000/month each: THB720,000/year
Accounting and monthly compliance: THB36,000 to 96,000/year (THB3,000 to 8,000/month)
Annual audit: THB15,000 to 50,000
Office rent (Bangkok, basic): THB60,000 to 120,000/year

Total realistic first-year cost (non-BOI, one foreign work permit): THB2.8 to 3.1 million, not counting your personal living expenses.

For a BOI company, the picture changes significantly. The THB2 million capital-per-permit requirement is waived, and there is no 4:1 Thai staff quota, so you skip the THB720,000 in Thai salaries until you actually need those hires.

First-year costs for a lean BOI operation with proper legal setup can be closer to THB200,000 to 400,000, plus the capital you are putting into the actual business. That difference is a large part of why qualifying for BOI is worth the 3 to 6 month wait.

Choosing Your City

Unlike nomads, who can largely go anywhere, entrepreneurs’ city choice directly affects access to talent, clients, funding, and the right infrastructure for their business model.

Bangkok

Bangkok is the popular choice for any business that needs access to capital, corporate clients, or specialized talent. It has the largest concentration of English-speaking professionals, developers, and business graduates in the country.

You can also find all modern office buildings here. It’s also where a multinational company having an office here.

The trade-off is cost. Expect to pay 30 to 40 percent more for office space, staff salaries, and accommodation compared to Chiang Mai. Our guide to the cost of doing business in Bangkok breaks down what to budget realistically.

Best for: businesses seeking corporate clients, companies that need to hire specialized roles, anyone looking to raise investment.

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai works well for bootstrapped and remote-first companies. Operational costs, including salary and rental cost are generally 20 to 30 percent lower than Bangkok.

In addition to that, Chiang Mai provides good infrastructure for running a small business, including working spaces, legal and accounting firms experienced with foreign companies, and an established expat community,

However, if you need to hire specialized senior roles, recruit locally, or raise institutional capital, Chiang Mai makes everything harder. Most founders who need those things eventually spend significant time in Bangkok or Singapore regardless of where they are based.

Also, the burning season from February to April brings genuinely poor air quality.

See our Bangkok vs Chiang Mai comparison if you are deciding between the two.

Best for: bootstrapped companies, remote-first teams, lifestyle businesses, service businesses targeting the expat or tourism market.

Phuket

Phuket is a niche choice suited to businesses in hospitality, tourism technology, wellness, marine industries, or anything serving high-net-worth international clients.

Infrastructure has improved meaningfully, and there is a real international community. The trade-off is higher costs in tourist-heavy areas and a very small local business ecosystem.

Best for: tourism-related businesses, wellness and fitness, marine and outdoor industries.

Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC)

The EEC (primarily Chonburi and Rayong provinces) is a government-promoted zone with strong BOI incentives for manufacturing, logistics, and industrial operations. Worth considering if your business has a manufacturing or export component and is willing to be based outside of Bangkok.

Best for: manufacturing, export businesses, logistics and industrial operations.

Banking and Money

Opening a corporate bank account in Thailand has become more difficult.

The major banks, Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn (K-Bank), SCB, and Krungthai, now increasingly expect directors to hold a long-term visa (Non-B plus work permit) before approving a corporate account.

This means that if you are still on a tourist visa or in the work permit application process, you may be rejected.

Expat entrepreneur communities consistently flag this as one of the most common early frustrations: even companies with complete documents often see approval timelines of two to four weeks, and banks sometimes request additional proof of business activity. Getting your work permit finalized before approaching any bank saves significant back-and-forth.

Documents typically required:

company registration certificate
shareholder list
director passport
proof of office address
tax ID certificate.

For a personal bank account, you can use the same bank where you open a corporate account. If you manage to get a good relationship with a bank, you might get personal support from them, such as a direct phone number to a bank manager, which will help managing your finance much easier.

When doing business in Thailand, relationships are key.

Common Mistakes That End Foreign Businesses in Thailand

There are some major common mistakes that foreign businesses do in Thailand.

Using nominee shareholders

This is important. So, I would like to stress again that don’t use nominee shareholders. Otherwise, both you and your Thai nominees face criminal liability, and there is no legal recourse if your nominee decides to exercise their formal ownership rights.

Underestimating the cost of setting up a business here

As mentioned earlier, setting up a business in Thailand requires a lot of funds. For a non-BOI companies, it’s going to be around THB3 million for your first year.

For a BOI company, the company expenses, excluding salary, should be around THB200,000 to THB400,000, excluding the capital cost. So, it’s not for a faint of heart.

Confusing a Non-B visa with permission to work

Having a Non-B visa in your passport does not mean you can work in Thailand legally. Many entrepreneurs arrive, register their company, and start operating without realizing they are doing so illegally.

The work permit is a separate process that must be completed before you start.

Skipping monthly filings because the business isn’t profitable yet

The obligation to file is not revenue-dependent once you are VAT-registered. Missing filings creates compounding penalties and can directly affect your ability to extend your visa.

Many entrepreneurs learn this the hard way when Immigration asks for two years of VAT returns and finds gaps.

Keep in mind that your 90-day residence report to Immigration (form TM47) is a separate obligation from business filings, and missing both in the same stretch compounds the problem significantly.

Underfunding the business

Thailand is cheap to live in. It is not cheap to run a legally compliant company with work permits. Many entrepreneurs arrive with enough money to register a company but not enough to operate it for 12 to 18 months while building revenue.

Budget 12 to 18 months of runway including paid-up capital, Thai employee salaries (if non-BOI), accounting fees, visa costs, and living expenses.

Opening a business in an industry you have never worked in

The most common version of this is the café, bar, yoga studio, or boutique hotel fantasy. These businesses fail at high rates because hospitality and F&B operate on brutal margins and require genuine operational experience.

If you have never run a restaurant, Thailand is not the place to learn. Stick to what you actually know how to do.

Choosing the wrong Thai partner because they were available

Using a friend’s family member, a real estate contact’s cousin, or someone you met at a networking event as your 51 percent shareholder is how businesses blow up. Your Thai partner has legal control of your company.

Treat this like a co-founder relationship: do proper due diligence, use a written shareholder agreement, structure preference shares appropriately, and hire a lawyer to set it up properly.

Picking the wrong city for your business model

Trying to raise investment in Chiang Mai, hiring senior developers outside Bangkok, or running a hospitality business from the EEC are all possible, but each one makes you meaningfully less competitive than someone who made the obvious choice.

Now, on to You

Being an entrepreneur in Thailand is achievable, but it is not the “register a company for a few thousand baht and start working” simplicity you might find in some other markets.

The regulatory complexity, the capital requirements, and the monthly compliance obligations all mean that doing this properly requires genuine investment of time and money upfront.

The entrepreneurs who succeed in Thailand treat it like a real business. They budget for compliance, hire professionals, build genuine Thai partnerships, and don’t cut corners on the legal side.

The ones who fail treat it like an extended vacation with a side project, use nominees, skip filings, underfund the operation, or try to learn a new industry the hard way.

Resources

Government:

BOI: www.boi.go.th (English site and e-Investment platform)
DBD: www.dbd.go.th (company registration via Biz Regist)
DEPA (Digital Economy Promotion Agency): grants and support for digital businesses

Legal and accounting:

Bangkok law firms and Phuket law firms for referrals
Accounting services in Bangkok

Further reading on ExpatDen: