In Thailand, a company needs to be registered before it can operate, be it a limited company, a joint venture or a partnership. The registration process in the country can be briefly described as follows:
Step 1
An aspiring company needs to file for a reservation of its corporate name basing on the guidelines released by the Business Development Office of the Ministry of Commerce. Among the guidelines that need to be satisfied is that the corporate name should not contain the name of the King. It should also not use an existing company name. Further, the company must also submit at least 3 company names with one of the primary one and other two as the alternative names. If in case the primary name has been rejected, the screening body would then consider the alternative names.
If a company name has been approved, it would be reserved for 30 days.
Step 2
After gaining reservation of the company name, the Memorandum of Association should then be submitted to the Business Development Office. It should include the following details:
- Reserved company name
- Business objectives
- Location of business in Thailand
- Capitalization to be registered
- Names of its seven promoters
Step 3
A statutory meeting should then be convened where the Articles of Incorporation and company By-Laws are approved. It is also during this step where the Board of Directors are elected plus a company auditor appointed.
Step 4
Within 3 months after the Statutory Meeting, the duly elected company directors must then submit their application to register the company.
Step 5
The registration process does not stop upon registration of the company as it has to be registered with the Revenue Department too. Even if its scope of operations is not taxable, it has still to register with the said department for its Tax Identification Card and Number. This should be done within 60 days of incorporating the company.
