Thai company law changes effective 7 February 2023

An Act Amending the Civil and Commercial Code (“Amendment”) by introducing changes to corporate governance and transactional rules in private limited companies, as well as by introducing a two-part merger concept to replace the former amalgamation concept, was published in …

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Requirements for E-Meetings eased during COVID-19

During this COVID-19 crisis, working from home, e-transactions and e-meetings (meetings held through electronic devices) are commonplace business practice because these activities satisfy Thailand need for social distancing to reduce or eliminate the risk of infection from COVID-19. Now that …

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DBD Lowers its Fees for Registering a Private Limited Company

Registering a private limited company in Thailand is multi-step process, with registration fees payable to the Department of Business Development (DBD) at the time of filing the Memorandum of Association (MOA) and when finalizing the registration.  These fees were based …

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Mergers in Thailand – Soon To Become Reality?

By  Piyawannee Watanasakolpunt and Sudthapa Thanathanya Thailand-based businesses looking to combine operations have been unable to take advantage of a tool found in many other jurisdictions – merger.  Instead, businesses have often been forced to choose from less attractive choices, such …

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Additional Changes to Civil and Commercial Code Proposed

By  Piyawannee Watanasakolpunt and Sudthapa Thanathanya The Thai Office of the Council of State has made further proposals to simplify corporate administration by proposing a bill to amend the Civil and Commercial Code (CCC), the main statute governing the incorporation and …

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Online Company Registration Now Available

By Piyawannee Watanasakolpunt and Norrapat Werajong Thailand’s Department of Business Development (DBD) is gradually migrating its services to the digital environment.  Last year saw the introduction of electronic filing of the annual financial statements of private limited companies as discussed …

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Thailand’s Latest Efforts to Facilitate Business Operations – Work Rules, Public Company Management, Social Security

By Piyawannee Watanasakolpunt and Sudthapa Thanathanya This is our second installment highlighting efforts of the National Council for Peace and Order (“NCPO”) to facilitate business operations in Thailand.  As mentioned in our first installment covering changes to the Civil and …

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Thailand’s Latest Efforts To Faciliate Business Operations – The Civil and Commercial Code

By Piyawannee Watanasakolpunt and Sudthapa Thanathanya In a move aimed to facilitate business operations in Thailand, the National Council for Peace and Order (“NCPO”) issued order no. 21/2560 on 4 April 2017 with immediately effect to amend provisions of the …

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Electronic Media And Corporate Governance – Thailand’s First Small Steps

One of the difficulties facing foreign investors in Thailand has been the requirement that shareholders (or their proxies) and directors be physically present at meetings for purposes of passing resolutions.  Circular resolutions, whereby the directors or shareholders pass a resolution …

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Rehabilitation Process For SMEs

The Bankruptcy Act has been amended to help small and medium size entities (SMEs) enter into the rehabilitation process in Bankruptcy Act No. 9 B.E. 2559 (2016) (“the amendment”), which became effective on 25 May 2016.  Debtor Various types of …

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DBD Goes Paperless for Financial Statement Filings

As part of their annual corporate compliance requirements, Thai private limited companies have been required to file a copy of their audited financial statements along with a form Sor Bor Chor 3 with the Department of Business Development (DBD). Starting …

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Single Shareholder Companies in Thailand?

Thai law historically required that a Thai private limited company have at least seven shareholders. In 2008, a change in the law reduced the minimum number of shareholders to three. However, even this reduced requirement can create problems for foreign …

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New Obstacles For Creditors Seeking Guarantees From Thailand

A bill proposed by Thailand’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which has since been approved by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), reduces the potential liabilities faced by persons in Thailand providing guarantees or mortgaging their real property for …

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Summary of International Road Carriage Act

The International Road Carriage Act B.E. 2556 (the “IRC Act”) is a new law on international land transport that will become effective on 18 March 2014 (90 days after its publication in the Royal Gazette).  The IRC Act does not …

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What is the DBD?

The Department of Business Development (the “DBD”) (in Thai: กรมพัฒนาธุรกิจการค้า) is one of the Thai government agencies that most Thais and foreigners doing businesses in Thailand have to deal with most frequently. This article explains, in a nutshell, what the …

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Notarization of Documents in Thailand

Many countries require that documents originating from or signed in another country be notarized before they can be officially used or legally recognized – a requirement that is clearly problematic if the originating country or country where the document is …

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Amity Treaty between Thailand and the U.S.

Thailand’s Foreign Business Act [FBA]…provides that “alien companies”…are not allowed to engage in a wide range of business activities…There is a significant exception however to the restrictions imposed by the FBA under the [Amity Treaty between Thailand and the U.S.] …

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New BOI Incentives Following the Floods

On 25 October 2011, the Thai cabinet approved the following BOI tax incentives in an attempt to restore the confidence of foreigner investors after the flooding crisis. 1. General Measures for Business Operators Affected by the Flood The following tax …

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Mortgages and Other Forms of Security Under Thai Law

Security is collateral that is provided to guarantee fulfillment of an obligation. The obligation is often a debt, but this is not always the case. The term "mortgage" is often used interchangeably with the term "security". From the perspective of …

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Thai Business Structures

A foreign investor has a variety of business structures to choose from when doing business in Thailand. The type of entity an investor chooses will depend on what best suits the particular needs of that investor. Some of the legal …

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Amendments to the Civil and Commercial Code (No. 18)

Amendments to the Civil and Commercial Code were published in the Government Gazette on 3 March 2008 and became effective on 1 July 2008. Generally, the amendments aim to simplify both the registration requirements and ongoing corporate governance requirements for …

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Board of Directors Meetings – Notification on Meeting Requirements

On 10 September 2008 the Department of Business Development of the Thai Ministry of Commerce (MOC) issued a notification (the Notification) that is potentially troublesome for Thai private limited companies with directors residing in different countries, a common feature of …

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Corporate Governance

A summary of Thai Corporate Governance laws that appeared in the 2011 edition of Getting the Deal Through, which can be accessed at: www.GettingTheDealThrough.com, authored by Andrew Wynne and Poosit Luengruengtip. Read the PDF Click here to download Adobe PDF …

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