Companies in Thailand are registered with the กรมพัฒนาธุรกิจการค้า (Department of Business Development, DBD), an agency of the กระทรวงพาณิชย์ (Ministry of Commerce). The DBD keeps the register of juristic persons — partnerships, private limited companies and public limited companies — and publishes their data, including their filed financial statements, through DBD DataWarehouse+ at datawarehouse.dbd.go.th. Registration, filing and certificate services are delivered online through the department’s own systems at dbd.go.th.

The company registry in Thailand

The DBD runs a set of dedicated electronic systems rather than one monolithic portal, and the division between them explains how the Thai register works in practice:

  • จดทะเบียนนิติบุคคลดิจิทัล (DBD Biz Regist) — digital registration of juristic persons: incorporation, changes and dissolution of partnerships and private limited companies.
  • ระบบจดทะเบียนบริษัทมหาชนจำกัดทางอิเล็กทรอนิกส์ (DBD e-PCL) — the separate electronic registration system for public limited companies.
  • ยื่นงบการเงินและสำเนาบัญชีรายชื่อผู้ถือหุ้นทางอิเล็กทรอนิกส์ (DBD e-Filing) — electronic submission of financial statements and of the copy of the list of shareholders.
  • ขอหนังสือรับรอง รับรองสำเนาทางอิเล็กทรอนิกส์ (DBD e-Service) — ordering certificates and electronically certified copies of registered documents.
  • คลังข้อมูลธุรกิจ (DBD DataWarehouse+) — the public research interface over juristic-person data and financial statements.

Thailand does not use one register for everything. Juristic persons are registered nationally by the DBD under the ประมวลกฎหมายแพ่งและพาณิชย์ (Civil and Commercial Code) and, for public companies, the พระราชบัญญัติบริษัทมหาชนจำกัด (Public Limited Companies Act). Natural persons trading on their own account fall under a separate regime, the ทะเบียนพาณิชย์ (commercial registration) established by the พระราชบัญญัติทะเบียนพาณิชย์ พ.ศ. 2499 (Commercial Registration Act B.E. 2499), which is administered locally — by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration district offices, municipalities and sub-district administrative organisations — with the Ministry of Commerce prescribing by notification which commercial activities must register, most recently in a notification of B.E. 2567 (2024).

The most consequential recent reform is the Civil and Commercial Code Amendment Act (No. 23) B.E. 2565, in force from 7 February 2023. It reduced the minimum number of persons needed to form a private limited company from three to two, allowed board meetings to be held by electronic means, permitted notices to shareholders through newspapers or electronic media, introduced two forms of merger — consolidation into a new entity and absorption by a surviving company — required dividends to be paid within one month of the approving resolution, and set a three-year expiry on a reserved company name.

Legal forms that can be registered in Thailand

  • ห้างหุ้นส่วนสามัญ (Ordinary Partnership) — two or more partners, all jointly and unlimitedly liable. If it is not registered it has no juristic personality and is treated as an individual for tax purposes.
  • ห้างหุ้นส่วนสามัญนิติบุคคล (Registered Ordinary Partnership) — the same partnership once registered with the DBD: it becomes a juristic person and is taxed as a company, while the partners remain jointly and unlimitedly liable.
  • ห้างหุ้นส่วนจำกัด (Limited Partnership) — must be registered; it combines at least one partner whose liability is limited to the capital contributed with at least one partner who is jointly and unlimitedly liable, and the latter manages the business.
  • บริษัทจำกัด (Private Limited Company) — the standard corporate vehicle: capital divided into shares, shareholders liable only for the unpaid amount on their shares, at least 25 per cent of the subscribed shares paid up on registration. Since 7 February 2023 it can be formed by two persons.
  • บริษัทมหาชนจำกัด (Public Limited Company) — formed under the Public Limited Companies Act, may offer shares, debentures and warrants to the public and be listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand; it is registered centrally through the DBD e-PCL system.
  • สำนักงานสาขาของบริษัทต่างประเทศ (Branch office of a foreign company) — not a separate legal person; the foreign head office remains liable, and the branch keeps accounts for its Thai operations. Foreign-owned activity is additionally governed by the Foreign Business Act.
  • สำนักงานผู้แทน (Representative office) — may serve only its head office or affiliated companies with non-revenue-earning support activities such as sourcing, quality control and information services.
  • กิจการร่วมค้า (Joint venture) — a contractual combination of parties for a specific project, treated as a taxable entity but not registered as a company.
  • ทะเบียนพาณิชย์ / พาณิชยกิจของบุคคลธรรมดา (Commercial registration of a natural person) — the sole trader or shop, registered locally under the Commercial Registration Act; the owner has no separate legal personality and bears unlimited personal liability.
  • สมาคมการค้า (Trade association) and หอการค้า (Chamber of commerce) — membership bodies registered under their own statutes, also administered by the DBD.

Information available from the Thai registry

Thailand is one of the more open registries in Asia, because the DBD publishes not only registration particulars but also the accounts. Through DBD DataWarehouse+ any user can search a juristic person by name or registration number and see its status, its location, its registered capital, the history of changes made to its registration, and the key financial indicators drawn from its filed statements — profit-and-loss items, balance-sheet items and financial ratios. The department also publishes machine-readable datasets on its open-data portal.

Financial statements reach the register because filing them is compulsory. Every juristic person must submit its annual financial statements to the DBD, and companies must also file a copy of the บัญชีรายชื่อผู้ถือหุ้น (list of shareholders) reflecting the position at the annual general meeting. Both are filed electronically through DBD e-Filing, which the department has made the standard channel. The result is that a Thai company’s balance sheet and shareholder list are, unusually, part of ordinary registry publicity rather than a restricted layer.

A company record will typically show the registration number and name in Thai and, where registered, in English, the date of registration, the legal form, the registered capital and the paid-up amount, the registered office address, the objects of the company, the directors and the authorised signature conditions, the standard industrial classification of the business, and the current status — operating, dissolved, in liquidation or struck off.

What the DBD register does not publish is a beneficial-ownership layer. Thai registration records show registered shareholders and directors, not the ultimate natural persons behind them; beneficial-ownership information is collected by obliged entities under the anti-money-laundering regime rather than through a public DBD register. No public beneficial-ownership search facility could be confirmed on the department’s own pages at the time of writing. Personal identification data of directors and shareholders beyond what appears in the registered documents is likewise not published.

Documents that can be obtained from the registry

  • หนังสือรับรองนิติบุคคล (Certificate of juristic person / company affidavit) — the DBD’s certificate of a company’s registered particulars: name, registration number, date of registration, capital, registered office, directors and authorised signature conditions. The standard document for banks, contracts, litigation and tenders, and available in an English version for use abroad.
  • รับรองสำเนาเอกสารทางทะเบียน (Certified copies of registered documents) — electronically certified copies of documents on the company file, ordered through DBD e-Service.
  • หนังสือบริคณห์สนธิ (Memorandum of Association) — the founding instrument recording the promoters, the objects and the registered capital.
  • ข้อบังคับของบริษัท (Articles of Association) — the company’s internal regulations as registered.
  • บัญชีรายชื่อผู้ถือหุ้น, บอจ.5 (List of shareholders) — the filed shareholder list showing holdings as at the annual general meeting; the primary evidence of registered ownership.
  • งบการเงิน (Financial statements) — the annual accounts filed through DBD e-Filing, available both as documents and as the analysed indicators shown in DataWarehouse+.
  • สำเนาคำขอจดทะเบียนและเอกสารการเปลี่ยนแปลง (Copies of registration applications and change filings) — the record of changes of directors, capital, address, name or objects.
  • ทะเบียนพาณิชย์ (Commercial registration certificate) — the certificate issued to a natural-person trader by the local registering authority.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the company registrar in Thailand?

The Department of Business Development (กรมพัฒนาธุรกิจการค้า) of the Ministry of Commerce. It registers partnerships, private limited companies and public limited companies and publishes their data through DBD DataWarehouse+.

How many people are needed to form a Thai company?

Two. The Civil and Commercial Code Amendment Act (No. 23) B.E. 2565, in force from 7 February 2023, reduced the minimum from three persons to two for a private limited company.

Are Thai company financial statements public?

Yes. Financial statements and the shareholder list must be filed with the DBD, are submitted electronically through DBD e-Filing, and the resulting figures and ratios are published in DBD DataWarehouse+.

Do sole traders register with the DBD?

Not as juristic persons. A natural person trading on their own account obtains a ทะเบียนพาณิชย์ (commercial registration) under the Commercial Registration Act B.E. 2499, which is handled by local administrative authorities rather than by the DBD’s juristic-person registry.

How can a foreign company operate in Thailand?

By incorporating a Thai limited company, by registering a branch office, or by establishing a representative office limited to non-revenue support activities. Foreign participation is additionally regulated by the Foreign Business Act.

Can I get an English company certificate?

Yes. The DBD e-Service system issues certificates and electronically certified copies, and English-language certificates of a company’s registered particulars are available for use abroad.

Sources

  • กรมพัฒนาธุรกิจการค้า (Department of Business Development, Ministry of Commerce) — dbd.go.th
  • DBD DataWarehouse+ — ข้อมูลนิติบุคคลและงบการเงิน (juristic person data and financial statements) — datawarehouse.dbd.go.th
  • Open-DBD — open data portal of the Department of Business Development — opendata.dbd.go.th
  • กรมพัฒนาธุรกิจการค้า — กฎหมาย: พระราชบัญญัติทะเบียนพาณิชย์ พ.ศ. 2499 (Commercial Registration Act B.E. 2499) — dbd.go.th
  • กรมพัฒนาธุรกิจการค้า — ทะเบียนพาณิชย์ (Commercial registration system) — dbdregcom.dbd.go.th
  • กรมประชาสัมพันธ์ (Government Public Relations Department) — amendment allowing two persons to form a limited company, in force 7 February 2023 — prd.go.th
  • ราชกิจจานุเบกษา (Royal Gazette) — พระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายแพ่งและพาณิชย์ (ฉบับที่ 23) พ.ศ. 2565 — ratchakitcha.soc.go.th
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand — A Business Guide to Thailand (official guide to business organisation types) — mfa.go.th

Keywords

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