FBL

List 1 – Businesses that foreigners are not permitted to engage in for special reasons:

• Newspaper business, radio-broadcasting station or radio/television business.

• Farming, cultivation or horticulture.

• Animal husbandry.

• Forestry and timber conversion from natural forests.

• Fisheries, especially fishing in Thai territorial waters and in specific economic areas of Thailand.

• Extracting Thai herbs.

• Trade and auction sale of Thai antiques or objects of historical value.

• Making or casting Buddha images and alms bowls.

• Trading in land.

List 2 – Businesses concerning national security or safety that could have an adverse effect on art and culture, customs, or native manufacture/handicrafts, or with an impact on natural resources and the environment:

Group 1 – Businesses concerning national security or safety

• Manufacturing, distribution, repair or maintenance of:

- Firearms, ammunition, gunpowder, and explosive materials.

- Components of firearms, ammunition, and explosive materials.

- Armaments, ships, aircraft, or military vehicles.

- Equipment, or parts of any type of war equipment.

• Domestic land transportation, water transportation, or air transportation, including domestic aviation.

 

Group 2 – Businesses that could have an impact on arts and culture, customs, and native manufacturing/handicrafts

• Trading of antiques or artifacts that are Thai works of art or Thai handicrafts.

• Wood carving.

• Silkworm rearing, manufacture of Thai silk, Thai silk weaving, or Thai silk printing.

• Manufacturing of Thai musical instruments.

• Manufacturing of goldware, silverware, nielloware, bronzeware, or lacquerware.

• Making bowls or earthenware which are of Thai art and culture.

 

Group 3 – Businesses that could have an impact on natural resources or the environment

• Manufacturing of sugar from cane.

• Salt farming, including rock salt farming.

• Production of rock salt.

• Mining, including stone quarrying or crushing.

• Timber processing for making furniture and utilities.

List 3 – Businesses in which Thais are not ready to compete in undertakings with foreigners:

• Rice milling and flour production from rice and plants.

• Fisheries, specifically breeding of aquatic creatures.

• Forestry from a grown forest

• Production of plywood, veneer, chipboard or hardboard.

• Production of lime.

• Accountancy

• Legal services

• Architecture

• Engineering

• Construction, except:

- Construction of infrastructure in public utilities or communications requiring tools, technology or special expertise in such construction, except where the minimum foreign capital 500 million Baht or more.

- Other construction, as prescribed in regulations.

• Agency or brokerage, except:

- Brokerage or agency of securities or service related to future agricultural commodities futures or financial instruments or securities.

- Brokerage or agency for the purchase/sale or procurement of goods or services necessary to production or providing services to affiliated enterprises.

- Brokerage or agency for the purchase or sale, distribution or procurement of markets, both domestic and overseas for the distribution of products made in Thailand, or imported from overseas in the category of international business, with minimum foreign capital of not less than 100 million Baht or more.

- Other brokerage or agency activities, as stipulated in Ministerial Regulations.

• Auctioneering, except:

- Auctioneering in the manner of international bidding, not being auctions of antiques, ancient objects or artifacts that are Thai works of art, Thai handicrafts or antique objects, or with Thai historical value.

- Other types of auctioneering, as stipulated in Ministerial Regulations.

• Domestic trade in local agricultural products not prohibited by law, except agricultural futures trading in the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand without delivery or taking delivery of agricultural commodities within the country.
• Retailing all categories of goods having of less than 100 million Baht capital in total or having the minimum capital of each shop of less than 20 million Baht.

• Wholesaling, all categories of goods having minimum capital of each shop less than 100 million Baht.

• Advertising

• Hotel operation, excluding hotel management.

• Tourism     

• Sale of food and beverages.

• Planting and culture of plants.

• Other services, except those prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations.

Source: Department of Business Development, Ministry of Commerce, as of November 2018.

"Other service businesses” stated in List 3 effectively serves as a "catch-all” service category. If the foreigners provide a service, not otherwise contained in List 3, the company must still apply for and obtain a Foreign Business License prior to commencing operation. This category includes the business activity of leasing both fixed and non-fixed assets. Additionally, the activities in which representative offices and regional offices are allowed to engage in are all services that fall under this category.

However, in 2013, the Ministry of Commerce issued a Ministerial Regulation removing certain categories of business from the controlled business activities in Schedule Three of the FBA. This Ministerial Regulation effectively lifts restrictions on foreign companies in conducting certain service businesses in Thailand that were under the scope of the FBA, including securities and related businesses according to the Securities and Exchange Act, derivatives services according to the Derivatives Act, and trustee businesses according to the Trust for Transactions in Capital Market Act. Consequently, foreign companies are allowed to engage in these service businesses as prescribed by the Ministerial Regulation without being required to obtain a Foreign Business License under the FBA. , but will still be subject to notification, licensing and foreign shareholding limit requirements under specific regulations.

Source: Doing Business in Thailand 2015 - 2017, Baker & McKenzie

Also, note that special rules apply if the foreigners plan to engage in the activities of "retail sale of goods” or "wholesale sale of goods”. Both of these activities are contained in List 3; therefore, in order for a foreigner to engage in either of these activities the company must first apply for and obtain a Foreign Business License.

Thai law, however, grants narrow exceptions to the Foreign Business License requirement for those foreign companies seeking to engage in retail selling and/or wholesale selling.

For foreigners to engage in the activity of retail selling, the exception is that if the company has a registered capital of 100 million Baht (fully paid up) or more, and capital for each additional retail store of 20 million Baht or more, the foreigner is not subjected to the Foreign Business License.

For a foreign company to engage in wholesale selling, the exception is that if the company has 100 million Baht capital or more for each of its wholesale stores, the foreigner is not subjected to the Foreign Business License.

There is a catch-all promotional category named "Trade and Investment Support Office” (TISO) which permits a variety of services, including monitoring/servicing affiliates; consultancy services; advisory services on business operations; information services on goods sourcing; engineering and technical services; wholesaling products manufactured in Thailand; international business process outsourcing, and business activities related to machinery, engines, tools and equipment such as training, installation, maintenance and repairs, and calibration. There is a condition of sales and administration expenses of at least 10 million Baht per year. TISO is not qualified for tax benefits.

Last updated 17 May 2015

Source :

DBD : Applying for a permission to operate a business under the Foreign Business Act BE. 2542(1999)	link
BOI : Foreign Business Act of 1999 and Activities Restricted to Thai Nationals	link