Questions Indian investors ask about Thailand

For many business activities restricted under the Foreign Business Act, a standard Thai limited company is capped at 49% foreign shareholding unless you obtain an exception. The most common exceptions are:

1. BOI promotion — companies approved by the Board of Investment can typically hold 100% foreign ownership for promoted activities. 2. A Foreign Business License — possible for qualifying activities, though approval is selective. 3. Activities that are not restricted at all — trading in many services, export businesses and others may be open to full foreign ownership from day one.

The right answer depends on exactly what your company will do, where it will operate and who its customers are. We help you map your activity against the restricted lists before you commit to a structure, and connect you with Thai lawyers for the formal opinion.

Most foreign investors set up a Thai private limited company. It is a separate legal entity, allows the investor to hold shares, employ staff, invoice customers and apply for BOI promotion or work permits.

A representative office suits companies that only want to study the market and coordinate with head office — it cannot earn revenue in Thailand. A branch office can trade but faces closer scrutiny under foreign business rules. Joint ventures with a Thai partner are common in trading and regulated sectors.

Which structure fits depends on whether you need to bill customers in Thailand, hire staff, sign long-term leases, and whether a Thai partner is involved.

The company registration itself — name reservation, memorandum of association and registration — is usually completed within a few weeks once your documents are ready. Foreign shareholders need documents apostilled or legalised and sometimes translated, which is often the slowest part from India.

After registration, budget additional time for opening a corporate bank account, obtaining a tax ID, registering for VAT if applicable, and securing any sector-specific licenses. In practice, most investors are fully operational within one to two months of starting the process.

The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) is the government agency responsible for attracting and facilitating foreign investment. It reviews applications from companies planning eligible manufacturing or services activities and, when a project is approved, grants a package of incentives.

BOI promotion matters for Indian investors because it can unlock 100% foreign ownership in activities that are otherwise restricted, along with tax holidays and easier visas for your team. Promotion is activity-specific: what qualifies depends on the category your project falls into under the current BOI policy framework.

A BOI-approved project can typically receive a package including:

- Exemption or reduction of corporate income tax for a period set by the activity category — commonly several years, longer for higher-value categories. - Exemption or reduction of import duties on machinery and raw materials used in production. - Permission for 100% foreign ownership of the promoted activity. - In specific circumstances, permission to own land for the project's operations or employee housing. - Facilitated visas and work permits for foreign specialists, executives and experts through BOI's one-stop service.

The exact package depends on the activity category, project value and current policy. Eligibility must be confirmed for your specific project.

The process has four broad stages: submitting the application, project evaluation, an interview or project presentation, and the approval decision. Simple, well-documented projects in a clear category can move through in a few weeks. Larger or more complex projects — those requesting special incentives, involving sensitive activities, or needing additional clarifications — naturally take longer, sometimes a few months.

Quality of the application matters more than speed of filing: a clear business plan, realistic financials and a well-defined activity category are what shorten reviews. We help you prepare and present the project, and coordinate with BOI officers where needed.

Foreign ownership of land is generally restricted in Thailand, but BOI-promoted companies can apply for permission to own land for the project's office, production facility or employee housing, subject to conditions set by the BOI and land authorities.

Without BOI promotion, most foreign-owned companies lease land long-term or hold it through a majority Thai-owned structure — arrangements that must be structured carefully and legally. If owning the site matters to your project, raise it at the planning stage so the application is framed correctly from the start.

If you will work in Thailand — including managing your own company — you need a Non-Immigrant B visa and a work permit. The work permit application is made through your Thai company, which must meet capital and Thai-employee conditions unless an exemption applies.

BOI-promoted companies get a faster, more flexible route: foreign specialists and executives apply through the BOI one-stop service with relaxed quota requirements. There are also newer long-stay options for investors and remote workers, but these do not replace a work permit if you are operating a local business day to day.

For a regular Thai company sponsoring foreign employees, the long-standing rule of thumb has been approximately two million baht of registered capital per foreign employee and four full-time Thai employees per foreigner. Authorities apply these ratios with some flexibility, and capital requirements can partly be satisfied by paid-up capital or, in some cases, imported machinery or export revenue.

BOI-promoted companies are not bound by the 4:1 Thai-employee ratio and follow their own conditions. Because these requirements are adjusted from time to time, confirm the current thresholds with a Thai immigration specialist before hiring plans are fixed.

The Smart Visa is a special visa category for foreign professionals, executives, investors and startup founders working in activities targeted by Thailand's national strategy — areas such as advanced manufacturing, digital, biotech, electronics and automation.

Its advantages over the standard route include validity of up to four years, no requirement for a separate work permit, no 4:1 Thai-employee ratio, and reporting to immigration once a year instead of every 90 days. Eligibility is tied to working in (or founding a company in) a targeted industry or BOI-promoted activity.

Thailand's standard corporate income tax rate is 20% of net profits. Smaller companies with modest profits qualify for progressive reliefs, and BOI-promoted projects can receive corporate income tax holidays for a period determined by their activity category.

Value-added tax (VAT) applies at 7% to most goods and services; businesses above the threshold register for VAT and file monthly. Withholding tax applies to certain payments such as services and dividends. Thailand taxes companies on income earned in Thailand, with foreign income of Thai companies becoming taxable under conditions that have tightened in recent years.

India and Thailand are connected by a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), which determines which country can tax specific income and provides relief where both systems would otherwise overlap. In practice it affects dividend withholding rates, royalty and fee payments, and how a Thai subsidiary's income is treated when it reaches your Indian company.

The treaty does not remove the need for proper compliance on both sides — transfer pricing documentation, withholding tax filings and Thai audit requirements all still apply. Plan cross-border flows with a tax advisor in each country before the first invoice, not after.

A Thai company can typically distribute after-tax profits as dividends to its foreign shareholders, and those dividends can be remitted to India through normal banking channels. Capital reduction and liquidation proceeds are also repatriable. Thailand maintains foreign exchange rules administered by the Bank of Thailand, but dividend and capital repatriation for legitimate, tax-paid profits is routine.

On the Indian side, receiving dividends from a Thai subsidiary falls under India's foreign exchange rules (FEMA) and must be reported correctly. Plan the corporate structure and documentation with advisors on both ends so money moves without friction.

A partner search starts with a clear profile: what the partner should bring — distribution, manufacturing capability, licenses, capital or market access — and what your side commits. From there we:

1. Shortlist candidate partners from our network and desk research. 2. Qualify them with discreet checks on capability, standing and interest. 3. Arrange introductions and accompany meetings, remotely or in Thailand. 4. Support due diligence and negotiation until terms are agreed.

We are an independent private-sector facilitator, not a government agency, and we will tell you honestly when a candidate or market is not the right fit.

The initial conversation is free — tell us what you are trying to build and we will give you an honest view, including when it is not the right time to invest.

After that, engagements are scoped per project: a partner search, a BOI application support package, market entry research or operational support each have different workloads. You receive a written scope and fee before any work begins, so there are no surprises. For early-stage questions, a short consultation is often enough.