Business licenses in Thailand

Plizz starts the eligibility consultation with four questions. (1) What do you actually sell: food, alcohol, telecom services, job placement, or something else? (2) Where do you deliver it from? Physical premises bring inspection-based licenses; a purely online business usually needs an e-commerce registration and sometimes a sector license on top. (3) Who buys it? Consumer-facing activities face stricter consumer-protection rules than B2B ones. (4) Do you handle controlled goods? Alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and hazardous chemicals each have their own licensing regime. You receive a written license map: each required license, the governing Act, the regulator, the filing order, and the government fees.

A notification is the lightest level: one ministry, no premises inspection (for example, the Department of Business Development (DBD) e-commerce registration). A sector retail license is also handled by one ministry but is tied to premises and includes an on-site inspection (for example, a restaurant permit under the Public Health Act B.E. 2535 or an alcohol license under the Excise Act B.E. 2560). Manufacturing and Thai Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licenses add technical filings, several inspections, and regulator review (FDA food, cosmetics, and drugs; factory license Ror Ngor 4 under the Factory Act B.E. 2535). Specialized regulated activities need approvals from several ministries or a financial guarantee: education, hotels and tourism, employment agencies (THB 5 million guarantee), import and export of controlled goods, and telecom licenses from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

For a basic food import or distribution license, the Thai FDA reviews your complete documents. Food manufacturing adds a facility inspection against Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards, and time to fix any inspection findings. Cosmetics registration under the Cosmetics Act B.E. 2558 is simpler for notification-class products than for products that need laboratory testing. Processing time depends on the authority and on your documents.

Thailand has no single e-commerce license, but several rules can apply. Businesses selling online to consumers must complete the DBD e-commerce registration. If you sell food online, the FDA food license still applies. If you sell across borders, permits from the Department of Foreign Trade under the Export and Import of Goods Act B.E. 2522 may apply. If you run a direct-selling or multi-level marketing (MLM) model, the Direct Selling and Direct Marketing Act B.E. 2545 requires a license from the Office of the Consumer Protection Board before you recruit distributors.

Employment agencies must lodge a THB 5 million guarantee (a cash deposit or a qualifying bank guarantee) before the license is issued. The guarantee protects job seekers if the agency fails to meet its obligations. It is a financial requirement, not a Plizz fee: Plizz coordinates the guarantee with your bank, but the THB 5 million stays with the bank or the regulator.

Our first step is a risk and remediation assessment. How exposed is the company under the relevant Act? Can the license still be obtained? Will the regulator require you to stop operating while the application is pending? Are directors personally exposed? In most cases the license can still be obtained, and careful timing of the application avoids a forced shutdown. We quote this work case by case because the effort varies widely.

For most sector licenses, eligibility depends on the activity, not on who owns the company: the FDA does not look at shareholder nationality for a food license. Ownership matters under the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (FBA). If your activity is on FBA Lists 1–3 and foreigners hold more than 49% of the company, you need a Foreign Business License (FBL), BOI promotion, or US-Thai Treaty of Amity protection in addition to the sector license. Some activities are closed to foreigners entirely (for example, land brokerage). Plizz screens FBA exposure during the eligibility consultation.

Three differences. Scope: most freelance license runners work with one regulator, and filings across several ministries often stall. Documentation: Plizz builds a complete application file (technical specifications, facility documents, regulator correspondence, inspection findings, and remediation records) that survives staff turnover and supports renewals years later. Cost: Big 4 firms handle complex licensing well, at enterprise prices. Plizz covers the same scope at SME fees, with partner-level attention from senior lawyers at Narai Partners.

Most commercial insurance policies, including general liability, product liability, and business interruption cover, require you to hold every legally required license. A food manufacturer still waiting for its FDA license may see a product-liability claim denied because the activity was unlicensed when the incident happened. This risk rarely comes up until a claim is made. Our licensing engagement includes a check of your licenses against your insurance policies as part of the handover file.

No, BOI promotion does not remove the sector license: a promoted food or factory project still needs its FDA or factory license. What it can do is help. The Board of Investment (BOI) works with other agencies on behalf of promoted projects, which can make coordination with sector regulators smoother and faster. Where this applies, Plizz plans the license applications as part of the BOI promotion engagement.