How to set up a freelance business in Thailand ?

What activities are prohibited to foreigners or require a license ?

Under the Foreign Business Act, business activity is divided into three categories. The first one comprises nine activities prohibited to foreigners:

• Press, radio, and television

• Rice cultivation

• Cattle breeding

• Timber harvesting and carpentry products from primary forests

• Fishing

• Thai medicinal plant extracts

• The sale and trade of antique or historical Thai objects

• Manufacture of Buddha image and capture of monastic alms bowls

• The sale of land

The second and third categories combine activities for which authorization seek a license. The second category includes six activities requiring a license : 

• Banking : The Bank of Thailand (BOT) is the primary national authority supervising, examining, and analyzing banking activities, as empowered by the Financial Institutions Businesses Act B.E 2551 (FIB act). To carry on a banking business, a license must be obtained from the Minister of Finance on the advice of the BOT.  According to the FIB act, such a license can only be granted to a public limited company, which is one of the forms of company provided for under Thai law. 

• Import-export : This activity is not subject to the Foreign Enterprise Act 1999 restrictions, and a foreigner can hold 100% of the company’s shares. However, a license is required, as the Customs Act B.E 2469 stipulates. Depending on the products to be sold, applications should be addressed to:

• • Food and Drug Administration, for pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, cosmetics, or other hazardous substances. 
  • Department of Fine Arts, for works of art. 
  • Ministry of Interior, for weapons, ammunition, explosives, and fireworks. 
  • National Park Department of Wildfire and Vegetation Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture, or Ministry of Fisheries for commercial activities affecting nature, flora, or marine fauna. 

• Restaurants : You must apply to the District Office for a catering license for any restaurant with over 200 square meters of floor area. Smaller establishments need to notify the local authority of their presence.   

• Public houses : For an establishment to be able to sell or serve alcohol in Thailand, a license must be obtained from the District Office. This license applies to restaurants, bars, distilleries, importers, distributors, hotels, and nightclubs. However, the establishment must not be near a school or religious temple.

• Hotels : According to The Ministerial Regulation 2008, the Hotel Act 2004, a business is required to obtain a hotel license if the company is considered to be a hotel and if the hotel is not exempt from licensing. Under the Hotel Act 2004, a hotel is any business offering paid accommodation for less than one month. A hotel license is not required if the business:

• • Has no more than four rooms on any floor in any building
  • Its total capacity is at most twenty guests.
  • It is considered a small business offering an additional source of income to the owner.
  • Reports its daily rental activity to the government (hotel registrar).

• Legal profession : The Lawyers Act B.E. 2528 (AD 1985) defines a lawyer as “a person who is registered as a lawyer, who holds a license in his or her name issued by the Law Society of Thailand.” To obtain this license, it is necessary to undergo training in professional ethics and the basic principles of advocacy and the legal profession, which is divided into a theoretical part consisting of courses given by the Institute of Law Practice Training of the Law Society of Thailand, and a practical part comprised of working in a law firm for at least six months.