Provision of services by foreign entities

Keywords: Mazars, Thailand, Legal, Foreign Business Act, Ministry of Commerce, Ministerial Regulation

18 May 2021

Therefore, some Thai governmental agencies and state enterprises hire foreign entities to perform technical work in their projects, such as the provision of engineering services for power plant and oil and gas drilling projects.

Under the Foreign Business Act, foreign entities, such as a foreign-majority-owned company and company incorporated under foreign law, cannot provide certain restricted services in Thailand unless the foreign entity obtains a foreign business licence from the Ministry of Commerce (“MoC”).

However, on 26 May 2017, the MoC placed the provision of services where the contractual party is a governmental agency or state enterprise under the budgetary procedures law on the list of the services exempt from requiring a foreign business licence under the Ministerial Regulation regarding services which are not required to apply for a foreign business licence No. 2, 2560 B.E. (2017).

As a result, foreign entities no longer apply for a foreign business licence before providing services to a governmental agency or state enterprise under the budgetary procedures law.

Nevertheless, a foreign entity which is a company incorporated under foreign law still has a duty to notify the MoC of the place where the entity will keep accounts and supporting documents used for making entries in accounts for issuing a corporate registration number.

For more information, visit the DBD's website.