Company registration in Thailand can be a time consuming process and there are a lot of rules and regulations as you may have seen if you have followed this series of articles. Running a business in Thailand is often harder than registering one depending on who you talk to but there are definite benefits to company registration in Thailand if you are serious and are in it for the long haul as the company registration process caters for two types of companies and you need to make sure you pick the correct one as part of the process. The first is for businesses which are non-restricted. This is when a business is registered which consists of a foreign majority in certain categories of business that are not restricted to foreigners. This applies mainly to certain types of exporting and manufacturing businesses that are more foreign suited. The second is for restricted businesses which mean that if a foreign based business has an alien business license then it means that they are not restricted in terms of the service they provide which is usually the case otherwise. If a business has an alien business license then a board of investments promotion or registration under the treaty of Amity (for US based companies) is also acceptable however exemptions cannot be obtained for some type of businesses dealing with land trading and such as foreigners are not permitted any activity of this nature. In Thailand foreigners are referred to as ‘aliens’ (we knew they existed!) and you may need a license known as a business license as part of the company registration process in Thailand also. This license is essentially the set of rules that your business agrees to operate within as part of being a company that is registered in Thailand. After all if you register a company in Thailand you cannot still operate it as if it were still in your own country, which is not allowed in the sense that Thailand has its own business laws that you must abide in order to be registered and approved. Many companies in Thailand that are foreign based attain BOI status which gives them several benefits over companies that are not granted this status and only select companies can qualify and so it means that it is best to work for a company with BOI status if you are a foreigner compared to working one that is not (if the company is foreign owned) as it shows the company is serious about doing business in Thailand and is in it for the long term. There is nothing worse than being duped by a company that was not properly registered. Make no mistake, company registration in Thailand is vitally important and failure to cooperate and follow the rules can have disastrous consequences for all concerned and that is not a pretty sight to see as I have been there from a personal perspective and it an experience I liken to divorce due to all the stress so when you perform company registration in Thailand make sure you do it right. If you need to know more about Thailand company registration. Then please visit us.