DBD Company Registration for Foreign Owners
Every Thai limited company, foreign-owned or not, starts with registration through the Department of Business Development. For a company that will eventually hold a Thai FDA or DTAM license, getting the entity structure right at this first step avoids a rebuild later. DeeMED handles the registration process end to end, including the 2026 online filing and capital-verification rules now in effect.
Last reviewed: July 2026
The registration sequence
A Thai private limited company is formed through a fixed sequence: reserving the company name with the DBD, drafting the Memorandum of Association, holding a statutory meeting to adopt the company's articles and appoint directors, filing the registration itself, then opening a corporate bank account and completing VAT and tax ID registration. For a foreign-owned entity, a promoter and at least one Thai-resident element of the structure typically needs to be in place before filing, and the shareholding split itself needs to already account for whether the company will rely on BOI promotion, the Treaty of Amity, or an FBL down the line, since each route sets a different foreign-ownership ceiling.
DBD Biz Regist: mandatory online filing from July 2026
As of July 1, 2026, the DBD moved company registration fully online through its DBD Biz Regist platform, ending walk-in filing. Every new registration, and most post-registration filings, now goes through this system, which means the accuracy of the initial e-filing, correct document formats, correctly matched signatories, complete supporting attachments, determines whether registration proceeds smoothly or stalls on a rejected submission that has to be refiled from scratch.
The 3-month bank statement rule for Thai shareholders
Order of the Central Partnership and Company Registration Office No. 2/2568 (B.E. 2568), issued December 1, 2025, tightened the evidentiary standard for Thai shareholders' capital contributions in companies with foreign co-investment or a foreign authorized signatory, effective January 1, 2026. A Thai shareholder's paid-up capital now has to be supported by 3 months of seasoned bank statements showing the matching deposit or transfer, not simply a bank balance certificate at the time of filing. This applies even to a Thai authorized director who holds no equity in the company. For a foreign-owned company relying on a Thai co-shareholder or a Thai nominee director to satisfy local participation requirements, this rule means that relationship needs to be documented with real banking history well before the registration filing goes in, not arranged the week of filing.
Registration fees
DBD registration carries a core registration fee, commonly in the range of 5,000 to 7,500 THB for a typical registered capital amount, plus a separate capital-based Memorandum of Association fee that scales with the company's registered capital. DeeMED confirms the exact fee for your specific registered capital directly with the DBD before filing, since the capital-scaled component is not a flat number across all companies.
Why the entity structure matters before you file
A company registered without first deciding whether it will pursue BOI promotion, the Treaty of Amity, or a Foreign Business License risks a shareholding structure that has to be unwound and rebuilt once the Thai FDA or DTAM license application reveals it doesn't qualify. DeeMED works backward from the license your business actually needs to hold, medical device registration, a pharmaceutical import license, a cannabis distribution license, and structures the DBD registration to support that license application from day one, rather than registering first and discovering the mismatch later.
DeeMED handles DBD registration end to end for foreign-owned companies entering a regulated Thai industry: name reservation, MOA drafting, the DBD Biz Regist online filing, and the bank-statement documentation the 2026 rules require. If you're registering a new entity or restructuring an existing one to qualify for a specific license, talk to us before you file.
