On 12 May 2026, the Thai Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, approved in principle two draft instruments that will materially reduce the licensing burden on foreign investors operating in Thailand. The amendments target to remove the foreign business license requirement under the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999) (the “FBA“) from the nine categories of business. The reform responds to long-standing concerns that the FBA imposes a duplicative regulatory layer on businesses that are already subject to rigorous oversight under sector-specific legislation and dedicated regulatory agencies, creating unnecessary cost, delay, and complexity for foreign investors without providing a commensurate regulatory benefit. The two draft instruments consist of (i) a Draft Royal Decree amending the business category list annexed to the FBA and (ii) a Draft Ministerial Regulation specifying businesses that do not require a foreign business license. Both have been referred to the Council of State for legal review and are expected to be gazetted within the coming months. Neither instrument requires Parliamentary approval, as both derive their authority directly from the FBA itself.
Key Provisions
1. Scope of the Reform: The Two Draft Instruments
Draft Royal Decree — Amendment to the FBA Business Category List
The Draft Royal Decree amends List Three, Item (13) of the FBA, which currently covers domestic trade in native agricultural products not otherwise prohibited by law, subject to a carve-out for agricultural futures trading on the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand (the “AFET“) where no physical delivery of goods occurs within Thailand. The amendment extends this carve-out to cover the trading of agricultural futures contracts through a futures trading center where physical delivery or receipt of agricultural goods takes place in designated warehouses specified by that futures trading center. This category of business will accordingly be removed from List Three, Item (13), and foreign operators engaged in this activity will no longer require a foreign business license under the FBA.
Draft Ministerial Regulation — Businesses Exempt from the Licensing Requirement
The Draft Ministerial Regulation designates eight further business types falling under categories (11)(d) (other types of agency businesses) and (21) (other service businesses) of the FBA annex as exempt from the foreign business licensing requirement. These eight businesses, together with the agricultural futures trading business addressed by the Draft Royal Decree, constitute the nine categories being liberalized by this reform.
2. The Nine Liberalized Business Categories
The nine businesses can be grouped into 3 categories based on their regulatory character and the legislative instrument by which they are liberalized.
Group 1 Businesses Already Subject to Dedicated Sector-Specific Regulation (Five Businesses)
The first group comprises five businesses that are already subject to strict oversight by specialist regulatory agencies. The removal of the FBA licensing layer consolidates oversight within the relevant sectoral regulator and does not diminish the substantive level of regulatory control to which these businesses remain subject.
The five businesses in this group are:
(1) telecommunications services (only Type 1 license – being telecom operators which do not have its owner telecom infrastructure), governed by the Telecommunications Business Act B.E. 2544 (2001) and regulated by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (the “NBTC“);
(2) treasury center services, governed by BOT Regulations and the Foreign Exchange Control Act B.E. 2485 and regulated by the Bank of Thailand (the “BOT“);
(3) securities-collateralized lending under securities law, governed by the Securities and Exchange Act B.E. 2535 (1992) and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“);
(4) services as agent, dealer, adviser, or fund manager for futures contracts not governed by the Derivatives Act B.E. 2546, regulated by the SEC; and
(5) agricultural futures trading with physical delivery.
It is important to note that the FBA exemption does not remove or modify any foreign ownership restrictions that exist under the relevant sectoral legislation. In relation to telecommunications, Type 1 licenses do not carry a foreign ownership cap under the Telecommunications Business Act; however, Type 2 and Type 3 licenses remain subject to the FBA and are accordingly unaffected by this amendment. Under the FBA, a company in which foreigners hold more than 49% of the shares is classified as a “foreigner” for the purposes of the Act and therefore continues to require a foreign business license in order to operate in those categories. In relation to Treasury Centers, there is no blanket foreign ownership cap applicable to Treasury Centre entities per se, though BOT approval criteria continue to apply, and the general cap of 25% foreign ownership in Thai commercial banks under the Financial Institutions Business Act B.E. 2551 remains in force.
In relation to securities and derivatives businesses (Businesses (3) and (4), securities companies are generally subject to a 49% foreign ownership cap under SEC licensing rules, unless a specific exemption applies, and this restriction continues to apply in full.
Group 2 Intra-Group Services Provided Exclusively to Affiliated Companies (Two Businesses)
The second group comprises two businesses that are strictly intra-group in nature:
(6) administrative, human resources, and information technology management services provided exclusively to affiliated companies within the same corporate group; and
(7) domestic debt guarantee services provided exclusively to affiliated companies within the same group in respect of domestic obligations only.
The exemption for these two businesses rests on their strictly intra-group character. Because the services are ring-fenced to use within a corporate group, they do not compete with Thai service providers in the general market. Foreign entities providing these services to third parties outside their group will remain subject to the FBA.
Group 3 Other Businesses Subject to Specific Conditions (Two Business)
The third group comprises two further business categories to specific operational conditions:
(8) concerns the partial rental of space for the installation of electronic financial service equipment or automatic vending machines, which is permissible only where the services are provided solely for the benefit of the company’s own employees and do not constitute general real estate or retail activity and
(9) petroleum drilling services, subject to the strict oversight of the Department of Mineral Fuels within the Ministry of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission, with operators required to comply in full with all applicable concession terms and petroleum legislation.
3. Legislative Procedure and Expected Timeline
Both instruments will proceed through the Council of State review process before being submitted for signature and gazettal. The Ministry of Commerce has additionally been directed by the Cabinet to take into account the observations of the National Economic and Social Development Council and the Budget Bureau in its further proceedings, and the Draft Ministerial Regulation must also incorporate observations from the SEC as directed by the Cabinet. Once gazetted, the exemptions will be self-executing, meaning that foreign operators in the affected categories will no longer be required to hold or apply for a foreign business license in respect of those activities.
In terms of timeline, the Draft Ministerial Regulation covering Businesses (1) through (8) is expected to be gazetted within approximately one to three months following Cabinet approval, whilst the Draft Royal Decree covering Business (9) is expected to take approximately two to four months, given the additional step of requiring Royal Assent before gazettal.
4. Practical Implications
The key practical effect of this reform is straightforward: the Department of Business Development (the “DBD“) will no longer issue foreign business licenses in respect of the nine exempted business categories, and foreign operators in those categories will accordingly be relieved of the obligation to apply for, hold, or renew a foreign business license from the DBD. However, this change operates exclusively at the FBA licensing level and does not disturb the substantive regulatory framework that governs each sector.
Foreign operators in the exempted categories must continue to obtain and maintain all sectoral licenses, permits, registrations, and approvals required by the relevant sector-specific legislation and regulatory agency, whether that be the NBTC, BOT, SEC, Ministry of Energy, or any other applicable authority. All foreign ownership restrictions imposed under sectoral laws remain fully operative and are unaffected by the FBA exemption. Operators must also continue to satisfy any specific conditions attached to the relevant exemption, including the intra-group service conditions applicable to Businesses (6) and (7), the employee-benefit conditions applicable to Business 8, and the physical-delivery-in-designated-warehouses conditions applicable to Business (9). In short, the reform removes one regulatory layer, the FBA licensing requirement, without disturbing the substantive regulatory framework that governs each sector.
Existing FBA license holders in the affected categories should monitor the Royal Gazette for the effective date of each instrument and assess whether any transitional steps or notifications are required upon the relevant license becoming redundant. New market entrants will, upon gazettal, be able to establish and operate in the relevant categories without navigating the FBA licensing process, provided they comply in full with all applicable sectoral laws and regulatory requirements. Given that the instruments remain at the Council of State review stage, the precise final text of the exemptions may be subject to further amendment before gazettal.
For further guidance on how these amendments affect your company or investment structure in Thailand, please contact Kraisorn Rueangkul.
The information provided here is for information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Legal advice should be obtained from qualified legal counsel for all specific situations.
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