U.S – Thai Treaty

The U.S.-Thai Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations gives special rights and benefits to American citizens or companies to hold majority or wholly own the company, branch office or representative office in Thailand.   Under the protection of the Treaty, American can operate majority of the businesses which are normally prohibited for foreigners.

However, in terms of immigration and application for work permit, if the company wish to obtain a work permit for a foreigner, it still have to the  comply to Ministry of Labor’s regulation. 

The employer is required to have a minimum registered capital of 2 THB million for hiring one foreigner.  So, if it wishes to hire 2 foreigners, it is required to have 4 THB million registered capital.

Ratio of Thai to Foreign Employees is 4:1 which means if the company wishes to hire 1 foreigner, it is required to hire 4 Thai employees.

If an American sets up a company (but he already has a work permit to work in Thailand or he doesn’t have to work in Thailand), the company will not be required to hire any Thai employees.
Generally, there are 3 steps for application for protection under the Treaty.  
First, the applicant must register a new company at Ministry of Commerce to obtain company documents. 
Second,  submit request from enclosed together with required documents to US embassy office (U.S. Commercial Service at U.S. Embassy in Bangkok) to obtain a certification letter to confirm that the applicant meets the requirements and is qualified to apply. 
Final step is to submit the application for Ministry of Commerce’s review and approval of Foreign Business Certificate. 

The whole procedure is about a month.

Updated : April 2017