Révisé par ThaiLawOnline, un cabinet d'avocats thaïlandais agréé exerçant en Thaïlande depuis 2006. Avocate thaïlandaise en charge du dossier : Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., licence du barreau thaïlandais 3149/2556.
Dernière mise à jour :
Le Loi sur les entreprises étrangères BE 2542 (1999) (พระราชบัญญัติการประกอบธุรกิจของคนต่างด้าว, usually shortened to the Expédié par Amazon, formerly the Alien Business Law) is the statute that decides which businesses a foreigner, or a Thai company that is at least half foreign-owned, may carry on in Thailand and on what terms. It sorts restricted activities into three lists, requires a Foreign Business Licence or Certificate for most of them, and punishes both the foreigner who trades without one and the Thai who lends a name to hide it. It is the reason most foreign-run Thai companies are structured 49/51, and the reason that structure is now being audited.
Table des matières
Comment la loi définit et restreint les étrangers
Section 4 defines a foreigner as a non-Thai individual, a company not registered in Thailand, or a Thai-registered company in which foreigners hold half or more of the shares. A company with 49% foreign capital is therefore Thai for the purposes of the Act, which is where the familiar 49/51 split comes from.
Section 8 and the three lists. List 1 covers businesses closed to foreigners outright, such as newspapers and broadcasting, farming and land trading. List 2 covers national security, culture and natural resources and needs permission from the Minister of Commerce with Cabinet approval. List 3 covers businesses in which Thais are held not yet ready to compete, including most services, and needs a licence from the Director-General of the DBD with the approval of the Foreign Business Committee. Section 14 sets the minimum capital: not less than 2,000,000 baht for a foreigner starting any business, and not less than 3,000,000 baht for each restricted business.
Licence, certificat ou traité en pratique
A foreigner who wants majority ownership of a List 2 or List 3 business has three routes. The Licence d'exploitation pour entreprise étrangère is a discretionary application that section 17 requires to be decided within 60 days of filing. Only the Cabinet’s consideration of a List 2 business may be extended, by up to a further 60 days and only where there is an inevitable cause, and the licence must then be issued within 15 days of approval. Refusals are common for ordinary services. The Foreign Business Certificate is issued almost automatically, within 30 days, to a company promoted by the BOI or protected by a treaty, and under the Treaty of Amity that means American-owned companies. The third route is to fall outside the Act altogether by keeping foreign shareholding below half, which is lawful only if the Thai actionnaires are real investors.
List 1 has no licence route at all. That is why no structure lets a foreigner trade land, and why a company that buys land for a foreigner’s use is examined under both this Act and the Code foncier.
Les pénalités et le problème du prête-nom
Sections 36 and 37 carry the criminal sanctions: imprisonment of up to 3 years, a bien of 100,000 to 1,000,000 baht, or both, and the court must order the business stopped or the shareholding unwound, with a further fine of 10,000 to 50,000 baht for every day that court order is defied. Section 36 is aimed at the Thai who holds shares or fronts a business for a foreigner; the foreign principal is punished with the same penalties.
Enforcement has moved from theory to practice. DBD Order 2/2569, in force from 1 August 2026, requires Thai shareholders in mixed companies to prove with bank statements that they paid for their own shares, and the 2026 répression des prête-noms has produced arrests, seizures of land and dissolved companies. A 49/51 company whose Thai partners contributed nothing is not a grey area under this Act; it is the offence the Act was written to catch.
Foire aux questions
Un étranger peut-il posséder 100% d'une entreprise en Thaïlande en vertu de la loi sur les entreprises étrangères ?
Uniquement par le biais d'une exception : une promotion du BOI, une licence d'exploitation pour étrangers (Foreign Business Licence), le Traité d'amitié pour les Américains, ou une entreprise qui ne figure sur aucune des trois listes, comme la plupart des activités de fabrication et d'exportation. Pour une entreprise de services réglementée qui ne dispose pas de l'une de ces voies, la participation étrangère doit rester inférieure à la moitié.
Quelles sont les entreprises restreintes aux étrangers en Thaïlande ?
La liste 1 ferme entièrement aux étrangers les journaux, la radiodiffusion, l'agriculture et le commerce de terres. La liste 2 couvre la sécurité, la culture et les ressources naturelles. La liste 3, la plus longue, couvre la plupart des services, le commerce de détail et de gros en deçà de certains niveaux de capital, la construction, le courtage et la publicité. La fabrication pour l'exportation et de nombreuses activités technologiques ne sont généralement pas restreintes.
Quelle est la peine encourue pour l'utilisation d'un prête-nom thaïlandais en vertu de la loi sur les entreprises étrangères ?
Both the Thai nominee and the foreign principal face up to 3 years in prison, a fine of 100,000 to 1,000,000 baht, or both. The court also orders the shareholding or business unwound, and a further 10,000 to 50,000 baht a day falls due for every day that order is defied. Since 2026 the DBD checks the source of Thai shareholders’ funds at registration.
Voir aussi : Licence d'exploitation pour entreprise étrangère, BOI, Traité d'amitié, prête-nom, le guide de la loi sur les entreprises étrangères ET créer une entreprise en Thaïlande en tant qu'étranger.
Last reviewed: 12 September 2026. The statutory statements above were read in Thai against the consolidated text of the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999): section 4 for the definition of a foreigner and the half-or-more share test, section 8 and the annexed Lists for the three Lists and for who permits a List 2 and a List 3 business, section 14 for the minimum capital, section 17 for the 60 day decision, the Cabinet-only extension and the 15 day issuance, and sections 36 and 37 for the penalties and for the daily fine that falls due only when the court order to cease is defied. DBD Order 2/2569, in force 1 August 2026, was read from the Department of Business Development scan. Not verified in this review: the 2026 enforcement account of arrests, land seizures and dissolved companies, and the statement that refusals are common for ordinary services.
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