{"id":6634,"date":"2026-09-05T19:13:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T12:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/glossary\/foreign-business-licence\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T01:55:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T18:55:44","slug":"foreign-business-licence","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/foreign-business-licence\/","title":{"rendered":"Licence d'exploitation commerciale pour \u00e9tranger (FBL) et certificat (FBC)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dispenses de licence : v\u00e9rifier d\u2019abord l\u2019activit\u00e9<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dbd.go.th\/storage\/law\/0e8907d4-636b-4f66-b579-83299381ca7b.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Le texte officiel du r\u00e8glement minist\u00e9riel n\u00b0 5, B.E. 2569<\/a>, publi\u00e9 le <strong>28 ao\u00fbt 2026<\/strong>, ajoute deux services sur titres et six autres cat\u00e9gories de services aux dispenses, et modifie la disposition sur les produits d\u00e9riv\u00e9s. Les huit ajouts concernent les pr\u00eats pour l\u2019achat de titres ; les prises en pension de titres ; certaines t\u00e9l\u00e9communications de type 1 ; les centres de tr\u00e9sorerie ; certains services intragroupe d\u2019administration, de ressources humaines et d\u2019informatique ; certaines garanties intragroupe de dettes nationales ; la location d\u2019espaces pour des distributeurs destin\u00e9s aux salari\u00e9s ; et le forage p\u00e9trolier sous contrat direct r\u00e9pondant aux conditions pr\u00e9vues. La modification relative aux produits d\u00e9riv\u00e9s porte sur une disposition existante. La dispense de licence au titre de la loi sur les activit\u00e9s des \u00e9trangers ne supprime ni les autorisations sectorielles ni les restrictions applicables \u00e0 une autre activit\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pour les services intragroupe d\u2019administration, de ressources humaines et d\u2019informatique, ainsi que les garanties de dettes nationales, v\u00e9rifier les liens exig\u00e9s aux points 3(15) et 3(16). Les crit\u00e8res couvrent une majorit\u00e9 commune d\u2019actionnaires ou d\u2019associ\u00e9s en nombre ; un actionnaire ou associ\u00e9 d\u00e9tenant au moins 25 % dans chaque entit\u00e9 ; une entit\u00e9 d\u00e9tenant au moins 25 % dans l\u2019autre ; ou une majorit\u00e9 commune d\u2019administrateurs habilit\u00e9s \u00e0 engager la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 ou d\u2019associ\u00e9s g\u00e9rants. Une marque commune ou un lien informel ne suffit pas. Les h\u00f4tels, restaurants et entreprises de tourisme ne figurent pas parmi ces huit ajouts. La d\u00e9finition des entreprises \u00e9trang\u00e8res et l\u2019interdiction des pr\u00eate-noms restent applicables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>A <strong>Licence d'exploitation pour entreprise \u00e9trang\u00e8re<\/strong> (\u0e43\u0e1a\u0e2d\u0e19\u0e38\u0e0d\u0e32\u0e15\u0e1b\u0e23\u0e30\u0e01\u0e2d\u0e1a\u0e18\u0e38\u0e23\u0e01\u0e34\u0e08\u0e02\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e04\u0e19\u0e15\u0e48\u0e32\u0e07\u0e14\u0e49\u0e32\u0e27, the <em>FBL<\/em>, in American spelling <em>licence commerciale \u00e9trang\u00e8re<\/em>) is the permission a foreigner or a foreign-majority company needs under the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 to carry on a business on List 2 or List 3 of that Act. Its sibling, the <strong>Foreign Business Certificate<\/strong> (\u0e2b\u0e19\u0e31\u0e07\u0e2a\u0e37\u0e2d\u0e23\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e23\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e1b\u0e23\u0e30\u0e01\u0e2d\u0e1a\u0e18\u0e38\u0e23\u0e01\u0e34\u0e08\u0e02\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e04\u0e19\u0e15\u0e48\u0e32\u0e07\u0e14\u0e49\u0e32\u0e27, the <em>FBC<\/em>), is issued instead of a licence to companies whose right to trade comes from elsewhere: BOI promotion, an Industrial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/estate\/\">Patrimoine<\/a> licence or a treaty such as the Treaty of Amity. The licence is discretionary and slow; the certificate is close to automatic.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Table des mati\u00e8res<\/h2><nav><ul><li><a href=\"#what-the-foreign-business-act-provides\">Ce que pr\u00e9voit la loi sur les entreprises \u00e9trang\u00e8res<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#applying-for-the-licence-in-practice\">La demande de licence en pratique<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#licence-certificate-and-the-49-route-compared\">Comparaison entre la licence, le certificat et l'itin\u00e9raire 49 %<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#frequently-asked-questions\">Foire aux questions<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-the-foreign-business-act-provides\">Ce que pr\u00e9voit la loi sur les entreprises \u00e9trang\u00e8res<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>The licence.<\/strong> For a List 3 business the application goes to the Director-General of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/dbd\/\">DBD<\/a>, who decides with the approval of the Foreign Business Committee; for List 2 the Minister of Commerce decides with Cabinet approval. Section 17 gives 60 days from filing for the decision, and the licence must be issued within 15 days of approval. Only the Cabinet&#8217;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, so a List 3 applicant has no statutory extension. The Committee weighs the benefit to Thailand: employment, technology transfer, exports and whether Thais already supply the service. Section 14 requires at least 3,000,000 baht of capital for each restricted business, and the licence can carry conditions on capital ratios, Thai directors and reporting.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>The certificate.<\/strong> Section 11 obliges the Director-General to issue a certificate to a treaty-protected company without delay and within 30 days. The parallel provision for a company promoted by the BOI, or licensed under the Industrial Estate Authority law, is section 12: the same 30 days, running from notification of the promotion certificate or the permission, after which the company is exempt from this Act for as long as the promotion lasts, apart from sections 21, 22, 39, 40 and 42. No committee review takes place because the right to operate has already been decided by the treaty or the promotion.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"applying-for-the-licence-in-practice\">La demande de licence en pratique<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>An FBL application is a business case, not a form. It needs a description of the service, financial projections, the Thai staff to be hired and trained, proof of capital, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/shareholder\/\">actionnaires<\/a>&#8216; documents legalised and translated. The application fee is 2,000 baht and the licence fee is scaled to capital, for List 3 between 20,000 and 250,000 baht. Realistic timing is 3 to 6 months from filing, and services that Thais plainly already provide, such as restaurants, retail below the capital threshold or general consulting, are routinely refused.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Most foreign investors therefore use the FBL only for businesses that cannot be promoted by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/boi\/\">BOI<\/a>, such as most service businesses. Under the regulation published on 28 August 2026, eight service businesses need no FBL at all under Ministerial Regulation No. 5 B.E. 2569: Type 1 telecoms without an own network, treasury centres, securities-purchase lending, reverse repurchase transactions, intra-group administrative, HR and IT services and domestic guarantees between related companies, petroleum drilling under direct contracts with concessionaires, production-sharing contractors or service contractors, and ATM or vending machine space for a company&#8217;s own staff (see the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/foreign-business-act\/\">guide de la loi sur les entreprises \u00e9trang\u00e8res<\/a>). Les h\u00f4tels, restaurants, voyagistes et \u00e9coles de langues n\u2019en font pas partie. L\u2019erreur courante consiste \u00e0 commencer l\u2019activit\u00e9 pendant l\u2019instruction de la demande : exploiter une activit\u00e9 restreinte sans licence constitue l\u2019infraction de l\u2019article 37, punie d\u2019une peine pouvant aller jusqu\u2019\u00e0 3 ans d\u2019emprisonnement, d\u2019une <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/fine\/\">bien<\/a> of 100,000 to 1,000,000 baht, or both, and the court must order the business to cease, with a further 10,000 to 50,000 baht for every day that order is defied.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"licence-certificate-and-the-49-route-compared\">Comparaison entre la licence, le certificat et l'itin\u00e9raire 49 %<\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Itin\u00e9raire<\/th><th>Qui d\u00e9cide<\/th><th>Time and result<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Foreign Business Licence (FBL)<\/td><td>Director-General and Foreign Business Committee, or Minister and Cabinet for List 2<\/td><td>60 days by law for List 3; up to 120 for List 2 if the Cabinet extends. Longer in practice; discretionary, conditions attached<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Foreign Business Certificate (FBC)<\/td><td>Director-General on proof of BOI promotion, IEAT licence or treaty<\/td><td>Within 30 days; not discretionary<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Thai-majority company (49% foreign)<\/td><td>No approval; falls outside the Act<\/td><td>Immediate, but Thai shareholders must be genuine investors<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Keeping foreign shareholding below half avoids the Act altogether, which is lawful only when the Thai partners paid for their shares and exercise their rights. Since DBD Order 2\/2569 took effect on 1 August 2026 the registrar traces that money at registration, so the choice is now between a real Thai partner, a licence, or a certificate through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/treaty-of-amity\/\">the treaty<\/a> or the BOI.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"frequently-asked-questions\">Foire aux questions<\/h2>\n\n<div id=\"rank-math-faq\" class=\"rank-math-block\">\n<div class=\"rank-math-list\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-1\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Combien de temps faut-il pour obtenir une licence d'entreprise \u00e9trang\u00e8re en Tha\u00eflande ?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>L'article 17 accorde un d\u00e9lai de 60 jours pour la d\u00e9cision, et seule une d\u00e9cision du Cabinet concernant une entreprise de la liste 2 peut \u00eatre prolong\u00e9e de 60 jours suppl\u00e9mentaires, de sorte qu'un demandeur de la liste 3 ne b\u00e9n\u00e9ficie d'aucun d\u00e9lai l\u00e9gal de prolongation. La pr\u00e9paration de la demande prend g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement plus de temps que l'examen. Un d\u00e9lai de trois \u00e0 six mois entre le d\u00e9but et l'obtention de la licence est r\u00e9aliste. Un certificat d'entreprise \u00e9trang\u00e8re pour une entreprise b\u00e9n\u00e9ficiant du BOI ou d'un trait\u00e9 doit \u00eatre d\u00e9livr\u00e9 dans les 30 jours.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-2\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Quelle est la diff\u00e9rence entre une licence d'entreprise \u00e9trang\u00e8re et un certificat d'entreprise \u00e9trang\u00e8re ?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>Une licence est une autorisation discr\u00e9tionnaire du Comit\u00e9 des entreprises \u00e9trang\u00e8res pour exploiter une entreprise r\u00e9glement\u00e9e et peut \u00eatre refus\u00e9e. Un certificat atteste simplement que l'entreprise a d\u00e9j\u00e0 le droit d'exercer ses activit\u00e9s parce qu'elle b\u00e9n\u00e9ficie de la promotion du BOI, qu'elle est autoris\u00e9e par l'Autorit\u00e9 des zones industrielles ou prot\u00e9g\u00e9e par un trait\u00e9, et il ne peut \u00eatre refus\u00e9 si les conditions sont remplies.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-3\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Quel capital est n\u00e9cessaire pour une licence d'entreprise \u00e9trang\u00e8re ?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>Au moins 3 000 000 de bahts pour chaque entreprise r\u00e9glement\u00e9e, en vertu de l'article 14 de la loi sur les entreprises \u00e9trang\u00e8res, et au moins 2 000 000 de bahts pour une soci\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e9trang\u00e8re exer\u00e7ant une activit\u00e9 non r\u00e9glement\u00e9e. Le Comit\u00e9 peut fixer un montant plus \u00e9lev\u00e9 comme condition d'octroi de la licence, et le capital doit effectivement \u00eatre introduit en Tha\u00eflande.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Voir aussi\u00a0: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/foreign-business-act\/\">Loi sur les entreprises \u00e9trang\u00e8res<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/boi\/\">BOI<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/treaty-of-amity\/\">Trait\u00e9 d&#039;amiti\u00e9<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/nominee\/\">pr\u00eate-nom<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/foreign-business-act\/\">le guide de la loi sur les entreprises \u00e9trang\u00e8res<\/a> ET <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/foreign-business-in-thailand-boi-fbl\/\">Comparaison entre le BOI, le FBL et le Trait\u00e9 d'amiti\u00e9<\/a>.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>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 17 for the 60 day decision, the Cabinet-only extension and the 15 day issuance, section 11 for the treaty certificate and section 12 for the BOI and Industrial Estate Authority certificate and the exemption it carries, section 14 for the capital floors, and section 37 for the offence, the order to cease and the daily fine for defying it. The fees were read from the rate schedule annexed to the Act: 2,000 baht for a section 17 application, and 20,000 to 250,000 baht for a List 3 licence to a juristic person at five baht per thousand of registered capital. DBD Order 2\/2569, in force 1 August 2026, was read from the Department of Business Development scan. Not verified in this review: the three to six month practical timing and the account of which services are routinely refused.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Licence exemptions: check the activity first The official text of Ministerial Regulation No. 5 B.E. 2569, published on 28 August [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":214,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":"foreign business license thailand","rank_math_title":"Foreign Business License Thailand: FBL, FBC | ThaiLawOnline","rank_math_description":"Foreign Business Licence and Certificate explained, including the conditional service exemptions in Ministerial Regulation No. 5 B.E. 2569.","rank_math_breadcrumb_title":"","rank_math_canonical_url":""},"class_list":["post-6634","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6634"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8102,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6634\/revisions\/8102"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}