BANGKOK - Thailand has removed an additional Foreign Business Act permit requirement for foreign operators in seven service categories.
A ministerial regulation published in the Royal Gazette on Aug. 28 covers selected telecommunications, financial, related-company and petroleum-related services.
The seven groups include Type 1 telecommunications businesses operating without their own networks; treasury centres; and administrative, human-resources and IT services between related companies.
The exemptions also cover limited space rentals for electronic financial-service equipment and vending or automated service machines for employees; domestic debt guarantees between related companies; petroleum-drilling services under qualifying contracts; and selected securities and derivatives activities.
Businesses covered by the regulation no longer need the additional permission required under the Foreign Business Act for those activities. They remain subject to licences and supervision imposed by regulators in their respective sectors.
The move comes as foreign-business approvals in Thailand have risen. Thailand approved 736 foreign businesses between January and July, up 26% from the same period in 2025, with THB219.208 billion in reported investment linked to those approvals.
Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun signed the regulation on Aug. 18, 10 days before its publication.
The government had previously presented the changes as a way to reduce duplicate approval procedures for businesses already regulated under specialised laws.
When an earlier draft drew scrutiny in May, government spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek said the changes were intended to streamline oversight rather than open the market without controls.
“The government confirms that all economic measures must go hand in hand with protecting the country’s interests, Thai entrepreneurs and economic security,” she said.
