New rule expands foreign business exemptions in Thailand
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Thailand expands exempted foreign business activities
A new ministerial regulation (No. 5) published August 28, 2026, adds several business services to the list of activities foreigners may operate without a Foreign Business License. These include margin lending, securities repo, Type 1 telecom services, treasury centers, shared administrative/HR/IT services between related entities, domestic debt guarantee services between related entities, leasing space for ATMs and electronic machines, and petroleum drilling for direct contractors. The regulation also revises derivatives business exemptions.
Thailand exempts foreign derivatives brokers from license
A new ministerial regulation, published in the Royal Gazette on August 28, 2026, exempts foreign persons from needing a license under the Foreign Business Act for certain brokerage activities: acting as agent for derivatives contracts where the underlying is not subject to the Derivatives Act, and for OTC trading of forex or interest rate derivatives settled in cash. The regulation took immediate effect upon publication.