Over the years, our law firm in Thailand H&P have assisted a large number of foreign individuals and foreign companies to do business in Thailand by setting up limited companies, representative offices, Thailand Board of Investment promoted companies, export companies and joint ventures with local partners.
The process of opening bank accounts in Thailand for such legal entities is a very straight forward process that would not take more than one hour or two at the bank.
However, at the end of 2023 and during 2024 our Bangkok lawyers have also assisted many foreign companies to open foreign bank accounts in Thailand without setting up a legal entity in the country of Thailand.
In our professional opinion, this solution is not advisable if the foreign company has a long-term vision for Thailand in term of investment or conducting business here, nevertheless it is a solution that we provide for H&P corporate clients.
The positive aspect is that this foreign corporate account can receive any payments from any countries and the account can be opened in foreign currency such as Euro, USD Japanese Yen, or Chinese Yuan.
As Thailand does not recognize apostille, all the corporate documents such as company affidavit, shareholder list, articles of association and minutes of the meeting with the resolution to open the bank account for the foreign company will need to be notarized and legalized at the Embassy of Thailand of your country.
In the opinion of our lawyers in Thailand, some of the negative aspects of this solution are:
-One of the requirements is that all directors are required to be present with their passports to open the bank account in Thailand.
-The final cost of legalization of documents and fees involved in the process of opening a foreign bank account with a Thai bank might be similar to incorporate a company in Thailand.
This banking solution for foreign companies was initially designed for large foreign corporations but nowadays it is also accessible for small and middle size foreign companies.
If you want to open a foreign corporate bank account in Thailand, please contact our Bangkok law firm at [email protected]
