Every manufacturer relocating production into Thailand eventually runs into the same coordination problem. The corporate lawyer is negotiating a definitive agreement, the tax advisor is modelling a BOI incentive package, and the real estate lawyer is assessing a site — each, in effect, solving a different puzzle on the assumption that the other two pieces will simply fit once assembled. They usually don’t, not without deliberate sequencing. BOI will only promote a specific applicant carrying on a specific activity, the activity and ownership structure determine whether the Foreign Business Act (FBA) is in play at all, and the land-rights route available depends on whether the site sits inside an industrial estate, inside the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), or on land elsewhere in the Kingdom.

Over recent years, one strategic question has moved firmly into the boardroom: how can manufacturers reduce dependence on any single country without sacrificing cost, capability or market access? The pandemic exposed the fragility of concentrated supply chains. Tariff uncertainty has kept that fragility front of mind ever since. The response, commonly referred to as "China Plus One," has sent a wave of capital into Southeast Asia in search of a second, third, or fourth production base.

New guidelines on unfair trade practices and anti-competitive conduct by e-commerce platforms under the Trade Competition Act, B.E. 2560 (2017) (the “TCA”) (the “Guidelines”) were brought into effect by the Trade Competition Commission of Thailand (the “TCCT”) on 25 March 2026. The Guidelines respond to increasing concerns regarding the growing influence of e-commerce platforms, particularly in relation to platform self-preferencing, unfair treatment of counterparties and algorithm-driven conduct. Their impact also extends to how investors assess the value and future earnings potential of digital marketplace businesses.

In June 2024, Thailand's Ministry of Commerce (the “MOC”) removed a requirement that had applied to businesses for more than a decade. Under a new notification, companies and registered partnerships operating commercial or e-commerce activities no longer had to register those activities separately with the relevant local district office. At the time, the change was widely welcomed as a sensible piece of deregulation — a reduction in paperwork that reflected how far Thailand's digital economy had outgrown the old rules.

Thailand continues to take steps to improve its investment environment and reduce regulatory overlap for foreign investors. On 28 August 2026, the Ministry of Commerce enacted Ministerial Regulations removing eight categories of business from the requirement to obtain a Foreign Business Licence or a Foreign Business Certificate under the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999) ("FBA") which came into immediate effect upon publication.

Online retail in Thailand has moved quickly from a supplementary sales channel to the primary point of purchase for a substantial proportion of consumers, driven by live-stream selling, in-app checkout and same-day delivery. Three marketplaces — Shopee, TikTok Shop and Lazada — together account for the majority of online consumer spending. For foreign retailers, the strategic question is not whether to establish a presence in Thailand, but which route of entry is most appropriate. The route selected carries both legal and commercial consequences. Under Thai law, a foreign-owned business selling its own goods directly to consumers is treated differently from a foreign-owned operator of a marketplace connecting third-party sellers with buyers, and both are treated differently again depending on the capital committed to the venture. An entry strategy formulated without reference to this distinction risks being built around a licencing position the business does not, in fact, have.