Thailand Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify a Thailand Business

TL;DR. Thailand’s official company registry is operated by the Department of Business Development (DBD) under the Ministry of Commerce, accessible at dbd.go.th. The public search is free and requires no account, but the interface is primarily in Thai, paid document extracts cost THB 50-200 (approximately USD 1.40-5.70), and there is no public API for automated access. Foreign buyers can retrieve basic company status data directly, though certified extracts require Thai-language navigation or a local intermediary.

What is the official Thailand business registry?

The Department of Business Development (กรมพัฒนาธุรกิจการค้า), commonly abbreviated as DBD, is the statutory registrar for all juristic persons in Thailand. It operates under the Ministry of Commerce. The primary public-facing search portal is DBD e-Service, accessible at dbd.go.th.

DBD administers company registration under the Civil and Commercial Code and the Public Limited Companies Act B.E. 2535 (1992). Every registered legal entity in Thailand receives a 13-digit juristic person identification number (เลขทะเบียนนิติบุคคล) at registration, which is also used for tax purposes under the Revenue Department’s tax identification system.

DBD also maintains the DBD DataWarehouse portal, which aggregates financial statement data submitted by registered companies. Financial statements for companies required to file are available there, though the portal has had intermittent availability issues for international users.

The registry holds records from the 1990s for most entity types, with digitized data coverage improving markedly from 2010 onward.

What can you search?

The DBD public portal supports searching by:

• Company name (Thai script or transliterated English; partial name match is supported)
• 13-digit juristic person identification number
• Tax identification number (in many cases the same 13-digit number)

Data available in the free public profile includes: registered name (Thai and, where filed, English transliteration), juristic person ID, entity type (limited company, public limited company, partnership, branch office, representative office), registration date, registered address, business purpose (primary activity code), registered capital, and current status (active, dissolved, struck off).

Director names and shareholder lists are available in the paid certified extract (หนังสือรับรอง) rather than the free profile. This is a meaningful difference from Singapore or Hong Kong, where director data is in the free extract.

Financial statement summaries are available via DBD DataWarehouse for companies that file annually. Coverage is best for large and medium enterprises; many SMEs file late or not at all, so the absence of a financial statement does not always indicate non-compliance.

How much does it cost?

Prices as of May 2026. THB/USD conversion used: 35.0 (approximate; verify at point of use). Certified extracts are ordered through the DBD online system and payment is via government payment portal or online banking transfer. Delivery of certified extracts is typically by post or in person at a DBD office, though an e-document option has been progressively expanded since 2023.

For compliance-grade use, the certified extract is the minimum required document. The free online profile is useful for initial screening but is not a certified source.

Do you need a local account or ID?

For free public searches, no account or Thai ID is required. Any visitor can search the DBD portal by company name or ID and retrieve the basic company profile.

For purchasing certified extracts online, a DBD account is needed. Account registration is possible for foreign individuals using a passport number and email address, without a Thai national ID card. However, the registration and checkout flows are primarily in Thai, and navigation requires either proficiency in Thai or a reliable translation tool.

In-person requests at DBD offices (Bangkok headquarters or provincial offices) are possible without an online account and can be completed with a passport.

Is the website in English?

Partial. The DBD portal (dbd.go.th) has a basic English-language toggle that translates top-level navigation and some static text. Search results, company profile data, and the document ordering workflow are predominantly in Thai script. Entity names are displayed in Thai by default; the English transliteration (if one was filed at registration) may appear alongside.

Foreign buyers relying solely on an English interface will encounter gaps in the document order flow and the financial data portals. Browser-based translation (Google Translate or similar) handles the static content reasonably well but can produce errors on form fields and status labels.

What’s the turnaround time?

Free company status lookups return results instantly.

For certified extracts ordered online, the standard processing time is 1-3 business days. DBD has been expanding e-document delivery, where the certified extract is issued as a digitally signed PDF, but physical delivery by post remains the default for some document types. Same-day pickup is available at the DBD Bangkok headquarters.

Financial data from DBD DataWarehouse is updated when companies submit their annual financial statements, typically within the March-May filing window. Data for the prior fiscal year may not appear until mid-year.

Is there an API?

No public API is available for the DBD registry. DBD does not publish a developer API or documented endpoint for programmatic company lookups. The portal is designed for manual search use.

DBD DataWarehouse has data download features for bulk financial data in Excel format, but these are not API-accessible and require manual login and export.

For programmatic access to Thai company data, commercial aggregators such as BOL (Business Online Plc) provide API access built on top of DBD data, combined with enrichment from other sources.

What you legally cannot do

DBD’s terms of service prohibit:

• Bulk automated scraping of the DBD portal or DBD DataWarehouse
• Republishing certified extracts for commercial resale without DBD authorization
• Altering or misrepresenting the contents of certified official documents
• Using extracted personal data (director names, addresses) for unsolicited marketing

The certified extract carries a government seal and is issued for a stated purpose. Using it outside that stated purpose may violate Thai data protection requirements under the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (PDPA), which came into full force in June 2022.

Compliance buyers using DBD data for CDD, KYB, or AML monitoring should document the stated purpose of each fetch as part of their internal audit trail.

Practical tips for foreign users

• Search in Thai when possible. Company names in the registry are in Thai script. An English transliteration may not be indexed, or it may differ from the name you have. If you have only an English name, try transliterating it into Thai or use the juristic person ID if known.
• The 13-digit ID is the anchor. This number is the juristic person identification number and also the company’s tax identification number under the Revenue Department. It appears on Thai company registration certificates, tax invoices (ใบกำกับภาษี), and bank account opening documents. It is the most reliable search key.
• Branch offices and representative offices have separate registry entries from the parent company. Always verify which entity type you are looking at.
• Financial statement coverage is uneven. Many Thai private limited companies (บริษัท จำกัด) file abbreviated accounts or file late. The absence of a financial record in DBD DataWarehouse is not definitive evidence of non-compliance, but warrants follow-up.
• PDPA compliance. If you are building a compliance workflow that stores Thai director or shareholder data, ensure your data processing agreement covers PDPA requirements.

Alternatives if you cannot access the registry directly

• Commercial aggregators: BOL (Business Online Plc) at bol.co.th provides packaged Thai company reports and API access with English-language support.
• OpenCorporates: indexes some Thai DBD data but coverage and freshness lag the primary source. Useful for name-check screening; not for compliance-grade verification.

Local data suppliers

If you need a packaged report rather than a raw DBD extract, Thailand has a small set of established providers:

• Business Online Public Company Limited (BOL) (bol.co.th). Thailand’s largest domestic business data provider, operating for over three decades. BOL is the official D&B partner for Thailand. It offers credit risk reports, company profiles, director and shareholder information, and a supply chain intelligence platform. API access is available for institutional clients. Data covers over 2 million Thai entities.
• Creden Asia (creden.co). Thai fintech company offering Creden Data, a platform for company information, credit scoring, and KYC workflows. Creden aggregates DBD data with supplementary sources and provides a developer-friendly API for Thai company lookups. Well-suited for lenders and compliance teams running high-volume onboarding.

Use DBD e-Service for the official certified filing. Use BOL or Creden when you need credit risk scoring, director cross-referencing, or payment behavior layered on top of the official extract.

FAQ

Can a foreign company access the Thailand DBD registry directly?

Yes. The free public search at dbd.go.th requires no Thai account or ID. Foreign buyers can search by company name or juristic person ID and view the basic company profile. For certified extracts, an online account is needed, or an in-person visit to a DBD office with a passport is an option. The main barrier for foreign users is the Thai-language interface rather than any access restriction.

What is the juristic person identification number in Thailand?

It is a 13-digit number assigned by DBD at registration. It also serves as the company’s tax identification number under the Revenue Department. It appears on company registration certificates, corporate tax invoices, and most official Thai business documents. It is the most reliable identifier for registry searches.

What entity types are registered with DBD?

DBD registers private limited companies (บริษัท จำกัด), public limited companies (บริษัทมหาชน จำกัด), limited partnerships, registered ordinary partnerships, branch offices of foreign companies, and representative offices. Each has a distinct registry category and filing set.

Does Thailand have a beneficial ownership (UBO) registry?

Thailand does not currently operate a public UBO registry equivalent to those in the EU or UK. Shareholder information is in the certified extract (BOJ 5 form) for private limited companies, but beneficial ownership disclosure for individuals behind nominee structures is not systematically enforced or publicly searchable. Anti-money laundering requirements under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) and FATF recommendations apply, but a centralized public UBO database does not yet exist as of May 2026.

How current is the data in the DBD registry?

Registration events (new companies, name changes, address changes, dissolution) are processed by DBD within 1-5 business days of filing. The online public profile reflects the last filed state. Annual financial statements appear in DBD DataWarehouse after the filing deadline, typically by mid-year for the prior fiscal year. Director changes require a formal amendment filing.

Is Thailand on the FATF grey list?

Thailand was added to the FATF grey list (Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring) in June 2024 due to deficiencies in its AML/CFT framework, particularly around beneficial ownership transparency and designated non-financial businesses. As of May 2026, Thailand remains under increased monitoring. Compliance buyers dealing with Thai counterparties should apply enhanced due diligence procedures consistent with FATF’s updated guidance.

What is the difference between the DBD portal and DBD DataWarehouse?

The DBD portal (dbd.go.th) is the primary registration database for company identity, status, and certified extracts. DBD DataWarehouse (datawarehouse.dbd.go.th) is a separate analytical portal that aggregates the annual financial statements submitted by companies. They serve different purposes: use DBD e-Service for compliance-grade company status checks, and DBD DataWarehouse for financial data review.

Last verified: May 2026. Source: Department of Business Development (dbd.go.th), Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. FATF reference: fatf-gafi.org.