A foreign investor setting up a Thai company in Chiang Rai — where do you start?

This question is specifically about “A foreign investor setting up a Thai company in Chiang Rai”, so the answer below starts with what this case actually needs before setting out the general rules. After certification, scan the full set before it leaves your hands. Before starting, plan the timeline so certification finishes before the real filing deadline, then ask in advance which category of certified translator the destination accepts, then make sure document numbers, issue dates and issuing-office names match across the set. What changes the timeline most here is whether the source documents are complete on day one. The biggest risk in cases like this is doing the certification steps out of order, which forces a restart. The terms that frame this page are foreign · investor · setting · Thai. The specifics here are location: Chiangrai, and those decide which translation and certification level applies. A change of address or director usually has to be recorded on the licence too, not only in the company register. Most licences carry an expiry date, so plan renewal ahead of the deadline. Attach a document index to the bundle so nothing is lost during review. If the receiving body confirmed its requirements by email, keep that message with the file. Leave buffer time in case a translation has to be amended or a source document re-issued. For documents going abroad, include international shipping time in the plan. Company formation in Thailand runs under the Civil and Commercial Code for partnerships and private limited companies, and the Public Limited Companies Act B.E. 2535 for public companies. The registrar is the Department of Business Development (DBD) at the Ministry of Commerce, which issues the company affidavit. When a foreign counterparty or authority asks for proof of existence, use the registrar-issued affidavit rather than a copy the company printed itself. A Thai corporate document used overseas is normally translated in full — including seals and signatures — then the translation is certified by the Legalisation Division, Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and finally by the destination country's embassy or consulate where that country requires it. Thailand is not a party to the 1961 Apostille Convention, so no apostille is issued for Thai documents. ILC handles the document side: translation, certification of the translation, assembling the set against the authority's checklist, and coordinating the MFA and embassy steps. ILC is not counsel of record for a licence application, gives no legal ruling, and cannot guarantee how a licensing authority will decide. Cost and lead time depend on page count, target language, how many certified sets are required and the steps the receiving authority sets, so every file is quoted before work starts. Send scans of every page together with the checklist the licensing authority gave you, via LINE @NAATI, call +66 80-557-8887 or email ilc@thainotary.co.th.

ปรึกษาฟรี — LINE @NAATI · โทร 080-5578887 · อีเมล ilc@thainotary.co.th