Legal updates, practical guidance, and thought leadership from our team, covering the developments that matter to businesses operating in Thailand.
If you employ registered Lao, Myanmar, or Vietnamese workers, the 14 July Cabinet moved to save a large part of your workforce. Some 562,068 workers could not complete passports and visas by the 31 July B.E. 2569 (2026) deadline and were weeks from losing status. The Cabinet approved a framework letting every worker registered under the 11 November B.E. 2568 (2025) resolution renew to work until 11 December B.E. 2570 (2027), with renewal applications due by 11 December 2026.
A new blacklisting ground for state contractors, a permanent footing for the nominee crackdown, and the Sadao border crossing moves this week. Plus the July deadlines already in force.
Every business in Thailand now uses artificial intelligence and software, whether to draft documents, serve customers, analyse data, or build products. The legal questions that follow are practical and immediate: who owns what the AI produces, whether you may feed your data or someone else's content into it, what happens to your confidential information, and who pays when the technology gets something wrong.
If you are closing a Thai home or condominium purchase right now, start here: the reduced property transfer and mortgage fees lapsed on 30 June B.E. 2569 (2026). As of today, the full 2 percent transfer fee and 1 percent mortgage fee are back, and they stay back until the renewed scheme is published in the Royal Gazette.
If your business employs foreign nationals, runs hotels or serviced apartments, imports or exports goods (especially to the United States), sells price-sensitive consumer products, or holds a rail concession, the Thai Cabinet's session of 23 June B.E. 2569 (2026), chaired by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, is worth a scan. Five developments to review, and what is and is not yet in force.
For foreigners who want to live in Thailand without the recurring paperwork of an annual retirement or business visa, and without meeting investment or income tests, the Thailand Privilege Visa remains the most straightforward route. It is, in essence, a paid membership that comes bundled with a long-stay visa and a concierge service.
Patents in Thailand are governed by the Patent Act B.E. 2522 (1979), as amended up to B.E. 2542 (1999), and administered by the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP). A long-awaited amendment, to streamline examination and join the Hague system for designs, is under parliamentary consideration but is not yet law. The rules below are those currently in force.
Thailand protects trademarks under the Trademark Act B.E. 2534 (1991), as amended (most recently in B.E. 2559 (2016)), administered by the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP). For any business selling goods or services in Thailand, registration is the only way to secure enforceable, exclusive rights. Unregistered marks have very limited protection.
This article sets out who qualifies for the LTR visa today, what the visa offers, and what applicants should prepare.
If your business sells goods to Thai customers, makes or imports food packaging, runs an electronic-tax or withholding workflow, sits inside a large multinational group, or donates to schools and sport, the Thai Cabinet's session of 16 June B.E. 2569 (2026), chaired by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, is worth a scan. Five developments to review, and what is and is not yet in force.