The best thing about being involved in export only is that you need not have a Thai majority shareholder. Thus you can carry on your business freely without having to be subjected to the regulatory obligations. Another appealing factor about an import/export business is that you do not have to face any overarching laws that regulate import of goods.
Having said that, Thai law does restrict the import of specific goods. However, examples of goods, requiring an import license from the Department of Foreign Trade includes unfinished clothing parts, used motorcycles and motor vehicles, color copy machines or intaglio printing machines. Also, the import of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and drugs is controlled by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to protect the public health and to provide national economic security.
Additionally, importing gold would require you to obtain a license from the Ministry of Finance to protect national financial security, whereas importing antique idols will need you to get a license from the Fine Arts Department to protect the national culture artifacts. And types of machinery that can be used to copy compact discs and videos also require an import license from the Intellectual Property Department to prevent violations of copyright. On the other hand, chainsaws import requires a license from the Royal Forest Department to prevent illegal logging.
If you are wondering whether you must obtain import or export license for a particular product, they must get in touch with the Department of Foreign Trade, a subdivision of the Ministry of Commerce. However, if that seems to be impossible for you, we can also be of help for the same.
