According to Section 16.2 of the Foreign Business Act (FBA) 1999, a foreigner intending to apply for a business license in Thailand must have a residence in the Kingdom or be permitted to temporarily enter the Kingdom. The Minister is empowered to issue Ministerial Regulations prescribing conditions to be observed by foreign license grantees, such as the number of foreign directors who must have a domicile or residence in the Kingdom or the period for maintaining the minimum capital in the country (Section 18).

According to Art. 5 of the Thai Foreign Business Act (FBA), when granting permission to foreigners to operate businesses under the Act, consideration must be given to both the beneficial and adverse impacts on national safety and security, the country’s economic and social development, public order, good morals, national values related to arts, culture, traditions, and customs, as well as the conservation of natural resources, energy, and the environment. Other factors include consumer protection, the size of enterprises, employment, technology transfer, and research and development.
Section 8 of the FBA outlines three categories of controlled business activities:
- List 1: Business activities that are prohibited to foreigners for specific reasons;
- List 2: Business activities concerning national safety, security, or those that affect arts, culture, traditions, customs, folklore handicrafts, natural resources, and the environment;
- List 3: Business activities in which Thai nationals are not yet prepared to compete with foreigners, such as the telecommunications sector (the Annex of the FBA provides detailed information on the businesses included in Lists 1, 2, and 3).

Foreign acquisition of a domestic, locally incorporated entity is allowed. Mergers in the telecommunication industry are regulated by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC or the NBTC). Regarding the notification, the following circumstances are considered a merger:
(1) a licensee or its controlling shareholder mergers with other licensees (when one licensee will cease to exist);
(2) a licensee or its controlling shareholder acquires wholly or partly the assets of other licensees;
(3) a licensee or its controlling shareholder acquires more than 30% of the total voting rights of another licensee or significant control over another licensee (Clause 2(5)).
Therefore, the acquirer must file a merger review petition to the NBTC at least 60 days before the execution. The NBTC may only grant permission to the acquirer to execute a merger that does not cause market dominance. In addition, the NBTC authorises the examination of the effect of a permitted merger on competition.
Regarding the notification of the significant market power, the significant market power (SMP) is defined as operator capability that may pose a barrier to competition in the relevant market. The NBTC shall assess the non-competitive markets and the markets that have barriers to competition. Moreover, the NBTC shall identify the significant market power operators as per the requirements laid down in this notification.

Pursuant to Art. 14 of the Foreign Business Act, any initial foreign investment is subject to a minimum capital requirement of THB 2 million (approx. USD 56.000). In the case of restricted businesses (including advertising), the requirement is equivalent to 25% of the total three-year average expected annual expenditure but not less than THB 3 million (approx. USD 84.000).

Section 14 of the Patent Act 1979 (amended in 1999) stipulates that an applicant for a patent must possess one of the following qualifications: (i) be a Thai national or a juristic person with its headquarters located in Thailand; (ii) be a national of a country that is a party to a convention or international agreement on patent protection to which Thailand is also a party; (iii) be a national of a country that permits Thai nationals or juristic persons with headquarters in Thailand to apply for patents in that country; or (iv) be domiciled in, or have an industrial or commercial establishment in, Thailand or a country that is a party to a convention or international agreement on patent protection to which Thailand is also a party.
To file patents, the Ministerial Regulation No. 21 states that if the patent applicant does not reside in the Kingdom of Thailand, the applicant shall authorise an agent or patent attorney registered with the Director-General of the Department of Intellectual Property to act on his behalf (Clause 13). Moreover, the Power of Attorney (POA) shall be attached with the revenue stamp of 30 Thai Baht (around 1 USD) for each patent agent/patent attorney/application. The POA document, if not in a foreign language, must be translated into Thai (Clause 15).

Thailand is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Thailand has a copyright regime under the law Copyright Act 1994. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Art. 32 lists the exceptions, which include research or study of the work provided that such not for profit; the use for personal benefit or the family benefit including close relatives; review, accompanied by an acknowledgement of the copyright owner, among others

Copyright is not adequately enforced online in Thailand. Reported concerns include online piracy via devices and applications that enable users to stream and download unauthorised content, overly broad exceptions to technological protection measures, unauthorised collective management organisations, widespread use of unlicensed software in the private sector, a backlog of pending pharmaceutical patent applications, and cable and satellite signal theft.

Thailand is a signatory of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) of 1996 and its 2015 expansion (ITA II).

Thailand has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Chapter 7/1 of the Ministerial Regulation (No. 2) defines "Promoted domestic manufactured supplies" as those certified as "Made in Thailand" by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). This certification is only granted to domestic productions, and the Approval List certified by the FTI is published. Procurement methods must align with the Public Procurement and Supplies Administration Act 2017. If certified supplies are insufficient to meet demand or if imported products are necessary, the government authority must refer the matter to the heads of the government departments for consideration. Additionally, government departments are required to spend at least 60% of their budgets on procuring domestic supplies for construction and certain non-construction work (Clause 27.3).

The Cabinet Resolutions grant privilege to the products listed as Thai Innovative Products. Since 2016, the Budget Bureau has introduced the monthly report of the 'Thai Innovation List' to develop domestic industrial capacity in several innovation-centered economic sectors. The Innovation List grants special government procurement privileges only to the products from authorised Thai majority-owned companies. The list covers products from various sectors, including electrical, electronics, and telecommunications.
The Innovation Products is prescribed in the Ministerial Regulation 2020. The products listed as Innovation Products are those that the state needs to promote or support (Clause 12). Thai governmental departments must spend at least 30% of their budget procuring the listed products (Clause 13).

According to Art. 73 of the Public Procurement and Supplies Administration Act, Thailand does not permit direct cross-border participation of foreign suppliers in its government procurement contracts. Foreign companies can participate, but they must register with the Comptroller General's Department, following the criteria, procedures, and conditions prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations Stipulating Criteria, Methods and Conditions for Consultant Registration. Clauses 4-5 of this regulation distinguish between two types of consultants: (i) freelance consultants and (ii) juristic person consultants. Generally, eligible suppliers must be juristic persons registered in Thailand, with an office in the country and at least half of the board directors holding Thai citizenship. Freelance consultants must be Thai nationals, and in the case of juristic persons, at least 51% of their total shares must be held by Thai citizens.

Thailand is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). However, the country has been an observer of the WTO GPA since 2015.