What do you need before a Thai bank will open your corporate account?
The banks decide this, not the DBD, and every bank publishes its own list, but they all start the same way: the company affidavit and registration papers, the memorandum, the current shareholder list (บอจ.5), passports or ID cards for the directors and major shareholders, a board resolution to open the account, and the authorised director there in person. The hard part for foreign owned companies is the extras several banks add, a work permit or Non-B visa for the foreign signatory chief among them.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026
The standard pile
- Company affidavit (หนังสือรับรอง), issued recently; banks tend to want it fresh, so buy it days before the appointment, not months.
- Certificate of registration and the memorandum of association.
- The current shareholder list, บอจ.5. What that document is.
- Passports or Thai ID cards for the authorised directors, and commonly for shareholders above a stake threshold the bank sets.
- A board or shareholder resolution resolving to open the account at that bank and naming who operates it.
- The company’s tax number, which is simply its 13 digit registration number.
Requirements genuinely vary bank to bank, and in practice branch to branch, so the productive move is to ask the specific branch for its list before the visit rather than arguing another branch’s list at the counter.
The two rules that surprise foreign owners
The signatory appears in person. Thai banks open corporate accounts face to face, and remote opening is the exception you should not plan around. And several banks ask a foreign signatory for a Non-B visa and work permit before opening, which firms in this market describe as common practice rather than a written rule of any single regulator. If your work permit depends on the company and the company’s bank account depends on your work permit, the sequencing is real: firms usually solve it with capital paid through the director’s account under the 2026 evidence rules, then the corporate account once the permit exists, and their quotes should say how they sequence yours.
Allow one to two weeks after registration for the account in a normal case. What setup firms charge, bank introduction included where they offer it, is on the cost page, and three firms will quote on your case, work permit sequencing and all.
Related questions
- How long does registering a Thai company really take, start to finish?
- Can a foreigner be the sole director of a Thai company?
- How much registered capital does a Thai company actually need?
Sources
- Siam Legal: opening a Thai corporate bank account, documents banks ask for
- Emerhub: opening a business bank account in Thailand
- Order of the Central Partnership and Company Registration Office 2/2569, Royal Gazette 27 July 2026 (Thai, PDF)
This is general information about how a filing works, not accounting or tax advice for your company. Confirm anything that matters against the official notice or with your accountant. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.