How to Check a Thai Company Is Real Before You Pay
A few minutes before you transfer, so you are not spending months chasing the money afterwards — how to check a Thai company against the public registry, for free.
Why check before you pay
Most of these stories do not begin with a complicated contract. They begin with a deposit sent to a company nobody has met, because the price was good, the replies were fast and the chat felt professional. Thailand’s company registry is public and free, and within minutes it answers the two questions that matter most: does this entity legally exist, and is it still operating?
What the 13-digit number is
Every juristic person registered in Thailand carries a unique 13-digit number. It stays the same when the company moves or changes its name, and it generally doubles as the entity’s taxpayer identification number. That makes it a far better handle than a name, because near-identical company names are everywhere.
A legitimate business has no reason to withhold it. Usually you can find it yourself, on:
- Quotations, tax invoices and receipts
- The party-identification clause of a contract
- The website footer, often beside the registered address
- Letterheads and other documents issued by the entity
When this applies to you
This guide is for the moment before you hand something over to a party you do not know: a deposit on goods, a contract with a builder, a job offer from a company that appeared out of nowhere, or a large order released to a new customer on credit.
Red flags that should stop you
| Signal | What it may mean | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Will not give you the number | Does not want checking, or was never incorporated | Send nothing until you have checked |
| Nothing found, or number and name disagree | Wrong number, or a trading name rather than the registered one | Ask for the full registered name and search again |
| Status shows dissolved or in liquidation | No longer in normal business operation | Stop, and establish who the real counterparty is |
| Registered to a home while claiming a factory | The real operation may be far smaller than described | Ask to see the premises |
| Token capital against a multi-million-baht contract | Little substance to recover from if things go wrong | Pay in stages against delivery |
| Accounts show no revenue, or none are filed | The company may be dormant rather than trading | Ask for references and trading evidence |
The account name is the last gate
This data is public and free
Registration records and filed financial statements are open data, free to search in the Department of Business Development’s own system. Many of the private sites ranking highest in search results simply repackage that same data and charge for a report, and some serve copies that no longer match the register.
How to use it
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Ask for the 13-digit registration number
Start by asking for the 13-digit juristic person registration number. A properly registered business already prints it on quotations, tax invoices and contracts, and many put it in the website footer. If the other side dodges the question, you have your answer.
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Search the official registry yourself
Open the Department of Business Development’s company search yourself — type the address, or use the official link on this page. Never rely on a link or a screenshot the counterparty sends you; both are easy to fake.
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Read the status line first
Read the status line before anything else: still trading, dissolved, or in liquidation. People do keep issuing quotations under a name that has already been wound up — and you would be left with no counterparty to pursue.
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Set the record against the story you were told
Compare the registered name, office address, registration date and business type against what you have been told. A firm claiming a factory and a hundred staff, yet registered to a residential condo unit, is not automatically a fraud — it is automatically a set of questions.
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Check who can actually sign
Check the directors and the signing condition, then match them against whoever is about to sign for you. Many companies require two directors signing jointly with the seal, and a document signed outside that condition can be argued over later.
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Open the accounts and look at three things
You do not need accounting training here. Line up several filed years and look at three things: is there any revenue at all, do the figures sit near zero as though nothing is happening, and how far out of proportion are the liabilities against shareholders’ equity.
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Check the account name before you transfer
Before confirming a transfer, check that the account name matches the entity you just looked up. A personal name, a different company, or the same name spelled slightly differently is always a reason to stop and ask why.
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Save the evidence before you pay
Screenshot the registry record with the date you checked it, and keep the quotation, the chat history and the account details in the same place. If anything goes wrong, that folder is the first thing the bank and the police will ask to see.
Frequently asked questions
What if the company will not give me its registration number?
Treat it as a warning sign. A properly registered business uses that number on its paperwork every day, so there is nothing to hide. Ask instead for a quotation or tax invoice that already carries it. If all you get is deflection, the safe move is not to send money.
The search found nothing. Does that mean it is a scam?
Not necessarily. The usual reasons are a spelling that differs from the registered name, a trading name that is not the registered one, a sole trader who was never incorporated, or a foreign company with no Thai registration. Search by the number instead. If neither the number nor the full name returns anything, that is where to stop.
The status says active. Am I safe?
Not quite. The status only tells you the entity has not been formally wound up. A company that quietly stopped operating but never filed for dissolution shows the same status as a working one, and the registry says nothing about lawsuits or missed payments.
Does checking cost anything?
Basic lookups are free. Some deeper features may ask you to register first, which goes directly to the agency and costs nothing. ThaiGov.co, for its part, is an independent directory with no affiliation to any agency.
I already paid and now something looks wrong. What can I do?
Move fast. Contact your bank immediately to report it and ask about freezing the receiving account — the odds of recovery fall away quickly with time. Then take the transfer slips, chat history and recipient account details to the police. Do not send more money to unlock what you already sent; that is the next step of the same scam.