Foundation Registration

Planning to Establish a Foundation in Thailand? We can help you understand the registration requirements and prepare the necessary documents. If you do not yet have a thorough understanding of what a foundation means under the law, including the legal requirements, the preparation of documents and the procedure for establishing a foundation, we have summarised this information below to help interested parties understand it better.

Foundation Registration Services

Foundation registration: Section 110 of the Civil and Commercial Code defines a foundation as follows: property specially allocated for the purposes of public charity, religion, art, science, literature, education or other public benefit, without aiming to share profits, and registered under the provisions of this Code.

In addition, the management of a foundation’s property must not be for the purpose of obtaining benefits for any person, other than for carrying out the objectives for which the foundation was established. In summary, the meaning of a foundation under the above law places emphasis on property, that is, cash and real estate brought together into a fund to carry out activities in line with the foundation’s objectives, in accordance with the criteria for establishing a foundation.

There must be a cash fund of not less than 500,000 baht. Where the foundation also holds other property, cash of not less than 250,000 baht must be included, and the combined value of the cash and other property must be not less than 500,000 baht.
If the foundation being established has objectives of social welfare, the promotion of education, sports, religion, public disasters, or the treatment, research and prevention for patients affected by narcotics or AIDS, or if the foundation is established by a government agency, it will be granted a relaxation allowing it to hold a property fund of not less than 200,000 baht. Where it also holds other property, cash of not less than 100,000 baht is required, and the combined value of the cash and other property must be not less than 200,000 baht.

Establishing a Foundation

There must be a committee of at least 3 persons to carry out the foundation’s activities. The names, ages, addresses, occupations, telephone numbers and positions of all committee members must be prepared, together with copies of the ID cards and house registration documents of all committee members.
A list of property must be prepared, setting out the names and addresses of the owners of the property to be allocated for establishing the foundation, together with a list of the property given to the foundation, accompanied by copies of the ID cards and house registration documents of the property owners.
A letter of undertaking to give property to the foundation must be prepared (if the property is money, a letter from the bank must certify that the giver holds deposits in a bank account in the amount to be given to the foundation). The promisee and the promisor must not be the same person.
A copy of the will, if the application to register the foundation or the allocation of property for the foundation arises as a result of a will
The foundation’s regulations must be prepared, and must include the foundation’s name, its objectives, its location and its branches (if there are branches), the foundation’s property at establishment, provisions on the committee, namely the number of committee members, the committee positions (for example, chairperson, vice chairperson, treasurer, public relations officer and secretary), the appointment of committee members, terms of office, removal from office and meetings of the foundation committee, and provisions on the management of the foundation’s property and accounts.
A sketch map showing the locations of the head office and of the branch offices (if any)
Minutes of the foundation’s founding meeting must be prepared (stating the foundation’s name, objectives, the list of committee members and the person assigned to carry out the process)
A letter of permission from the owner or occupier to use the premises as the foundation’s location, together with documents showing the ownership or right of possession of the
permitting party, such as a copy of the house registration, a copy of the ID card, a building permit, a land title deed, or a sale and purchase agreement stating the house number
A person must be appointed to file the application to establish the foundation
Certification forms of the persons who will be foundation committee members

Steps for Establishing a Foundation

File the application form together with the supporting documents required by the authorities
– If the head office is in Bangkok, file at the district office
– If the head office is in another province, file at the Amphoe (district) office
When the district office or the Amphoe office receives the application to establish the foundation, it will carry out the following examination:
2.1 Verify whether the application and the regulations are correct
2.2 Review the foundation’s objectives; the objectives must not be contrary to the law or public morals, or pose a danger to public peace or state security
2.3 Review the items in the application or regulations; they must be consistent with the foundation’s objectives
2.4 Review the background of the persons who will be foundation committee members; they must have a suitable status and conduct for carrying out the foundation’s objectives
The district office or the Amphoe office will first consider the correctness and completeness of the documents, then submit the matter with its opinion to the registrar. The foundation registrar in Bangkok is the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, and the foundation registrar in other provinces is the provincial governor.
Once the responsible registrar has accepted the registration, a certificate of foundation registration (M.N.3) will be issued, and a notification of the foundation’s registration will be sent to the Secretariat of the Cabinet for publication in the Royal Gazette. The matter is then returned to the district office or the Amphoe office, which notifies the applicant
to collect the certificate and pay the fees under the Ministerial Regulation.