New company registrations up 7% in H1

In the first six months, the number of new firms rose 7 per cent year on year to 31,557. In June alone, the number of new firms was down slightly, 0.7 per cent year on year, but up 14 per cent from May.

However, the value of initial investment capital dropped 32 per cent, since the department has stringently controlled such claims, obliging companies to submit exact statements of actual capital to prevent defaults.

In the first half of this year, the value of initial investment capital decreased by 21 per cent year on year to Bt93.78 billion.

"Thailand still has strong economic fundamentals. More businesses are expected to register in the Kingdom in the remaining months, and the total number could reach 60,000-65,000 this year," said Pongpun Gearaviriyapun, director-general of the department.

Positive factors are the growth of the tourism industry and government spending. However, some factors that will affect investors’ confidence are drought, slow growth of the global economy, declining exports and inflation.

In the first half of this year, most of the new firms were in construction, property development and wholesale of machinery.

In the first half, the number of business closures increased 18 per cent year on year to 6,898, while in June, 1,322 firms shut down operations, mostly lottery-trading companies.

Meanwhile, the department will closely monitor new e-commerce companies, which are obliged to register with the department so can easily check up on them in case of unfair trading practices.

To date, 12,151 online traders owning 13,811 websites have registered with the department. However, there are still plenty that have not registered.

Online traders found not to have registered with the department will be subject to immediate fines of Bt2,000, plus Bt200 for each day thereafter that they fail to register.