International Procurement Office in Thailand: IPO Setup and BOI Requirements

What the IPO project must actually do

The Guide defines IPO as a sourcing operation under activity 10.1.3. The project buys manufacturing inputs from several sources, manages stock through a Thai warehouse, performs suitable checks or packaging, and sells by domestic wholesale and/or export. See the 2026 BOI Investment Promotion Guide for the activity conditions and check later notices before filing.

Ask what the buyer will do with the goods after purchase: IPO covers inputs that still need manufacturing, mixing, or assembly, not ready-to-use finished products. BOI’s IPO FAQ explains the distinction but retains older activity numbering in some answers; follow the 2026 Guide and current notices if wording differs.

The IPO also needs a Thai operating footprint. The current conditions require ownership or rental of a warehouse and an IT-based inventory system dedicated to warehouse management. The Guide describes the activity as Group B. Treat this as an activity classification, not a promise that every project receives the same incentive: check the activity entry, current BOI notices, project resolution, and final certificate for the privileges and obligations actually granted.

Do the goods and transactions fit?

Map each stock-keeping unit to the end use and the party that buys it before choosing the activity. This fit matrix turns the BOI conditions into a practical screening step; it is a planning aid, not an official pre-approval.

The BOI IPO FAQ says the activity cannot be “out-out,” and domestic sales are wholesale rather than end-user retail. It describes the sourcing condition as at least one local supplier, without a percentage in that answer; because its page retains older activity numbers, confirm current notices for the goods and sales channels.

A transaction with a finished item, retail customer, repair or manufacturing step, or goods subject to a controlled-product regime may need a different or additional legal basis. IPO promotion does not itself settle customs classification, product registration, standards, import controls, or local premises rules.

What the warehouse must prove

The warehouse requirement connects the physical flow to inventory records. A lease alone is not enough: show how goods are received, identified, checked, stored, repacked where relevant, released, and reconciled to sales. An inventory history that ties each receipt to inspection, storage, release, and sale makes that operating chain testable.

• Secure the site basis: identify the owned or rented warehouse, its address and permitted use, and ensure the lease or building rules allow the planned storage and handling.
• Describe the system: name the warehouse-management software and show the stock data it controls, the warehouse locations or bins it records, and how relevant departments use the same inventory information.
• Document the operating control: explain the quality-inspection and packaging steps, who performs them, what records are created, and how exceptions or damaged stock are handled.

The BOI FAQ prescribes no fixed warehouse size or software brand: site and equipment should suit the goods and volume. It describes live stock and location data linked across relevant teams, and says a manual spreadsheet without real-time control is insufficient. Disclose a rented site and explain the quality-control and repacking arrangements in the application.

If the office is also proposed as a warehouse, confirm that the building owner permits storage and that zoning, fire, building, customs, or product rules do not prohibit the use. BOI’s general activity promotion is not a substitute for the permissions attached to a specific site or product.

Build an IPO application evidence file

The BOI service-activity form includes an IPO attachment for procurement flow, goods, supplier and customer countries, warehouse software, inventory controls, quality checks, and packaging. Use the current IPO application form as a field check before submitting through BOI e-Investment . The original evidence map below connects each condition to supporting records.

The capital threshold is paid-up registered capital of at least THB 10 million , as stated in the 2026 Guide. That is a paid-up capital condition, not the same thing as land cost, working capital, all project expenditure, or an application fee. Do not report future capital as already paid; align the capital schedule with the company record and the BOI’s current instructions.

A Thai company may need to exist for incorporation, contracts, premises, tax, and hiring, while BOI’s form distinguishes an applicant that is not yet established from an existing juristic person. Confirm the right application sequence for the project before committing to a lease or shipment. For the underlying entity workstream, review formation records and shareholder evidence required for a Thai company ; this is separate from BOI’s IPO project evidence.

At entity level, the BOI form asks for the applicant’s identity, contact, business details, and — where an existing juristic person applies — company and capital details and financial statements if available. Project-specific files should then answer the IPO attachment in plain operating language. Where foreign shareholders are involved, reconcile the company’s ownership and payment records with the applicable foreign-business and sector rules; a BOI filing does not make nominee ownership lawful.

File the project and track its milestones

BOI promotion is a project application and certificate process. Build a milestone plan around complete filings and BOI decisions rather than a promised launch date. The 2026 Guide describes the general process below; the officer’s instructions and any missing-document request can affect the case.

1. Confirm the activity fit, product list, warehouse arrangement, domestic supplier, buyer route, and paid-up capital plan.
2. Prepare the applicant and project data, audited financial statement if available, business history, product materials, process descriptions, and IPO-specific attachments.
3. Submit through the BOI e-Investment system and respond to the officer’s project-clarification questions with evidence that matches the original filing.
4. Review the resolution, accept it within the prescribed period, complete the certificate-issuance filing, and retain the issued certificate and its project conditions.

The BOI’s current procedure places applications in e-Investment, includes a project clarification meeting, and ties review time to investment size after complete documents. It also requires acceptance of the promotion resolution within one month and certificate application within six months of acceptance. Keep the submission receipt, officer correspondence, resolution acceptance, certificate request, and final certificate in one project record. These periods are planning references, not a guarantee of approval or a substitute for monitoring the portal.

Before shipment or sales begin, confirm that the certificate is issued and effective, the actual goods and routes sit within the approved project, and all separate customs, tax, premises, product, and foreign-business steps are ready. A BOI application receipt is not an operating authorization.

For the underlying company, determine the incorporation and shareholder records that the project will rely on, then coordinate them with the BOI timetable. A BOI resolution, DBD registration evidence, FBA permission or certificate, customs arrangements, and product approvals each have their own scope and completion proof.

Choose IPO, IBC, or TISO by operating model

Select the activity by the work Thailand will perform and how revenue flows. The BOI explains IPO as procurement of raw materials, parts, and components for factories or dealers; IBC is primarily a service center for associated enterprises with a separate international-trade scope; TISO covers specified support and servicing work. The current Investment Promotion Guide uses activity codes 10.1.1, 10.1.2, and 10.1.3. Older FAQ pages may retain 7-series codes.

Choose IPO when a Thai warehouse-based sourcing and wholesale/export chain is the core project; choose IBC or TISO only when their distinct service scope matches the real activity. One company may apply for more than one BOI activity if it can satisfy each activity’s conditions, but each project scope should be described and supported separately.

The BOI’s activity comparison is not a complete company-formation analysis. If you are still deciding what kind of Thai presence to create, compare the entity and market-entry route with the sourcing function; the right filing order depends on who contracts, invoices, owns stock, employs the team, and holds the warehouse lease.

Where the commercial plan requires a Thai company, start the entity workstream using Thailand company registration requirements and keep the BOI project, foreign-business approval, product rules, and customs arrangements as separately tracked work. The generic registration route does not establish IPO eligibility.

Stop and revise the proposed model before filing if products are finished goods, local sales are retail, the warehouse or live inventory controls are not real, the domestic supplier is only nominal, the paid-up capital plan is short, or the project narrative does not match the contracts. Proceed when the goods, supplier base, Thai handling, capital, sales route, and application evidence all describe the same operating project.