Setting up a Foundation (Thai: Mulanitee)

A foundation consists of assets appropriated for charitable, religious, artistic, scientific, literary, educational or other purposes for the benefit of the public and not for profit generation.

The specially allocated assets of the foundation must be managed to (or “intending to”) implementing the objectives of the foundation. They shall strictly not be used for individual interest. Some typical examples of activities of foundations include the management of a fund, building, etc. The foundation is a legal structure that is also used for the establishment of a non-governmental organization.

To be established, a foundation must have an initial registered capital of THB 500,000 or not less than THB 250,000 if there are other assets included instead of monetary funds. The initial registered capital may be reduced if the foundation has a charitable purpose.

The foundation shall have regulations related to the management, in particular, accounting. It shall have a committee, consisting of at least three persons. It is legally not required to have Thai nationals as committee members. However, this may be advisable from a practical point of view.

The foundation shall not be involved in political activities.

A foundation is a relatively rigid legal structure. Once the objectives are adopted on registration, they can only be changed for following purposes:

•      to enable the implementation of the goals of the foundation;
•      if circumstances make the objective of the foundation undesirable or if the objectives are impossible to achieve, the objectives shall be amended in a manner that reflects the initial objectives as closely as possible.

We note that the Registrar shall have, to a certain extent, the authority to inspect, control and supervise the management of the foundation to ensure conformity with the regulations of the foundation. This may even include the dismissal of a committee member or the entire committee in severe cases of wrongful actions, and the appointment of a new committee member or committee.

The dissolution of a foundation may only take place under specific conditions set forth by the foundation’s regulations or by law. It is important to note that the committee is not authorized to dissolve the foundation independently.