Every question we get asked, answered in depth

What exactly is Zura's virtual office, and can it be used to register a company?

It is the use of our real office address as the registered and correspondence address of your legal entity, accepted for filings with the Department of Business Development (DBD) and for Revenue Department registration.

We operate two real offices — Bangkok (Wang Thonglang district) and Khon Kaen (Na Mueang Rd). Both are verifiable premises, not paper addresses sold as a line of text.

You receive a landlord consent letter, the map and supporting documents required for filing, mail and parcel reception from government bodies or partners, and a notification whenever something arrives.

What happens if an officer comes to inspect the premises?

There is no issue: these are working offices with staff present, your entity's signage is displayed as the law requires, and we can receive the officer on your behalf during business hours.

Inspections typically happen at VAT registration or when the Revenue Department verifies details. We prepare the space, signage and paperwork before the appointment.

If your business needs a shopfront, a warehouse or a sector licence, we say plainly that a virtual office is not enough and help you plan a lawful alternative.

Can a virtual office address be used to register for VAT?

Yes, provided the documents and the premises meet Revenue Department requirements — so we prepare the consent letter, proof of property, map, site photos and signage before filing.

By law, VAT registration is required once revenue exceeds THB 1.8 million per year, but businesses that must issue tax invoices to corporate clients often register earlier by choice.

We do not promise every application will be approved — that decision rests with the officer — but we flag in advance which parts of your case are likely to draw follow-up requests.

How is mail sent to the address handled?

We receive items during business hours, notify you when something arrives, scan it to you online, and hold the original for pickup or forwarding as you instruct.

Time-critical items — letters from the Revenue Department, the Social Security Office or a court — are flagged as top priority because they usually carry response deadlines.

Should I use a virtual office or lease a real office?

If your team works remotely, has no walk-in customers and holds no stock, a virtual office fits better and keeps fixed costs down; if you need a shopfront, storage or a location-bound licence, lease real space.

We published a detailed comparison covering credibility, inspections, lease obligations and future address changes so you decide on facts rather than a sales pitch.

What is involved in moving an existing registered address to Zura?

You file an address change with the DBD and then update the Revenue Department, Social Security Office, your bank and your partners — we prepare the documents and track every step.

The commonly forgotten places are tax invoices, letterheads, your website, your Google Business Profile and online marketplaces — mismatches there cause trouble during audits.

Should I set up a limited company, a partnership or register as a sole trader?

It depends on liability, co-investors and who buys from you: a limited company suits work that must invoice organisations and involves partners, while sole-trader registration suits a one-person business at lower revenue.

A limited company separates shareholder liability from the entity but brings ongoing bookkeeping, annual financial statements and regular tax filings; without someone maintaining them, penalties accumulate.

We keep a comparison page per registration type, and in the first conversation we ask about your target customers, borrowing plans and investor plans — those three change the answer entirely.

Which documents are needed to register a company?

Chiefly: ID cards or passports for every promoter, the reserved company name, business objectives, registered capital and share split, the directors and signing authority, plus the office address documents.

With foreign shareholders there are extra documents and shareholding conditions under the Foreign Business Act, so the structure must be set up correctly from the start.

We do not arrange nominee shareholders: it is illegal in Thailand and puts your business at risk of being unwound later.

What are the steps to register a company?

Reserve the name with the DBD, prepare the memorandum of association and statutory meeting papers, file the registration, collect the certificate and shareholder documents, then register for tax, open the bank account and set up bookkeeping.

We do not promise a number of days — that depends on the registry's queue and document review — but we set out the sequence and exactly what each step waits on from you.

After registration the commonly skipped tasks are employer registration with the Social Security Office once you hire, bookkeeping from month one, and retaining original documents as the law requires.

How much registered capital should I set, and must the money actually be paid in?

Set it in line with real cash needs and the requirements of the work you will take on; capital stated as paid must genuinely be paid, not a number chosen for appearances.

Government work, tenders and certain licences set minimum capital, and work permits for foreign staff carry capital and Thai-employee ratio conditions of their own.

Can a foreigner open a company in Thailand, and what should they know first?

Yes, but you must first check whether the activity sits on the restricted lists for foreigners, then align shareholding, any foreign business licence, the work permit and the visa.

The correct order is: verify the activity, register the company, register for tax, then apply for the work permit — filing out of order forces repeated document fixes.

Visas and work permits are at the authority's discretion, so we explain the statutory conditions and risks and never promise an outcome.

What ongoing legal obligations follow registration?

Chiefly: monthly bookkeeping, withholding tax and VAT filings on schedule, social security filings once you employ staff, annual financial statements audited by a licensed auditor, and submission to the DBD.

A company with no revenue still files and still closes its books; doing nothing does not remove the duty, it creates surcharges and problems when you later seek credit.

What does the monthly accounting service cover?

Bookkeeping from actual documents, bank reconciliation, preparing and filing the periodic tax returns, a trial balance or management summary you can actually read, and preparing data for year-end closing.

We match transactions to documents every month rather than estimating; when documents are missing we list them monthly so problems do not pile up until year-end.

Which taxes must a company file, and on what cycle?

Typically: monthly withholding tax, monthly VAT if registered, half-year and annual corporate income tax, and monthly social security contributions once you have employees.

Each return has its own deadline and channel, and e-filing usually grants extra days, so we build a tax calendar for your company covering the whole year.

Rates and thresholds follow Revenue Department announcements; when they change we cite the latest notification rather than working from memory.

Is it complicated to move from my current accounting firm to Zura?

Not complicated when the records are complete: we request prior financial statements and tax returns, the fixed-asset register, receivables and payables detail and e-filing credentials, then verify opening balances before month one.

The risks are opening balances that disagree with the filed statements, or past returns never submitted; we report what we find factually and propose the correct remedy rather than papering over it.

How long must accounting records be kept?

Accounting law requires books and supporting documents to be kept for at least five years, and in some cases authorities may require longer.

We recommend keeping both digital files and the necessary originals, foldered by month and document type, so you can answer an officer quickly when records are requested.

What should I do if filings are late or the books were never closed?

Start by mapping exactly what is outstanding and how far back, then file retroactively in chronological order together with the surcharges the law imposes.

We cannot make penalties disappear and do not promise a reduction in every case, but filing sooner stops the time-based surcharge from growing.

Once I hire staff, what must be done about payroll and social security?

You register as an employer and enrol employees with the Social Security Office, withhold personal income tax from salaries, remit contributions monthly and issue annual summaries to staff.

We wire payroll into the books so staff cost, withholding tax and contributions reconcile every month, reducing the chance of a retrospective review.

What kind of websites do you build, and on what stack?

Corporate sites, storefronts, internal dashboards and API integrations, built around structures Google can read and pages that load fast on mobile.

We map content and search intent before visual design, because a beautiful site whose content does not match what people search for never gets surfaced in the first place.

Can you guarantee a number-one ranking on Google?

No — and anyone promising a position should be questioned, because rankings depend on algorithms and competitors we do not control. What we can do is get every controllable factor right.

The controllable factors are site and URL structure, speed, content that genuinely answers questions, structured data (Schema.org), internal linking, accuracy of business information, and continuous upkeep.

We follow Google's guidelines strictly: no bought links, no keyword stuffing, no duplicate pages made for volume — those tactics get sites demoted over time.

How do we get ChatGPT or other AI assistants to recommend our business?

Make your information readable, verifiable and consistent everywhere: content that answers questions directly, Schema.org structured data, and public pages that AI crawlers are allowed to read.

AI assistants tend to cite pages that state the answer in the first paragraph, use headings matching the question, and carry business details that agree across the site, maps and other sources.

Our own site publishes guidance files for AI crawlers and carries structured data on every main content page; we can set up the same for clients.

Why does structured data matter for an SME?

It tells machines plainly what your business is, where it is, what it offers and what the answer to a question is — which raises the chance of being surfaced or cited.

The common types are Organization and LocalBusiness for business data, Service for service pages, FAQPage for questions, HowTo for procedures and BreadcrumbList for hierarchy.

Critically, structured data must match what users actually see on the page; marking up content that is not there breaches the guidelines and can cost you rich-result eligibility.

For selling online, should we build our own store or stay on marketplaces?

Do both but for different roles: marketplaces reach buyers fast, while your own store builds brand search, keeps customer data and is not subject to someone else's rule changes.

We set things up so products, prices and stock are managed in one place, with product pages carrying structured data that Google and AI can read.

Once the site is live, what needs maintaining?

Security and platform updates, speed and broken-link checks, new content driven by the questions customers actually ask, and keeping business details consistent across every channel.

A site that never updates gradually loses ground to sites answering questions more currently, so steady content work matters more than a one-off launch.

Which provinces do you serve, and can I use you from another province?

We work with clients throughout Thailand remotely and have real offices you can visit in Bangkok and Khon Kaen; registered addresses use those two offices.

We publish per-province pages explaining local context — the business types common there and what to prepare before filing.

Company registration can be filed electronically and through area offices, so you do not need to be in the same province as us.

Can we really work together without ever meeting in person?

Yes — most clients work with us entirely remotely: phone, LINE, email and video calls, digital document exchange, and an office visit only when something requires it.

Where wet-ink originals are still needed, we tell you in advance where to send them and what they are for, so nothing gets sent twice.

Which languages do you work in?

We serve primarily in Thai and English, and publish service explanations in Chinese, Lao, Vietnamese, French, Dutch, Indonesian and Arabic.

Filings to Thai authorities must be in Thai, so we prepare the Thai version for submission and summarise the substance for you in your own language.

I live abroad — do I have to fly to Thailand to register a company?

It depends on the structure and which steps need a signature or identity verification: some can be done from abroad with document legalisation, but others — opening a bank account in particular — usually require you in person.

We separate up front which steps are remote-capable, which need you present, and how foreign documents must be certified, so you can plan a single trip.

What kinds of businesses do you work with, and are there sectors you decline?

We work with SMEs, retailers, professional services, importers and exporters and online businesses, and we decline anything unlawful or anything requiring facts to be hidden from the authorities.

For licence-bound sectors such as food, cosmetics, finance or tourism, we check licence conditions before structuring, so you do not end up registered but unable to operate.

What is the first step to get started?

Contact us and describe where you are and what you want; we ask the necessary questions, summarise the lawful options, and propose a scope with pricing for you to review before deciding.

The first conversation carries no obligation, and we do not begin work before you confirm the scope in writing.

Why are prices not shown on the website?

Because most work depends on real scope — document volume, transaction counts, system complexity — and a blanket price would mislead you and need correcting later.

You always receive a quote stating deliverables, exclusions, revision terms and billing cycle before work starts.

Who handles our account, and who do we contact urgently?

One primary contact who knows your business context, plus shared LINE, phone and email channels so urgent matters do not stall when that person is unavailable.

Statutory work such as tax filings is treated as hard-deadline work and tracked systematically rather than waiting for you to remind us.

How safely are our company data and documents handled?

We use your data only for the work you assign, restrict access to the people involved, store files on permission-controlled systems, and do not disclose them except where the law requires.

The full detail of how data is stored and used is in our privacy policy; if you want a separate confidentiality agreement, tell us before work begins.

Can we stop the service partway?

Yes: we summarise the work done, hand over the files and documents that belong to you, and set out the remaining statutory obligations so you can continue without a gap.

For accounting engagements we provide the handover set a new accountant needs: trial balance, fixed-asset register, filed returns and closing balances.