BANGKOK, 9 January 2013 The number of businesses registered with the Ministry of Commerce last year soared to more than 60,000, the highest since the inception of the business registry.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, the number of new businesses in December 2012 alone increased 78% year-on-year, to a total of 4,540 with investment worth totally 16.7 billion baht.
For the entire 2012, 63,845 new companies were set up with a combined investment value of 337 billion baht, the highest ever recorded in the past five years. The Ministry claimed the number represented an increase of 15% from 2011.
The top 3 popular businesses were related to recreation, broadcasting and construction industries respectively. Meanwhile, more than 16,000 businesses shut down in 2012, an increase of 20% from the year before. There are currently 528,757 companies operating in Thailand with the total value of 10.7 trillion baht.
