There are two popular English-language newspapers in Thailand, The Bangkok Post and The Nation. For advertising, New Zealand companies should also consider Thai-language publications to promote their products and services. The most popular daily business newspapers in Thai are Krung Thep Thurakit (Bangkok Business News) and Thairath.

A large number of agents specialise in industries. Industry associations are useful when sourcing agents and distributors. Yellow Pages and Trade Point have lists of industry associations.

Electronic payments including electronic commerce via internet and mobile phone play an increasingly important role in Thailand. Direct marketing to mobile phones is very popular. Thailand has about 82 mobile phone subscribers per 100 people. Debit cards are more popular than credit cards. 

The speed of internet access has increased while costs have declined, and this trend is expected to continue. The Government has committed itself to making broadband internet available and affordable. Broadband connections are widely available through the country. 

Control of the import, marketing, distribution and sale of products is shared between a number of government bodies including:

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Office of Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) 
Customs Department
Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Commerce

There are import restrictions on some products and New Zealand exporters are required to check these with the Thai Ministry of Commerce prior to exporting. 

Import quotas apply to some agricultural and dairy products. 

Licences are required for a small number of items and are obtained from the Ministry of Commerce. To do this you will need a supplier order, confirmation to the order and invoice. Import licences are usually issued for a period of time, rather than for a single shipment.

Manufacture and importation of pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food products are subject to prior approval and licensing from the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA regulates the supply of food, drugs and cosmetics including registration, manufacture, import, export, storage, quality control, distribution and advertisement control. 

Product registration can take from one week to a year depending on the type of product and ingredients used. Advice should be sought from the FDA as to whether a product requires special documentation for registration; it is essential that the correct documentation is produced to facilitate the process. Full details on the FDA requirements are available on the FDA website. 

The implementation of the Closer Economic Partnership (CEP) between New Zealand and Thailand in 2005 cleared the way for duty free access on more than half of New Zealand’s current exports. Within five years tariffs on virtually all manufactured goods will have disappeared. The remaining tariffs and quotas will be eliminated by 2025.

Under the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) 99 percent of New Zealand's trade with the ASEAN region will be duty free by 2020.

Use the tariff finder to look up current and phased tariff rates for the agreement establishing the AANZFTA.

All inquires related to tariffs under the Thai CEP or AANZFTA should be referred to MFAT.

The Rules of Origin (ROO) under the AANZFTA set the criteria for determining which goods qualify for preferential tariff treatment (i.e. they determine which products count as "New Zealand", "Australian", "Indonesian", "Malaysian", "Vietnamese" etc).

The ROO allows originating goods to be cumulated between the Parties and used in the production of further goods.  Exporters can choose between the Change of Classification (CTC) approach or the Regional Value Content (RVC) approach to ROO.  For further information, visit the AANZFTA website.

Trade in services is included under AANZFTA and covers such areas as business services, education, tourism, construction and transport.

Packing and labelling

Labels for food products that are sold directly to customers must be in Thai and are required to have the following information:

• name of the food.
• registration number.
• name and address of manufacturer.
• net content of the food in metric system.
• a list of the main ingredients as a percentage of the total, in descending order.
• any additives used (eg preservatives, flavours, sweeteners).
• manufacturing and expiry dates.
• health and nutritional claims, if any.

In some cases labels can be applied as a sticker over an existing English language label. The FDA must approve all labelling for food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. 

Thailand follows the international EAN system. In Thailand, it is administered by the Thai Federation of Industries.

• For general information on export marketing go to the Export guide.

This information is provided subject to our terms of use.

Use of the information is at your own risk and we are not responsible for any adverse consequences arising out of such use. This is a complex area and we recommend that you seek legal advice before taking any related action.