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Life Insurance Act Section 7 — Licence to carry on life insurance business
Life Insurance Act (พระราชบัญญัติประกันชีวิต) — Section 7.
Plain-English Summary
Life insurance may be carried on only by a public limited company that holds a licence from the Minister with Cabinet approval. After the company is registered it must lodge the security deposit (Section 20) and hold the capital funds (Section 27) within six months, otherwise the approval lapses. A foreign life insurer may set up a branch only with a licence on the same basis, holding assets in Thailand not below the Section 27 capital funds (Section 8). Section 10 is the Thai-ownership rule, not the licence.
Official Text
Official Thai text at the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State. Translation summary only.
Consult official sourceParent Statute
Life Insurance Act
พระราชบัญญัติประกันชีวิต · B.E. 2535 (1992)
The Life Insurance Act B.E. 2535 (1992) governs life insurers in Thailand and repeals the Life Insurance Act B.E. 2510 (1967) (Section 3). Life insurance may be carried on only by a public limited company holding a licence from the Minister with Cabinet approval (Section 7); a foreign insurer may set up a licensed branch (Section 8). At least 75% of voting shares must be held by Thai nationals and at least three-quarters of directors must be Thai (Section 10), subject to the Commission's permission for non-Thai holdings of up to 49% and the Minister's power to relax the requirement, so 49% is not an absolute cap; foreign-insurer branches are exempt (Section 13). The Act also covers security deposits, reserves and capital funds, policy-form approval, the ban on unjustified delay in paying policy money, licensing of life agents and brokers, the Life Insurance Fund, and penalties. It is supervised through the Commission and Registrar of the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC). Non-life business is governed by a separate Act, and a life insurer may not carry it on (Section 33(1)). The Government Savings Bank's life insurance business is outside the Act (Section 4).
The summary above is a plain-English educational paraphrase of Section 7 of the Life Insurance Act. It is not an authoritative translation. For the binding Thai text, consult the Royal Gazette or the Office of the Council of State. Educational use only — not a substitute for advice from a Thai-qualified lawyer.
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