Most small-business listings in Thailand give you a name, a photo, and a price. What they don't give you is proof — and that gap is where buyers lose money. Before you make an offer on anything, work through five checks.
1. Confirm the company actually exists as claimed. Every Thai company is registered with the Department of Business Development (DBD), and its registration date, registered capital, listed directors, and filed business objectives are public record. Cross-check the registration date against how long the seller claims to have operated.
2. Separate revenue claims from revenue evidence. "Revenue: ฿200,000/month" told to you verbally is not the same as 12 months of bank statements matched against POS or accounting software exports. Ask for both, and check they agree.
3. Read the lease before you read the P&L. A profitable business tied to a lease that can't transfer, or that lapses in eight months, is not the asset it looks like on paper. Get the lease terms confirmed directly with the landlord.
4. Check licenses and their expiry dates. F&B, alcohol, and hospitality businesses typically hold several licenses — confirm each one is current, in the business's name, and transferable.
5. Ask why the owner is selling — and verify it. "Relocating abroad" and "retiring" are common and often true. Cross-reference the stated reason against online reviews, staff turnover, and recent revenue trends.
This is, not coincidentally, close to what we check before a listing on Raan Dee Group earns a Tier 1 or Tier 2 badge — we built our verification checklist around the same questions a careful buyer should be asking anyway.