Thai Industries Where Small Companies Outnumber Micro (2026)
In short
16 named Thai industries buck the national micro-company norm as of 17 July 2026, where small companies actually outnumber micro ones. Nationally, three in four companies, 75.1 percent, are micro. Pawnshop services show the widest gap, 1.90 small companies for every micro one. Fuel retailers, the biggest of the sixteen, hold 3,437 small companies against 1,983 micro. Manufacturing supplies seven of the sixteen, more than any other sector.
Which named Thai industries have more small companies than micro ones?
Nationally, three in four Thai companies, 75.1 percent, sit in the micro band. Sixteen named industries flip that pattern entirely, and small companies outnumber micro ones inside every one of them, as of 17 July 2026 (DBD, 2026). Pawnshop services carry the widest gap: 447 small companies against 235 micro, a ratio of 1.90 to 1. Automotive fuel retailers post the largest raw numbers in the group, 3,437 small companies against 1,983 micro, out of 7,924 companies total. Automobile driving schools and dental practices both clear a ratio above 1.6 to 1. None of this looks accidental. Getting past micro in these trades usually means owning something fixed: a fuel station, a concrete batching plant, a dental clinic, the kind of asset a one person shop cannot run.
Small companies per micro company, by industry
- Pawnshop services2
- Automobile driving schools2
- Ready mixed concrete manufacturers2
- Automotive fuel retailers2
- Dental practices2
- Office administrative service firms1
- Veterinary activities1
- Specialized medical practices1
- Bricks and cement wholesalers1
- Head office activities1
- Prefabricated metal building manufacturers1
- Crustacean and mollusc processors1
- Meat processors, excluding poultry1
- Edible ice manufacturers1
- Metal forming machinery manufacturers1
- Fibre cement product manufacturers1
Figures in small companies per micro company.
Every bar above 1.0 means small companies outnumber micro ones in that industry. Pawnshop services and driving schools lead the field.
The 16 named industries where small outnumbers micro
| Industry | TSIC code | Section | Micro companies | Small companies | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pawnshop services | 64925 | K, Financial and insurance | 235 | 447 | 1.90 to 1 |
| Automobile driving schools | 85497 | P, Education | 91 | 169 | 1.86 to 1 |
| Ready mixed concrete manufacturers | 23953 | C, Manufacturing | 367 | 660 | 1.80 to 1 |
| Automotive fuel retailers | 47300 | G, Wholesale and retail trade | 1,983 | 3,437 | 1.73 to 1 |
| Dental practices | 86203 | Q, Human health and social work | 576 | 925 | 1.61 to 1 |
| Office administrative service firms | 82110 | N, Administrative and support | 3,240 | 4,079 | 1.26 to 1 |
| Veterinary activities | 75000 | M, Professional, scientific and technical | 411 | 511 | 1.24 to 1 |
| Specialized medical practices | 86202 | Q, Human health and social work | 1,294 | 1,583 | 1.22 to 1 |
| Bricks and cement wholesalers | 46631 | G, Wholesale and retail trade | 592 | 723 | 1.22 to 1 |
| Head office activities | 70100 | M, Professional, scientific and technical | 168 | 194 | 1.15 to 1 |
| Prefabricated metal building manufacturers | 25112 | C, Manufacturing | 138 | 158 | 1.14 to 1 |
| Crustacean and mollusc processors | 10212 | C, Manufacturing | 73 | 82 | 1.12 to 1 |
| Meat processors, excluding poultry | 10112 | C, Manufacturing | 53 | 59 | 1.11 to 1 |
| Edible ice manufacturers | 10795 | C, Manufacturing | 1,164 | 1,235 | 1.06 to 1 |
| Metal forming machinery manufacturers | 28221 | C, Manufacturing | 364 | 381 | 1.05 to 1 |
| Fibre cement product manufacturers | 23954 | C, Manufacturing | 76 | 77 | 1.01 to 1 |
5-digit TSIC industries with at least 100 sized companies, ranked by small to micro ratio, as of 17 Jul 2026.
Why this matters
Seven of these sixteen industries sit inside manufacturing, more than any other section. That is a pattern, not a coincidence. A concrete batching plant, a metal forming machine shop, a fibre cement line or an edible ice factory all need enough throughput and floor space to clear the micro threshold almost as soon as they open, so the micro band barely holds them. Compare that with Thailand's overall economy, where micro companies outnumber small ones by 3.39 to 1. The 16 industries together hold just 28,614 sized companies, 1.44 percent of every company sitting in a named industry, so this is a narrow slice of the register, not a broad trend. It matters anyway. A lender or a franchise scout reading only the national size split would assume every trade skews micro. Sixteen named industries say otherwise, and eight more industries showed the same reversal but were dropped here for holding fewer than 100 sized companies, too thin a base to trust. What is left is a short, useful list: the corners of the Thai economy where the smallest tier of business is structurally hard to stay in.
Definitions
- Named industry
- A 5-digit TSIC industry code that carries an English description in the registry, as opposed to codes with no description on file.
- Micro company
- Thailand's smallest official size band, defined by the MSME standard as a firm with no more than nine employees.
- Small company
- The size band above micro, covering firms with roughly ten to ninety nine employees under Thailand's MSME standard.
- Size band
- The micro, small, medium or large classification assigned to a company in the DBD registry, based on employment or revenue thresholds.
- TSIC code
- Thailand's Standard Industrial Classification code, the government's system for categorizing a company's business activity, used here at the 5-digit level.
- Small to micro ratio
- The count of small companies in an industry divided by the count of micro companies in that same industry.
Assumptions
- Size band reflects each company's most recent classification in the registry and does not track changes over a company's history.
- The 100-company minimum was chosen to avoid a ratio built on a handful of firms, and it excludes 8 smaller industries that would otherwise qualify.
- The list is limited to industries with an English description in the registry. Codes without one cannot be named and are excluded entirely.
- A high small to micro ratio reflects filed company counts, not employment or revenue, and does not by itself show which industry is healthier.
Methodology
Micro, small, medium and large size bands come from the DBD registry as of 17 July 2026. A named industry is a 5-digit TSIC industry code that carries an English description, 1,008 of them in total. The count of small companies is compared against the count of micro companies for each named industry, and the ranking is restricted to industries with at least 100 companies carrying a size band, to avoid a ratio built on a handful of firms. Sixteen named industries clear that bar with more small companies than micro ones.
How we verified this
- Pawnshop services ratio recomputed as 447 small companies divided by 235 micro companies, equal to 1.90 to 1.
- Automotive fuel retailers ratio recomputed as 3,437 divided by 1,983, equal to 1.73 to 1.
- Automobile driving schools ratio recomputed as 169 divided by 91, equal to 1.86 to 1.
- Of 24 named industries where small companies outnumber micro at all, 8 had fewer than 100 sized companies and were dropped, leaving 16.
- Micro plus small plus medium plus large companies summed to the total entity count for every one of the 16 industries, for example 1,983 plus 3,437 plus 2,353 plus 151 equals 7,924 for automotive fuel retailers.
- Combined across the 16 industries, small companies summed to 14,720 and micro companies summed to 10,825, a combined ratio of 1.36 to 1.
- Manufacturing's share of the list recomputed as 7 divided by 16, equal to 43.75 percent.
- National ratio recomputed as 1,492,884 micro companies divided by 441,008 small companies, equal to 3.39 micro companies for every small one, the reverse of the pattern inside these 16 industries.
- The 16 industries' combined 28,614 sized companies divided by 1,984,846 companies across all named industries equals 1.44 percent.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons by TSIC industry code and size band. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion. (2025). Definition of MSMEs. https://en.sme.go.th/en/page.php?modulekey=363
Frequently asked questions
Which Thai industries have more small companies than micro ones?
Sixteen named industries, from pawnshop services and automotive fuel retailers to manufacturing codes like ready mixed concrete and edible ice, all carry more small companies than micro ones, as of 17 July 2026.
What is the national norm these industries break?
Nationally, 75.1 percent of Thai companies are micro, and micro companies outnumber small ones by 3.39 to 1. These 16 industries invert that ratio.
Why does pawnshop services have the widest gap?
Pawnshop services show 447 small companies against 235 micro, a 1.90 to 1 ratio, the widest of the 16, in a licensed lending trade where premises and capital tend to push a firm past the micro band quickly.
Why are so many manufacturing codes on this list?
Seven of the 16 industries are manufacturing codes, including concrete, edible ice and metal forming machinery, because running a production line or a batching plant typically demands more capital and floor space than the micro band allows.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Thai Industries Where Small Companies Outnumber Micro (2026). Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/thai-named-industries-where-small-companies-outnumber-micro-2026
Data & corrections
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Written by
Chatpong L.Founder, Max Data, Max Solutions Co., Ltd.
Chatpong L. leads Max Data, a company-intelligence platform built on Thailand's official business registry. He writes about the structure of the Thai economy using primary registry data. His work covers company formation, industry concentration, and regional business activity.
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This page reports company-level and aggregate statistics only. It names no individuals and makes no claims about any person. Figures are provided for information and may be revised as source data updates.