Thai Industry Codes With No Large Firms, Low Micro Share (2026)
In short
Three Thai industry codes have zero large companies yet keep a micro share far below the national norm, as of 17 July 2026. Flight training, a human health code and gas distribution combine for 1,956 registered firms with only 38.7 percent micro shops. Small companies make up 59.5 percent of these firms, more than double the national small-company share of 22.2 percent. Among the other 89 industry codes that clear the same zero-large, 150-company floor, the average micro share runs to 81.92 percent, the opposite pattern entirely.
Which Thai industry codes skip large companies but are not micro-shop territory?
Zero large companies usually means one-person-shop territory. Not here. The registry carries 1,228 five-digit TSIC industry codes. Of those, 491 have never produced a single large company. Eighty of those zero-large codes sit inside agriculture alone, leaving 411 outside farming. Require at least 150 registered companies within that 411, so one thin code cannot swing the picture, and 92 codes remain. Only three of those 92 also carry a micro share under 60 percent, as of 17 July 2026, per the DBD registry. The first is TSIC 85497, sitting in division 85, education. Its top firm by revenue is Acron Aviation Training Centre Limited, a flight school. The code holds 265 registered companies. Small firms make up 63.77 percent of them. Not one of the 265 has gone inactive. The second is TSIC 86203, in division 86, human health. It holds 1,518 companies, the largest of the three by count. Small firms make up 60.94 percent of them. No hospital chain sits among its leading firms, a profile that fits specialist medical practice more than a big clinic network. The third is TSIC 35201, gas manufacture, the code that covers Thailand's LPG bottling and distribution firms. It holds 173 companies. Small firms make up 40.46 percent of them, the highest concentration of the three.
Micro share: these three codes versus everywhere else
- National average, all codes75
- Other zero-large codes with 150+ firms, average82
- TSIC 35201, gas manufacture and LPG distribution52
- TSIC 86203, human health38
- TSIC 85497, education, flight training34
Figures in percent of companies classified micro.
Most zero-large codes lean even more micro than the national norm. These three lean the other way, toward small companies instead.
The three codes, in full
| TSIC code | Section | Companies | Micro share | Small share | Net margin | Survival rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85497 | P Education | 265 | 34.34% | 63.77% | 8.72% | 100.00% |
| 86203 | Q Human health | 1,518 | 37.94% | 60.94% | 2.41% | 82.15% |
| 35201 | D Electricity and gas | 173 | 52.02% | 40.46% | 9.47% | 69.94% |
| National average | All sections | 1,986,709 | 75.14% | 22.20% | 4.10% | 50.00% |
Size band shares, net margin and survival rate by TSIC code, as of 17 Jul 2026.
Why a missing giant is not always a warning sign
A code with zero large companies often signals a market too fragmented or too thin margin for scale to matter. Wholesale trade and much of agriculture fit that mold, and both are covered elsewhere on this site. These three do not fit it. Flight training needs an aviation authority license and a fleet, not a folding table. Gas distribution needs storage tanks, tankers and a safety certificate before a single cylinder moves. Specialist medical practice needs registered professionals and equipment a solo operator rarely owns. Those entry costs explain the low micro share directly, since a one-person outfit cannot easily clear them. They likely explain the flight-training survival rate too, the highest of the three at 100 percent, since a barrier that keeps out casual entrants also tends to keep out casual exits. None of the three has yet grown a company large enough to dominate it. For a founder with capital or an acquirer scanning the registry, that reads less like a warning and more like a gap nobody has filled.
Definitions
- TSIC code
- The five-digit Thailand Standard Industrial Classification code the DBD registry assigns to each company's main business activity, grouped under 21 lettered sections.
- Size band
- The micro, small, medium or large classification the registry assigns to each company based on its own scale criteria, separate from any single agency's SME definition.
- Zero-large industry code
- A five-digit TSIC code where no currently registered company sits in the large size band.
- Net margin
- Aggregate net profit divided by aggregate revenue for companies in a group that filed a financial statement. A ten percent margin means ten satang of profit for every baht of revenue.
- Survival rate
- The share of a code's registered companies currently marked active rather than inactive in the registry.
- Aggregate
- A total or ratio built by summing every filed figure in a group and dividing, rather than averaging each company's own ratio.
Assumptions
- Only companies that filed a financial statement contribute to net margin, so a code with few filers can carry a noisier figure.
- The 150-company floor and 60 percent micro-share ceiling are house thresholds chosen for this analysis, not official DBD categories.
- TSIC five-digit descriptions are inferred from each code's leading company by revenue and its parent division, since the registry does not carry a public label at the five-digit level.
- Company counts include both active and inactive registrations still on the DBD register, not only currently trading businesses.
- The OSMEP reference describes Thailand's general MSME definition for context. It uses different thresholds than the size band already assigned in the source registry.
Methodology
Figures come from the DBD company registry as of 17 July 2026, aggregated by five-digit TSIC industry code. A code counts as zero-large only when its count of large size-band companies is exactly zero. The 150-company floor and 60 percent micro-share ceiling were applied together to isolate a genuine middle pattern from noise in tiny codes, and are house thresholds for this analysis, not official DBD categories. Micro, small, medium and large refer to the size band already assigned to each company in the registry. Net margin is aggregate net profit divided by aggregate revenue for companies in a code with a filed financial statement, not the average of individual company margins. Survival rate is the share of a code's registered companies currently marked active. Because the registry does not carry a public label for the five-digit TSIC level, the industry descriptions given here are drawn from each code's top company by revenue and from the parent division it sits under, not quoted from an official title.
How we verified this
- Summed size bands for TSIC 85497: 91 micro plus 169 small plus 5 medium plus 0 large equals 265, matching entity_count.
- Micro share for TSIC 85497 recomputed as 91 divided by 265 equals 34.34 percent, matching the reported figure.
- Small share for TSIC 86203 recomputed as 925 divided by 1,518 equals 60.94 percent.
- Small share for TSIC 35201 recomputed as 70 divided by 173 equals 40.46 percent.
- National micro share recomputed as 1,492,884 divided by 1,986,709 equals 75.14 percent, the registry-wide size-band total.
- Zero-large, non-agriculture codes with at least 150 registered firms recomputed as 92, of which 3 carry a micro share under 60 percent.
- Average micro share among the other 89 zero-large, non-agriculture codes with at least 150 registered firms recomputed as 51,358 divided by 62,696 equals 81.92 percent.
- Net margin for TSIC 85497 recomputed directly from filed totals as 245,185,055.76 divided by 2,811,524,590.73 equals 8.72 percent, matching the reported net margin.
- Combined micro share across all three codes recomputed as 757 divided by 1,956 equals 38.70 percent.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion. (2025). Definition of MSMEs. Royal Thai Government. https://en.sme.go.th/en/page.php?modulekey=363
Frequently asked questions
Which Thai industry codes have no large companies but also skew away from micro shops?
Three do, as of 17 July 2026: TSIC 85497, covering flight and aviation training, TSIC 86203 in human health, and TSIC 35201, gas manufacture and LPG distribution.
Why does a low micro share matter if there are still no large companies?
It shows a market shaped by real entry costs rather than one open to anyone with a shopfront. Small companies, not micro operators, do most of the work in these three codes.
How rare is this pattern across the whole registry?
Very rare. Only 3 of the 1,228 five-digit TSIC codes combine zero large companies, at least 150 registered firms and a micro share under 60 percent.
What is the national micro share for comparison?
75.14 percent of all sized companies in Thailand are micro. Among zero-large codes with at least 150 registered firms, the average runs even higher, at 81.92 percent, so these three break the usual pattern.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Thai Industry Codes With No Large Firms, Low Micro Share (2026). Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/thailands-no-giants-no-corner-shops-industry-codes-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.