Thai Companies Whose Debt Dwarfs Their Profit, 2026
In short
About 12.19 percent of Thailand's profitable companies carry total liabilities more than 10 times their annual gross profit, as of 17 July 2026. Those 76,900 companies owe 17.87 trillion baht between them. That is 23.6 percent of the 75.72 trillion baht in total corporate debt recorded across the registry. Their typical debt load runs 14.63 times higher than a typical profitable company's. Their typical gross profit is only about a fifth of what a typical profitable company earns. The risk concentrates in stretched balance sheets, not in company size.
What share of Thailand's corporate debt sits with its shakiest companies?
Out of 630,659 Thai companies that reported a positive gross profit as of 17 July 2026, 76,900 carry total liabilities more than 10 times that profit. That is 12.19 percent of the profitable population. Together those 76,900 companies owe 17.87 trillion baht. Thailand's registered companies carry 75.72 trillion baht in total liabilities on file, so this one group holds 23.6 percent of all corporate debt. A group this size should not carry a quarter of the country's debt. It does, and the reason is not that these are giant companies. It is that their balance sheets are stretched far beyond what their profit can support.
Where the debt sits inside the high-debt group
- 10 to 25 times profit8
- 25 to 50 times profit4
- 50 to 100 times profit3
- Over 100 times profit3
Figures in trillion baht in liabilities.
Nearly a fifth of this group's debt sits with companies whose liabilities exceed 100 times their gross profit, the most extreme tail of an already extreme group.
Companies by how far their debt exceeds their profit
| Debt-to-profit band | Companies | Liabilities held | Share of all corporate debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 to 25 times | 31,775 | 8.23 trillion baht | 10.87% |
| 25 to 50 times | 13,321 | 3.60 trillion baht | 4.75% |
| 50 to 100 times | 8,177 | 2.64 trillion baht | 3.49% |
| Over 100 times | 23,627 | 3.40 trillion baht | 4.49% |
| All bands combined | 76,900 | 17.87 trillion baht | 23.60% |
Profitable companies with total liabilities above 10 times gross profit, by band, as of 17 Jul 2026.
Why this is not simply the biggest companies
Size alone does not explain the pattern. A typical company in the high-debt group reports gross profit of 176,646 baht, barely a fifth of the 955,326 baht a typical profitable company earns. Yet its median liabilities run to 8.61 million baht, more than 14 times the 588,621 baht carried by a typical profitable company. Profit shrank while debt grew, and it is that ratio, not overall scale, that pulls a company into this group. Average liabilities in the group, 232.4 million baht per company, run about four times the 55.5 million baht average across all profitable companies, but a handful of very large borrowers pull that average up. The median tells the sharper story, a weaker profit line paired with a debt load that keeps climbing regardless.
Why this matters for anyone assessing a Thai counterparty
A quarter of Thailand's corporate debt sitting with one in eight profitable companies is a concentration problem, not a rounding error. Credit teams that screen counterparties on revenue or headcount alone will miss this group, because its defining trait is a profit line too thin for its obligations, not a small size. Any downturn that squeezes gross margins would hit this group first, since 30.7 percent of it already carries liabilities above 100 times its profit. For suppliers extending trade credit, for banks setting loan terms, and for anyone tracking financial stability, the debt-to-profit ratio reads as a cleaner warning signal than total debt or total assets alone. Thailand's corporate debt risk is not spread evenly across the economy. It sits with a specific, identifiable minority, and that minority already carries a disproportionate share of the country's balance sheet risk.
Definitions
- Gross profit
- Revenue minus cost of goods sold, taken directly from a company's filed financial statement.
- Total liabilities
- Everything a company owes, including bank loans, trade payables and other obligations, as reported on its balance sheet.
- Debt-to-profit ratio
- Total liabilities divided by gross profit. A ratio of 10 means a company owes 10 baht for every baht of gross profit it earned that year.
- Median
- The middle value in a sorted list. It is used here instead of the average because a small number of very large companies would otherwise pull the average far above the typical case.
- Total corporate debt
- The sum of total liabilities across every company in the registry with a reported liabilities figure, whether or not that company is profitable.
Assumptions
- Only companies with a filed financial statement contribute to either the profitable group or the total corporate debt figure.
- Gross profit, not net profit, sets the threshold because it is the most consistently reported profit line in the underlying filings. A company's true ability to service debt also depends on operating and financial costs not captured here.
- A high debt-to-profit ratio does not by itself mean a company is near default. Some liabilities fund long-term assets rather than operating shortfalls.
Methodology
Gross profit and total liabilities are drawn from the DBD registry's company-level financial statement data, computed as of 17 July 2026, the same dataset used across the site's debt and margin pages. A company counts as profitable when its reported gross profit is greater than zero, a population of 630,659 companies. Its debt load is measured as total liabilities divided by gross profit, and a company falls into the high-debt group when that ratio exceeds 10. Total corporate debt is the sum of total liabilities across the entire population with a reported liabilities figure, 1,237,910 companies, including loss-making and unclassified companies, which is why the high-debt group's share of debt is measured against that larger base rather than only against other profitable companies. Median figures, not averages, are used to compare a typical company in each group, because both groups include a small number of very large borrowers that would otherwise pull the average far above the typical case.
How we verified this
- 76,900 divided by 630,659 profitable companies equals 12.19 percent, matching the headline share of profitable companies in the high-debt group.
- 17,870,589,382,608.85 baht divided by 75,719,885,025,866.52 baht in total corporate liabilities equals 23.60 percent, matching the headline share of all corporate debt.
- The four debt-to-profit bands, 31,775 plus 13,321 plus 8,177 plus 23,627 companies, sum to 76,900, and their liabilities, 8.23 plus 3.60 plus 2.64 plus 3.40 trillion baht, sum to 17.87 trillion baht, matching the group total.
- Median liabilities in the high-debt group, 8,612,359 baht, divided by median liabilities across all profitable companies, 588,621 baht, equals 14.63, confirming the group's typical debt load runs over 14 times higher.
- Median gross profit in the high-debt group, 176,646 baht, divided by the median across all profitable companies, 955,326 baht, equals 18.5 percent, confirming the group earns less, not more, in typical profit terms.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- Bank of Thailand. (2025). Financial stability review 2025. https://www.bot.or.th/content/dam/bot/documents/en/research-and-publications/reports/financial-stability-report/FS_Review_2025e.pdf
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a company whose debt dwarfs its profit?
A company qualifies when its total liabilities are more than 10 times its gross profit, using DBD registry filings as of 17 July 2026. That threshold catches 76,900 companies, 12.19 percent of the 630,659 companies that reported a positive gross profit.
How much of Thailand's corporate debt do these companies hold?
The 76,900 qualifying companies hold 17.87 trillion baht in liabilities, 23.6 percent of the 75.72 trillion baht in total corporate debt recorded across the registry.
Are these mostly Thailand's largest companies?
No. Their typical gross profit is only about 18.5 percent of a typical profitable company's, while their typical liabilities run more than 14 times higher. The pattern is a stretched balance sheet, not sheer size.
Does a high debt-to-profit ratio mean a company is about to default?
Not on its own. Gross profit excludes costs a company may already cover through other income, and some liabilities fund long-term assets rather than operating shortfalls. The ratio flags where balance sheet risk concentrates, it is not a default forecast.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Thai Companies Whose Debt Dwarfs Their Profit, 2026. Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/the-thai-companies-whose-debt-dwarfs-their-profit-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.