A minimum of three shareholders is required to set up the company and once established, must remain a minimum of three of which 51 percent must be Thai owned. To obtain a work permit for the foreign director there must be a minimum of 2 million baht in registered capital and four Thai employees paid into the social welfare fund.   Under Thai law, a limited company must have a majority of Thai shareholders, however there are no requirements on the nationality of the directors. Often, the foreign director will not have a Thai director to maintain control but there are some situations when a Thai director may be helpful. If the foreign director does not yet have a work permit and needs a director to endorse the work permit application, or if the foreign investor is not resident in Thailand and requires a local director to operate the company. When establishing the company the authority of its directors must be specified, how many directors and it is possible to state any limitations on the authority of each director, for example only one director is allowed to sign for financial or commercial transactions.