Registering a .co.th domain name?

[dan12]

Hi there,

I'm wondering whether it is possible to register a particular .co.th domain name.

Currently, there is a well-known company in Thailand that have registered the .com domain, but the .co.th remains unregistered.

I'm unsure of the laws in Thailand regarding this, so I wanted to make sure first. I tried the DIP (Department of Intellectual Property) website, however it seems that any relevant information is in Thai only.

I am not a resident of Thailand or living there, so I'm unable to call DIP too.

Appreciate any help

[bazmlb]

There is some information here https://www.thnic.co.th/en/policy/ about the policy for .co.th names and the resolution of disputes, which can only be resolved by court order.

A .co.th registration requires a VAT certificate to prove the company name is registered.

[dan12]

There is some information here https://www.thnic.co.th/en/policy/ about the policy for .co.th names and the resolution of disputes, which can only be resolved by court order.

A .co.th registration requires a VAT certificate to prove the company name is registered.

Appreciate your reply.

With a VAT certificate required, it seems that this idea has no legs, which is a shame.

I don't understand why a large company like this in Thailand have not registered the .co.th domain, even if they are 'protected' by others registering it (I assume that's where the VAT certificate comes into effect - stopping other people registering the same company name?). There's been a number of times when i've went to the .co.th address which doesn't exist - the traffic to it, if registered. would be huge.

Thanks again

Edited January 4, 2015 by dan12

[NeverSure]

Thai registration is BS and that's why so many use .com.

The internet possibly offers the most freedom in enterprise and speech that the world has ever known. It is an unregulated, ad hoc group of people and is not owned by any government although it was invented and started in the US. It was started by government employees at universities and can't be copyrighted. It belongs to the public.

Thainess as usual has taken the Thai part and corrupted it. They think they own it when they didn't even develop any of it much less the .co.th. You can register any .com domain name you want if it isn't taken. But not so .co.th.

Google "register .com domain name" and you'll get lots of offers for cheap or free registration and cheap website hosting. You'll notice that TVF is .com and isn't registered in Thailand. Now, TVF is complex and has a lot of server space and traffic so they'll pay quite a bit for hosting but a small web presence costs next to nothing.

Edited January 4, 2015 by NeverSure

[bazmlb]

Thai registration is BS and that's why so many use .com.

How is it different to say .com.au, same rules apply, or are you just Thai bashing straight into the new year?

[Thailand]

There is some information here https://www.thnic.co.th/en/policy/ about the policy for .co.th names and the resolution of disputes, which can only be resolved by court order.

A .co.th registration requires a VAT certificate to prove the company name is registered.

Appreciate your reply.

With a VAT certificate required, it seems that this idea has no legs, which is a shame.

I don't understand why a large company like this in Thailand have not registered the .co.th domain, even if they are 'protected' by others registering it (I assume that's where the VAT certificate comes into effect - stopping other people registering the same company name?). There's been a number of times when i've went to the .co.th address which doesn't exist - the traffic to it, if registered. would be huge.

Thanks again

Why would you even try to register the name in .co.th?

Try to sell it to the company? Try to take advantage of the traffic?

You would not have it very long!

[SheungWan]

Go to a domain name registration company website and register your domain name. It will cost under 1000 baht.

.co.th does not mean a company name extension. It is equivalent to .co.uk extension which is not a company name extension either

Actually the reason why someone may want to register a domain name with a country extension is because either the .com is not available or the country extension is wanted for whatever other reason.

The primary problem for registering your domain name is that most resellers are located in Thailand and therefore the registration process is in Thai. If a big company has the .com extension and you want to regiser the .co.th name for cybesrsquatting and advertising revenue then this is not within any acceptable rules. It looks like the OP is on an opportunist mission rather than an attempt to register a genuine domain name.

[ryanhull]

Go to a domain name registration company website and register your domain name. It will cost under 1000 baht.

.co.th does not mean a company name extension. It is equivalent to .co.uk extension which is not a company name extension either

Actually the reason why someone may want to register a domain name with a country extension is because either the .com is not available or the country extension is wanted for whatever other reason.

The primary problem for registering your domain name is that most resellers are located in Thailand and therefore the registration process is in Thai. If a big company has the .com extension and you want to regiser the .co.th name for cybesrsquatting and advertising revenue then this is not within any acceptable rules. It looks like the OP is on an opportunist mission rather than an attempt to register a genuine domain name.

I don't think you get the question fully... I think he is aware .co.uk is a UK extension and .co.th is a Thai domain extension.

So lets say kfc.com is registered, this guy wants to register kfc.co.th in attempt to either sell it to the proper owner or to gain the traffic of people coming to that domain expecting it to be the Thailand KFC for example.

Either way, they will not buy it off you, just demand it and you will have to sign it over to them on the flip side it might annoy them, you may find yourself in court quite quickly but you certainly wont gain anything from it, possibly the opposite. dont bother with it.

[josephbloggs]

Another thing to point out is that the domain name you choose has to be the same as your company name or obviously closely related to it (for example your company initials). And, as already mentioned, you do have to send them a copy of your company registration and VAT certificate.

[JimSiam]

There is a flaw in their system as it is first come first served in a non trademarked situation, if two companies have similar names it can happen that an abbreviated version of the full company name may match both companies, a simple example would be "Nok Laundry Phuket Co., Ltd." and "Nok Laundry Co., Ltd.", Nok Laundry Phuket Co., Ltd. could register noklaundry.co.th without any problem if Nok Laundry Co., Ltd. have not applied.

[dan12]

Appreciate all the replies.

It was a bit of a mission to see traffic to the domain and to take advantage of it. I'm not clued up too much on this sort of thing but I know enough to know that this domain I had in mind would get a huge amount of traffic.

I've left having learnt more so I won't pursue it any further.

Thanks again for all the input.

[manarak]

There is some information here https://www.thnic.co.th/en/policy/ about the policy for .co.th names and the resolution of disputes, which can only be resolved by court order.

A .co.th registration requires a VAT certificate to prove the company name is registered.

and domains differing from the company name have to be registered trademarks.

[Roman51]

I'm wondering whether it is possible to register a particular .co.th domain name.

Yes you can.

I'm unsure of the laws in Thailand regarding this, so I wanted to make sure first. I tried the DIP (Department of Intellectual Property) website, however it seems that any relevant information is in Thai only.

I am not a resident of Thailand or living there, so I'm unable to call DIP too.

There are special companies that help in the registration of domains with restrictions, like .CO.TH. This type of companies offer special services of the local trustee, that help to register the domain for people even without trademark or particular country citizenship (if it's required).

Here: https://web-solutions.eu/how-to-register-domains-thailand.htm you can find more information about entire registration process of Thai domains.

I hope that helped

[simon101]

I use this registrar company: https://europeid.com/domains/asia/thailand/register-co-th/ they offer trustee service for .CO.TH domain names too.

[innerspace]

So many wrong posts here...

Co.Th domains require a company registered with a matching or very similar company name.

Vat or trademark not required at all so ignore those comments.

Registered company 100% required, don't try without.

Domain name and company name matching, officially yes, though last couple of posts suggest that exceptions similar to 100b overriding the motorbike helmet law may apply, with similar legalities.

[Roman51]

So many wrong posts here...

Co.Th domains require a company registered with a matching or very similar company name.

Vat or trademark not required at all so ignore those comments.

Registered company 100% required, don't try without.

Domain name and company name matching, officially yes, though last couple of posts suggest that exceptions similar to 100b overriding the motorbike helmet law may apply, with similar legalities.

... nonsense ..

Do you even read what offers these companies that people write above?

For eg. quote form EuropeID.com about .CO.TH domain offer:

If you choose to take advantage of our Local Presence/Proxy Service for Thai domains, EuropeID itself, our local branch office or a local representative designated by us will become the legal holders and administrative contacts of the pertinent .CO.TH domains. ~ EuropeID source

so.. what you are buying is not only the .CO.TH domain, you can buy a domain and if you do not meet legal requirements, you can additionaly buy the local presence of a company representative localy in Thailand