Supplying Medicines and Supplements to Thailand

Thailand is one of Southeast Asia's big six markets. Only a licensed importer of modern drugs can bring medicines in, and foreign plants need Thai FDA GMP clearance before a sample import licence is issued.

There is no shortcut to lean on: we found no reliance route for medicines, so plan for about 120 working days for a generic and 220 for a new drug. From July 2026, the seven-yearly renewal becomes a real reassessment that needs a current foreign GMP certificate.

Thailand at a glance

How to supply medicines to Thailand

1. Work with a licensed importer. Only a licensed importer of modern drugs can import and hold the registration.
2. Clear the plant. Get Thai FDA GMP clearance for the foreign plant before the sample import licence. Prepare an ACTD dossier, a CoPP and the plant's GMP evidence.
3. Plan the timeline. About 120 working days for a generic and 220 for a new drug, then a seven-yearly renewal that, from July 2026, reassesses the product and needs a current foreign GMP certificate.
4. Supply. Private hospitals and pharmacies within the maximum retail price, or central purchasing through the National Health Security Office, Rajavithi Hospital and the GPO.

Government hospitals can import a medicine for an individual patient when there's no alternative in Thailand. See named-patient and special import and government tender supply.

Supplements

Dietary supplements are regulated by the Thai FDA. The importer needs a food import licence, the product is notified and gets a 13-digit food serial number that must appear on the pack, labels must be in Thai, and only approved health claims may be used. We help brands get supplements made under their own label by GMP-certified contract manufacturers: see nutraceutical private label.

What people in Thailand search for

Semrush data from October 2026 shows that people in Thailand search most for vitamin C and magnesium (about 14,800 searches a month each), “อาหารเสริม” (supplements, 12,100), and protein, creatine and probiotics (9,900 each). Many people also check a product's Thai FDA number before buying: “เช็คเลข อย. 13 หลัก อาหารเสริม” (check the 13-digit FDA number for supplements) gets about 9,900 searches a month.

Thai searches run at scale: “ร้านขายยา” (pharmacy) gets between 100,000 and 1 million searches a month, and “ยา” (medicine), “อาหารเสริม” (supplements), “วิตามิน” (vitamins), “คอลลาเจน” (collagen), “เวย์โปรตีน” (whey protein) and “แมกนีเซียม” (magnesium) each between 10,000 and 100,000. Medicines are searched by generic name too, such as “ibuprofen” (9,900), “cetirizine” (9,320) and “naproxen” (6,800) (Google Keyword Planner and Semrush, October 2026).

How importers and manufacturers in Thailand search

Thailand has real trade searches in Thai: “ขายส่งยา” (wholesale medicines) and “องค์การเภสัชกรรม” (the GPO) each get between 10,000 and 100,000 searches a month, “รับผลิตอาหารเสริม” (supplement contract manufacturing) between 1,000 and 10,000, and “oem อาหารเสริม” (OEM supplements), “โรงงานผลิตอาหารเสริม” (supplement factory) and “บริษัทยา” (pharmaceutical company) between 100 and 1,000 (Google Keyword Planner).

Originator brands searched by name include Celebrex (celecoxib) and Daflon (diosmin and hesperidin). Brand names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the medicine.

Supplements we can help you make

Often searched medicines include ibuprofen, cetirizine and naproxen. Some examples we list:

Documents to ask your supplier for

• A Certificate of a Pharmaceutical Product (CoPP) in WHO format.
• The plant's GMP evidence, such as a WHO-GMP, EU-GMP or PIC/S certificate, plus any inspection by your regulator.
• The registration dossier (CTD or ACTD), with bioequivalence data for generics where required.
• Stability data for hot climates.
• A Certificate of Analysis for every batch.

Not sure a supplier is genuine? Read how to verify a pharmaceutical supplier. For the neighbouring markets, see our Southeast Asia (ASEAN) import guide.

Frequently asked questions