More Thai companies went out of business from January to October compared to the same period last year.
The number of corporate closures stood at 2,187 in October, representing 5.58 billion baht in capital.
The figure was 33% higher than in the same month last year and 16% more than the previous month, Pongpan Jiarawiriyapan, director general of the Department of Business Development, said on Tuesday.
From January to October, the number of deregistered businesses rose 19% year-on-year to 14,000.
The sharp increase in October was due to changes in lottery retail trade where rules had been tightened and the quota system scrapped, causing many small firms to shut down, said Mr Pongpan.
Several companies also sped up deregistering before the end of the year so they did not have to submit their balance sheets.
At the same time, the lift of lottery quota attracted several new companies, she said.
"Of October's shutdown total, 447 were related to lottery sales compared to 150 in the same month last year. This means the government's lottery sale restructuring is successful," she said.
Also in October, 5,231 companies, with 2.10 billion baht in capital, were registered, down 3% year-on-year and 1% from the previous month.
The figure brought up the January-October total to 52,300, up 1% year-on-year.
The department is confident total corporate registrations will meet the target of 60,000 to 65,000 set for this year.
As of Oct 31, Thailand had 1.28 million registered companies and partnerships, with 19.59 trillion baht in combined capital.
"Of the 618,000 companies operating nationwide, 437,000 are limited companies, 1,109 public companies and 179,000 registered ordinary partnerships and limited partnerships," she said.