Employee or Agency Won't Return the Facebook Page, LINE OA or Company Domain: What a Thai Company Can Do

The core answer

A "page admin" is not an "owner". Facebook, LINE and domain registries all work on access and records: who holds the admin role, whose name is on the registry, whose email receives the reset link. Who the account belongs to is decided by your contracts, your payment records and your business registration. Treat these as two separate questions, and prepare evidence for the second before you argue about the first.

The rule (platform terms and THNIC policy). Meta says a Page keeps its settings and access through people with "full control". LINE says an Administrator can add and change members. THNIC records a domain holder and a separate administrative contact. None of these tell you who owns the brand behind the account. For that you need contracts, invoices and registrations, and in a dispute the final word belongs to a court, not to the platform.

Our practical view. Move in this order: (1) collect evidence, (2) send a written demand with a deadline, (3) use each platform's official recovery channel in parallel, (4) keep a lawyer's letter and court action in reserve. Do not log in with a former employee's password, and do not tell anyone to delete content. Those shortcuts can turn a contract dispute into a criminal complaint against you.

This guide is about access disputes over accounts. For who owns the brand itself, see our guide on brand and trademark ownership when setting up a Thai company. For customer data in employee hands, see AI policy and customer data.

1. Who "owns" and who "administers" each asset?

Two points are verified from the sources:

• Facebook. Meta describes "full control" as the level that can manage all Page settings and assign or remove access, including for other full-control users. A Page must always have at least one person with full control, or it is deactivated and eventually deleted.
• LINE. The LINE help centre says adding an Administrator is done by a user who already has administrator permission, through Settings, Manage permissions, Add member. It also says Operators cannot add administrators. Its page does not say what happens if no administrator can be reached, so ask LINE support directly in that case.

2. How do .co.th domains work, and why does the agency's login matter?

THNIC separates three roles in its guideline:

• Domain name holder. The person who obtained the right to use the name, which may be a juristic person. THNIC registers the name in the holder's name.
• Administrative contact. The person who files the application and manages the domain in the registrar's system. This can be someone other than the holder.
• Account member / reseller. The login that renews, modifies and restores the domain. A reseller counts as an authorised representative of the holder and acts as administrative contact.

Eligibility for .co.th under the policy covers juristic persons registered with the DBD, VAT registrants, state enterprises and registered trademark owners. A foreign entity can appoint a local agent who must itself qualify. The March 2026 guideline lists the proof THNIC accepts, including a company affidavit, PP 20 and a trademark certificate, and says the name must match the verified organisation name or registered mark.

Practical consequences:

1. If your agency or employee bought the domain in their own name, the registry may show them, not the company, as holder.
2. If the holder is the company but the agency holds the reseller login, the company can ask THNIC to change the login. The guideline describes a written request signed by the holder or administrative contact, and a warning email to the old login before the change proceeds.
3. A change of holder is stricter. The 2020 policy says ownership generally cannot be transferred except in listed cases, such as a change of trademark owner or a merger, while the 2026 guideline describes a written transfer procedure with a Letter of Consent. The two documents are not worded alike, so check with THNIC which applies to your domain.
4. THNIC states that it may not act as intermediary in disputes between holders. It settles them on a court order, or a written agreement or final ruling in court or arbitration. This is why evidence and a signed settlement matter.

3. What evidence shows the accounts belong to the company?

Gather this before the first demand. Save copies outside the accounts in dispute.

• Payment records: Page or ads invoices, domain renewal invoices, LINE OA fees, agency invoices, and bank transfers.
• Contracts: the agency contract, the employment contract and any job description naming the accounts, plus any email or LINE message in which the agency or employee agreed the company is the owner.
• Registrations: DBD company certificate, VAT registration, and the trademark certificate if you have one (see trademark registration in Thailand).
• Use: screenshots of the Page, LINE OA and website showing your company name, logo and address, with dates.
• Admin snapshot: a screenshot of the current roles on the Page, the LINE permission list and a WHOIS lookup of the domain.

Oral arrangements can be proved, but with difficulty. See whether verbal agreements are enforceable. If there is nothing in writing, the payment records and consistent public use become your main proof.

4. What should the first steps be?

1. Stay calm and do not post accusations. Public complaints can create their own liability. See online defamation.
2. Preserve evidence as in section 3.
3. Send a documented demand. Name the assets, say how you can prove ownership, set a deadline and list what you want: add company admins, transfer the reseller login, or change the holder. A formal letter from a lawyer is often the point where the other side responds. Our demand letter service covers this.
4. Use the official channels in parallel, described in section 5.
5. Secure what you still control: remove the person's access to other systems, change shared passwords, and end their email access, following your HR procedure.

5. Which official recovery channels exist?

We describe only channels we could verify. None guarantees a result.

• Facebook Page in a Business Manager or without admin. Meta's guidance says to look for the former employee or agency, who can check whether one of their Business Managers owns the Page. They can remove the Page from it, and you add it to yours. Meta does not disclose who the admins are. If nobody can be found, Meta offers a Page release request: the person filing must be a Page admin in your organisation, not an agency consultant. It needs a government photo ID matching the admin's name and a signed certificate on company letterhead describing the relationship to the Page. Meta states it can take from 2 weeks to 6 months and that the information must be verifiable from outside sources. If the Page is linked to a business Instagram account, Meta says to switch it to personal first.
• Trademark or copyright infringement. Meta has a Trademark Report Form for a registered trademark (one trademark per report; registration number and a link or certificate needed) and a separate copyright form. These are for infringing use of a mark or content. We did not find that they decide who administers the Page, so do not rely on them alone.
• LINE OA. Another Administrator can add you or change permissions. If no Administrator will act, contact LINE support through the help centre. We found no published self-service ownership transfer.
• Domain. THNIC and the registrar or reseller, using the written requests described in section 2.

6. Which legal angles apply?

Breach of contract. If the agency or employee agreed to hand over accounts at the end of the engagement, refusal is a breach. A written clause, a fixed deadline and a demand letter put you in the strongest position. Remedies depend on the contract and the facts; ask a lawyer about enforcement and damages. See also software contracts and source code, where the same hand-over logic applies.

Employee duties. Work accounts set up as part of a job are normally done for the employer. Whether a particular refusal also justifies discipline or dismissal depends on the facts; see employee dismissal rights and, for employers, labour court defence. Note that a private-looking account can still carry company customers and data, which raises the PDPA issues in PDPA for HR.

Computer-Related Crime Act (as amended, unofficial MDES translation).

• Section 5: illegally accessing a computer system that has specific security measures not intended for your use. Up to 6 months, a fine of up to 10,000 baht, or both.
• Section 7: the same for computer data. Up to 2 years, a fine of up to 40,000 baht, or both.
• Section 9: illegally damaging, deleting, altering or adding to another person's computer data. Up to 5 years, a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both.

These sections cut both ways. If a former employee deletes Page content or locks you out, a lawyer may consider them. Equally, if your company logs in using a former employee's credentials without clear authority, the company or its staff may be exposed. Whether any particular act is an offence depends on the facts and on who is treated as the lawful holder of the account at the time. We advise using official recovery and legal process instead of self-help.

7. How do you prevent this?

1. Own the structure. Create a Meta Business portfolio (Business Manager) in the company's name and attach the Page to it.
2. Two company admins at least. Use two senior staff, never a single employee or the agency alone. Give agencies partial control only.
3. Domain under the company. The company is the holder, an authorised officer is the contact, and renewals go to a shared company mailbox.
4. LINE OA with two Administrators and company emails, not personal ones.
5. Contract clause. Ownership of accounts, content and data; agency acts as administrator; admin rights returned within a fixed number of days; credential register; return on termination. Have these drafted through contracts and documents.
6. Offboarding checklist. Remove access on the last day, using the HR documents your company already uses.
7. Register the brand. A registered mark also supports a .co.th domain and Meta's trademark reporting. See trademark registration and our intellectual property practice.

8. Checklist

1. List every account: Page, LINE OA, domain, website host, email, ad accounts.
2. For each, record who holds admin rights and whose name is on the record.
3. Collect invoices, contracts and registrations.
4. Add a second company admin wherever you still can.
5. Send a written demand with a deadline.
6. Start the official recovery channel in parallel.
7. Do not use someone else's password.
8. Revise contracts and offboarding.

Further reading

• Who owns the brand? Trademark and IP ownership when you incorporate
• AI policy and customer data for employees
• Registering a trademark in Thailand
• Software development contract and source code
• Is a verbal agreement enforceable?

The person with admin access is not automatically the owner, so prove ownership with your records, ask in writing, use the platform's official recovery channel, and avoid logging in with someone else's credentials.

We help Thai companies prepare demand letters, handover agreements and offboarding documents. Initial consultation is free — call +66 92 254 2045 or send us the details. See also demand letters, contracts and documents, trademark registration and HR documents.

This guide is published by Suwanvara Law Firm — a Khon Kaen law firm established in 1986. General information only, not legal advice on a specific matter.