The ministry is responsible for trade, prices of important agricultural goods, consumer protection, entrepreneurship, insurance, intellectual property protection, exports, and representing Thailand at the World Trade Organization.

The Ministry of Commerce was established by royal command of King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) on August 20, 1920, by raising the Department of Commerce and Statistics in the Ministry of Finance to a ministry called the Commerce Dissemination Council.

Prince Kitiyakara Voralaksana, the older half-brother of King Vajiravudh was appointed as the first president of the council, with a status equivalent to that of a minister.

The ministry moved to its present premises in Nonthaburi in 1989.

About one-third of that figure is allocated to trade promotion.