Thailand
Min. wage
(x12 payments)
฿400 /day
About the minimum wage
Employer tax
Annual leave
6 days
Learn about annual leave
Notice period
1 pay period min
Termination and notice info
Updated
Sep 2026
The default and most common employment arrangement in Thailand is an open-ended (indefinite) contract with no fixed end date. It continues until terminated by either party in accordance with the Labour Protection Act (LPA) B.E. 2541 (1998), including statutory notice, and (where applicable) severance pay requirements. Indefinite contracts give employees full statutory protections, including severance eligibility after 120 days of continuous service.
Fixed-term contracts are permitted for specific projects, seasonal work, or work that is genuinely temporary in nature, with a clearly defined start and end date (or defined scope) agreed in writing before work begins. Fixed-term contracts used for genuinely temporary/project-based work are exempt from certain severance rules if they end on the agreed date. However, if a fixed-term role is repeatedly renewed for ongoing, non-temporary work, Thai courts and labor authorities may deem the position effectively indefinite, triggering standard notice and severance obligations.
Standard working hours are capped at 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week (42 hours/week for hazardous work). Employees are entitled to at least one rest day per week (after no more than 6 consecutive working days) and a daily rest break of at least 1 hour after 5 consecutive hours worked. Overtime requires employee consent and is generally capped at 36 hours per week; overtime pay is 150% of the hourly rate on normal working days, 200%-300% on weekly rest days/public holidays.
Thai law does not mandate a probation period, but employers commonly use one, typically capped at 119 days, because severance-pay obligations begin once an employee completes 120 days of continuous service. Probationary employees have the same statutory rights as permanent employees, including the requirement that termination (for any reason other than the Section 119 'just cause' grounds) still requires at least one pay period's advance notice or pay in lieu; no severance is due if employment ends before the 120-day threshold.
A 13th- or 14th-month salary is not required by Thai law. Many employers nonetheless pay a discretionary annual/year-end bonus (often around the Thai or Western New Year) based on company and individual performance, seniority, or terms set out in an employment contract or collective bargaining agreement. Once a bonus is paid consistently and unconditionally over time, it can become an implied, binding term of employment that employers may not unilaterally withdraw.
Foreign nationals may only be employed in Thailand under a valid work permit, and the job title/duties on the permit must match the actual role performed. The Foreign Business Act and Alien Employment Act reserve dozens of occupations exclusively for Thai nationals (e.g., legal services, accounting, architecture, certain engineering roles, hairdressing/beauty, tour guiding, clerical/secretarial work, and various skilled-labor trades), so foreign hires are generally limited to managerial, executive, technical, or specialist positions not on the restricted list. BOI-promoted companies may have expanded quotas/titles available for foreign staff.
Employers contribute 5% of an employee's monthly wages to the Social Security Fund (SSF), subject to a wage ceiling that is being phased upward from 1 January 2026 (THB 17,500/month for 2026-2028, rising to THB 20,000 for 2029-2031 and THB 23,000 from 2032), capping the maximum monthly SSF contribution at THB 875 during the first phase. Employers separately fund 100% of the Workmen's Compensation Fund (0.2%-1.0% of payroll, based on industry risk classification), which is not included in the 5% figure above.
Employees contribute 5% of monthly wages to the Social Security Fund, withheld and remitted by the employer, subject to the same phased wage ceiling as the employer contribution (max monthly contribution THB 875 for 2026-2028). SSF contributions fund sickness, maternity, disability, death, child allowance, old-age pension, and unemployment benefits. Employees also pay progressive personal income tax (0%-35%) withheld via payroll.
In addition to statutory leave, employees are entitled to the following statutory benefits:
Thailand's Social Security Fund (SSF) is jointly funded by employer, employee, and government contributions on monthly wages.
Contributions apply between a wage floor of THB 1,650/month and a ceiling that is being phased upward starting 1 January 2026: THB 17,500/month for 2026-2028 (max contribution THB 875/month per party), rising to THB 20,000/month for 2029-2031 and THB 23,000/month from 2032 onward. The fund covers sickness, maternity, invalidity, death, child allowance, old-age pension, and unemployment insurance benefits.
Employers must separately fund the Workmen's Compensation Fund (WCF), which provides benefits for work-related injury, illness, disability, or death.
Statutory severance pay under Section 118 of the Labour Protection Act is tiered by length of continuous service and is owed on termination without cause (after at least 120 days of employment):
No severance is owed for under 120 days of service, or when dismissal is for statutory 'just cause' under Section 119 (e.g., dishonesty, intentional damage to the employer, serious misconduct after a written warning, unauthorized absence for 3 consecutive workdays, or imprisonment by final judgment). Additional severance and 60 days' advance notice (or pay in lieu) apply for redundancy caused by relocation or workforce reduction from automation (Sections 120-122).
A 13th-month salary or year-end bonus is not required by Thai law.
P.S. our team speaks multiple languages and we'd love to chat in your preferred language if requested.
Your employee's hours, time off, holidays, bonuses, and commissions are automatically calculated into payroll. RemoFirst will invoice you in either US Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR), British Pounds (GBP), Canadian Dollars (CAD), Australian Dollars (AUD), or Singapore Dollars (SGD) around the 15th of each month to make sure your employees are paid on time. To make it even easier, you can summarize your entire global team's salaries to aggregate them into one payment (instead of many individual payments).
Unlike full-time employees, contractors work on projects with multiple companies at a given time and are technically self-employed. Full-time employees are solely focused on their employer and usually receive benefits (such as health insurance, equity or stock options, and time off) as an additional form of compensation. While it can be cheaper to work with international contractors instead of paying benefits to a full-time employee, you run the risk of misclassification. It's recommended to work with an EOR for contractor onboarding and payments, so you can know that your international contractors are paid compliantly and on time.
Whenever the employee or employer has a question about, or anything else related to international employment, they can speak with our customer support team to get answers from our team of experts.
