Legal Requirements for Working in Thailand

To work in Thailand legally, you must have a work permit.

This section of Thailand Guru is written mainly for people who wish to do business themselves in Thailand and/or start their own company in Thailand.

Someone coming to Thailand under sponsorship of a company should be properly guided by that company, and so Thailand Guru puts more emphasis on helping entrepreneurial people. Nonetheless, the basics are covered here and if your company isn't doing things right, it should be readily apparent from reading this section.



If you are coming to Thailand for the purpose of working, then your employer should apply for a work permit for you, and you should come on a nonimmigrant visa, normally a nonimmigrant B for business employment. Your employer would send a letter for you to present to the Thai embassy or consulate in your own country when you apply for your nonimmigrant B visa. Your employer should take care of most everything and instruct you.

If you wish to start your own business, then you can obtain a work permit for yourself by setting up a company. Details are in the section on Setting Up a Company. In short, you can enter Thailand on any kind of visa, and after you set up your company, your company can create the letter on its letterhead using its official address, you exit Thailand and apply for a nonimmigrant B visa based on this letter plus a copy of your company's official paperwork, and then you enter Thailand again on this nonimmigrant B visa and apply for the work permit.

Actually, it is fairly easy to get a non-immigrant B (business) visa from a Thai consulate or embassy in your home country by just an invitation letter from an established company in Thailand. However, applications by westerners for a non-immigrant B visa from a Thai consulate or embassy in an Asian country (except Australia or New Zealand) are generally refused unless you have all the proper company documentation.

You can get a multiple entry visa from your home country, as discussed in the visa section. This is good enough to get by for a year, though you must exit Thailand and re-enter every 3 months.

The processes of setting up a company and getting a work permit are discussed on our partner website, www.ThailandCompany.com whereby we set up companies and processed work permits for foreigners before, and can still help with that or else recommend a particular other entity to help you.

Once you get a work permit, then you can extend your stay in Thailand without needing to do visa runs if you meet the minimum salary requirements (in addition to other requirements) and pay your taxes. These minimum salary requirements were updated on October 1, 2006 and are:


Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, USA 50,000 baht/month (US $1,400 in Dec 2006)
Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan 45,000 baht/month

Other Asian Countries not listed, Central and
South America, eastern Europe, Mexico, Russia,
South Africa, and Turkey 35,000 baht/month

Africa, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam 25,000 baht/month

Notably, USA, Japan, and Canada salary requirements were previously set to 60,000 baht/month in 2004 but were reduced in 2006. There was previously an exemption for foreigners working for Thai newspapers, but I don't see that mentioned anymore.

Between Thailand and your home country (or possibly the multinational company's), there is the issue of double taxation. You should also see the section on Income Tax and resolve legal matters with your employer or your overseas associates so that you are not heavily double-taxed, i.e., so that you don't pay full income tax in both Thailand and your home country, or to your employer's home country.

Those who are coming to work for someone else should have a contract with their employer prior to arriving, and it should spell out your employer's support for your presence in Thailand as well as tax matters. Foreigners have arrived here and experienced disappointments and difficulties with both employers and officialdom, as well as achieving clarification on details later rather than sooner.

As is commonly discussed in social circles, many people have worked illegally in Thailand for trusted employers, usually for a short time, and have no complaints. On the other hand, there are countless reports by people who come here and do work for people they don't know, who in turn refuse to pay them in full or part. Without a work permit or a company (plus written communications or witnesses or other proof of the work), these people have no legal leg to stand on, and in fact can get into some trouble by telling the authorities that they worked illegally (it depends on the situation and the particular authorities). This is not uncommon.

The usual penalty for working in Thailand in a blatantly illegal way is summary deportation. Immigration officials may bring you to your hotel or apartment to collect whatever things you wish to bring with you, and then bring you to the airport. You can also be detained by immigration until you make some of your own arrangements. All of this depends on the overall situation.

The best known cases of this happening were "guided". (There are various ways to find out information in Thailand such as who did what to whom. At a certain level, "There are no secrets, just illusions [of secrets].")

It is always best to do things the right way and know the right people.
Also, don't make enemies, do bad things, or associate with the wrong kinds of people. There are at least 2 sides to every story.

There is a lot of discussion on working in Thailand in the aforementioned section on Setting Up a Company. Though it is mainly applicable to entrepreneurs, it has some useful information for people who come to Thailand as employees.

If you are an employee, then you should expect your employer to be up to date on all pertinent matters and to keep you abreast, and you should double-check them.