Obtaining a work permit in Thailand
Requires a company to comply with capital, fiscal, salary and employment standards.
The Thai Alien Employment Act lays down the process, which can seem complicated but has the objective to protect the Thai labor force and include only skilled foreigners in the kingdom’s market. .
The first step in obtaining a work permit is to have a Non-immigrant Visa (Business Visa). The second issue is the nature of the work: Foreigners must be aware that they are only allowed to perform work that does not violate the Alien Employment Act (there is a list of professions prohibited for foreigners).
In general, foreigners are not allowed to perform labor work and some skilled jobs that have an extensive Thai work force such as architects, doctors etc. Once we have verified that the position is allowed we have to comply with company financial requirement set out by Thai regulations:
Capital and fiscal requirements
- Capital must be at least 2 million baht (fully paid) for each foreign employee hired
- Alternatively the Company can hire one foreigner if its total corporate income tax payment had been at least 5 million Baht for the past three years.
- if the Company is engaged in export, a revenue equal to 3 million Baht of sales outside Thailand can be used as an alternative to the capital requirements. An additional foreigner can be hired for every 3 million baht of sales, with a maximum of 3 foreigners.
Thai/ foreigner ratio
- The employer has at least 5 Thai employees per each employee up to a maximum of 5 foreign employees.
Salary requirements
| Country | Salary |
|---|---|
| Canada, Japan, United States | 60,000 THB |
| Europe (incl. UK) Australia2 | 50,000 THB |
| Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan | 45,000 THB |
| China, India, Indonesia, Middle East, Philippines | 35,000 THB |
| Africa, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam | 25,000 THB |
| Persons working for newspapers in Thailand | 20,000 THB |
The work permit application can be summarized in the following documentation:
- Work permit form by issued by Thai’s labor department
- Invitation letter from the employer duly signed by the Director with company stamp.
- Full set of Company documents (affidavit, shareholder list, certificate of incorporation)
- Financial report of the previous 3 years of activity. If we are applying for a NewCo, we must notify the labor department with a formal letter, duly signed by the authorized Director.
- Evidence of the employee’s personal income tax payments or Withholding tax form.
- Cleary show the work place and address(map and photo).
- Employee’s valid Passport copy, signed on every page, including the visa page.
- A recent medical certificate.
- Employee’s Photos.
- Degree copy of the employee and related qualification. The documents must be in English or else have to be translated and certified by the referenced embassy.