Employer of record in Thailand: the real cost in 2026

EOR, own company or contractor?

There are three ways to work with someone in Thailand. Each one fits a different case.

Employer of record

The EOR's Thai company employs the person, registers them with the Social Security Office and runs the payroll. For a foreign employee, it supports the Non-B visa and the work permit. You need no Thai company.SSO, Social Security Act B.E. 2533 (English), Royal Thai Embassy, Non-B visa for employment (PDF)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Your own Thai company

Your Thai company employs the person directly. To support a Non-B visa, the company shows its registration, a registered capital of at least THB 2 million, its shareholders and its tax returns.Royal Thai Embassy, Non-B visa for employment (PDF)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Contractor

The Labour Protection Act treats a person who works for an employer in return for wages as an employee, whatever the name of the contract. A contract of employment can be written or oral.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Compare an EOR with a PEO, your own company and a contractor.

Read how to hire international employees.

Read how a contractor of record works.

Contract labour and foreign staff

An EOR is the legal employer, but the person works for you. Thai law has rules for workers who do the work of another business.

Fair benefits for contract workers

When a business has someone recruit workers for part of its own operations, and this is not an employment service, the business counts as the employer of those workers. It must give them fair benefits and welfare, with no discrimination against its own employees.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Joint liability

When the employer is a subcontractor, the contractors before it are also liable for the wages, overtime, severance and contributions of its employees.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Foreign employees

A foreigner enters on a Non-B visa and must get a work permit from the Department of Employment within 90 days. The Thai company that employs them needs registered capital of at least THB 2 million.Royal Thai Embassy, Non-B visa for employment (PDF)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Employers of record

No Thai law that we read names employers of record or gives them a licence. Ask the provider which company employs the person, who owns it, and which licences it holds.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018)Checked 22 Oct 2026

No provider in our table names a Thai licence. Deel and Remote say that they employ through their own Thai company. RemoFirst and Papaya Global use a local partner.

Ask each provider these questions before you sign:

• Which company employs the person: your own Thai company or a partner? Who owns it?
• Can that company support a Non-B visa and a work permit for our employee?
• Under which type of business does the company pay the Workmen's Compensation Fund, and at what rate?
• Does your fee include a provident fund or private health insurance?

These rules are complex. Ask a Thai employment lawyer how they apply to your case.

Compare an EOR with a staffing agency.

Sources: Deel blog, EOR in Thailand (17 Jul 2026), Remote Thailand page, RemoFirst pricing, Papaya Global Thailand pageChecked 21 Oct 2026

Employment rules

Contract and work rules

A contract of employment can be written or oral. An employer with 10 or more employees publishes work rules in Thai within 15 days.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Working hours

At most 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week, or 7 and 42 for work that is harmful to health. Overtime and holiday work together are at most 36 hours a week.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Overtime and holiday pay

Overtime on a working day pays at least 1.5 times the hourly wage. Work on a holiday pays at least 1 more hourly wage for staff paid on holidays, or 2 times for others. Overtime on a holiday pays at least 3 times.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Annual leave

At least 6 working days after 1 year of service. In the first year, the employer may give leave in proportion to the time worked.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Public holidays

At least 13 a year, including National Labour Day. A holiday that falls on a weekly rest day moves to the next working day.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Sick leave

Leave for as long as the employee is sick. The employer pays up to 30 working days a year, and may ask for a medical certificate from 3 days.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Personal leave

At least 3 working days a year for necessary business, with pay.Ministry of Labour, Labour Protection Act (No. 7) B.E. 2562 (Thai, Royal Gazette of 5 Apr 2019)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Maternity and paternity leave

Since 7 December 2025: 120 days of maternity leave, with 60 days paid by the employer. 15 days of paternity leave at full pay. 15 more days to care for a child who is sick or has a disability, at 50% pay.Ministry of Labour, 120-day maternity leave law now in force (18 Jan 2026)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Probation

The law sets no probation period. A probation contract counts as a contract with no fixed end. Severance applies from 120 days of service.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Notice period

Written notice on or before a pay day ends the contract on the next pay day, with at most 3 months of notice. The employer may pay the wages for the notice period instead. Final pay is due within 3 days.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Severance

When the employer ends the job after 120 days of service: 30 days of the last wage, then 90, 180, 240 and 300 days with longer service, and 400 days after 20 years. There is no severance for a dismissal for serious cause, such as dishonesty or 3 days of absence with no reason.DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018), Ministry of Labour, Labour Protection Act (No. 7) B.E. 2562 (Thai, Royal Gazette of 5 Apr 2019)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Minimum wage

THB 337 to THB 400 a day, by province, from 1 July 2025. THB 400 in Bangkok, Chachoengsao, Chonburi, Phuket, Rayong and Koh Samui, and for hotels and service establishments in every province.Ministry of Labour, minimum wage (Thai), Ministry of Labour, Minimum Wage Notification No. 14, English translation (PDF)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Payroll and taxes

The employer, or the EOR, withholds personal income tax from each salary and files form PND 1 within 7 days after the end of the month of payment. The Revenue Department's guide gives 8 more days for filing online. Thai tax applies to pay for work in Thailand, even when it is paid abroad.

Each month, the employer pays 5% to the Social Security Fund and deducts the same from the employee, on monthly pay from THB 1,650 to THB 17,500. It pays by the 15th of the next month, and registers new employees within 30 days.

The employer pays the Workmen's Compensation Fund once a year, in January, on its estimate of the year's wages. In February, it reports the wages that it paid in the past year. A new table of rates applies from 1 January 2027: for temporary employment services (code 78200), the rate falls from 0.3% to 0.2%.

Employers with 10 or more employees and no provident fund will also pay 0.25% of wages to the Employee Welfare Fund, and deduct the same from the employee. On 14 October 2026, the Cabinet agreed to move the start from 1 October 2026 to 1 January 2027. The rate rises to 0.5% from 2032. Our estimate leaves it out until the official text is in the Royal Gazette.

Read how payroll works through an EOR.

Sources: Revenue Department, Revenue Code, Chapter 3 (English), Revenue Department, guide to form PND 1 (Thai, PDF), SSO, Social Security Act B.E. 2533 (English), SSO, Ministerial Regulation on the wage base B.E. 2568 (Thai, Royal Gazette of 12 Dec 2025), SSO, WCF notification of 21 Feb 2019, rates by business code (Thai), SSO, WCF notification (No. 2) of 11 Sep 2026, rates from 1 Jan 2027 (Thai, Royal Gazette of 6 Oct 2026), InfoQuest, Cabinet moves the start of the Employee Welfare Fund to 1 Jan 2027 (Thai, 14 Oct 2026)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Payroll in Thailand: an EOR or a local payroll company?

A local payroll company calculates and pays the salaries, but it does not employ the person. The employer registers with the Social Security Office and withholds the tax. For a foreign employee, a Thai company must support the visa and the work permit.

Registration

An employer files the employer and employee registration forms with the Social Security Office within 30 days from the day that the employees become insured.SSO, Social Security Act B.E. 2533 (English)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Tax on pay for work in Thailand

Pay for work in Thailand is taxable there, whether it is paid in Thailand or abroad.Revenue Department, Revenue Code, Chapter 3 (English)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Foreign employees

The Non-B visa needs documents from a Thai company: its registration with registered capital of at least THB 2 million, its shareholders and its tax returns.Royal Thai Embassy, Non-B visa for employment (PDF)Checked 22 Oct 2026

So to hire a foreign employee yourself, your company needs its own Thai company, and a payroll company can then run the payroll. Without one, an EOR employs the person for you. Ask a tax adviser if an employee in Thailand creates a taxable presence (a permanent establishment) for your company.

Read how staff abroad can create a permanent establishment.

Sources: SSO, Social Security Act B.E. 2533 (English), Revenue Department, Revenue Code, Chapter 3 (English), Royal Thai Embassy, Non-B visa for employment (PDF)Checked 22 Oct 2026

Benefits

The law requires the Social Security Fund, which pays for sickness, maternity, old age and unemployment, and the Workmen's Compensation Fund, which pays for injuries at work. It also requires paid annual leave, sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, and severance.

The Social Security Act and the Workmen's Compensation Act do not require a provident fund or private health insurance. Ask the provider which extra benefits its fee includes.

Read what an EOR gives you and your staff.

Sources: SSO, Social Security Act B.E. 2533 (English), SSO, Workmen's Compensation Act B.E. 2537 (English), DLPW, Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, English text of Feb 2014 (archive copy of 17 Apr 2018), Ministry of Labour, 120-day maternity leave law now in force (18 Jan 2026)Checked 22 Oct 2026

How hiring through an EOR works

1. Compare providers and ask for quotesAsk for the monthly fee in Thailand, the deposit, the visa and work permit costs, and the notice period of the EOR contract. Ask which company will employ the person.
2. Agree the employment termsAgree the yearly salary, the start date, the leave and any probation with the candidate. Severance applies from 120 days of service.
3. The EOR registers the employeeThe EOR becomes the legal employer and registers the employee with the Social Security Office. For a foreign employee, it supports the Non-B visa and the work permit.
4. The EOR runs the payrollEach month, the EOR pays the salary, withholds the income tax and pays the Social Security Fund.
5. You manage the daily workYou set the tasks and the goals. The EOR handles the employment administration.

Read how to check an EOR provider before you sign.

Read which terms to check in an EOR contract.

Sources: SSO, Social Security Act B.E. 2533 (English), Royal Thai Embassy, Non-B visa for employment (PDF)Checked 22 Oct 2026