How to pay contractors in Thailand

How to choose: paying contractors in Thailand

Five questions settle the choice. Take them in order: the first firm answer usually decides the platform type.

1. Does the contractor want baht on arrival, or foreign currency to hold?

• Baht. A transfer converted at the mid-market rate lands in the contractor’s Thai bank account. Wise caps each transfer at THB 2,000,000 to Kasikorn and Bangkok Bank, THB 1,499,999 to Siam Commercial and THB 500,000 to other banks (Wise help, checked 2026-10-07).
• Foreign currency. A SWIFT wire lands in a THB or FCD account, and the bank charges to credit it: Krungsri’s schedule shows 0.25%, THB 200 minimum and THB 500 maximum (Krungsri, effective 1 July 2026). The Bank of Thailand’s 360-day sell-or-deposit rule applies only from USD 1 million (bot.or.th, checked 2026-10-07).

If the contractor spends in baht, use a rail that converts at or near mid-market and pays out locally. If they hold dollars, a SWIFT wire to an FCD account works.

2. Do you need a contract and closing documents behind every payment?

The contractor needs them even if you don’t: a Thai resident files PND 90 by 31 March, or 8 April online (PwC, reviewed 2026-08-24), and contract, invoices and bank credits back it. Banks also ask for supporting documents from USD 200,000 unless they have run KYB on the customer.

If finance, an auditor or investors expect a contract, invoice and payment record per payout in one export, choose a contractor platform that generates them. If you only need the money to arrive, a transfer service is enough and costs less.

3. Percentage fee or per-seat subscription?

A flat fee S beats a percentage p once the monthly invoice exceeds S ÷ p: a USD 29 seat against 3% breaks even at about USD 967, or THB 32,500 at 33.60; a USD 40 seat at about USD 1,333, or THB 44,800.

If you pay a few contractors large monthly invoices, per-seat pricing usually wins. If you pay many small or irregular invoices, a percentage fee with no subscription costs less.

4. Is the contractor a foreigner living in Thailand?

Thai law defines work as using physical energy or knowledge, paid or not (Tilleke & Gibbins, July 2017). The Destination Thailand Visa covers remote workers and freelancers, but holders may not work for Thai companies or freelance for Thai clients (Royal Thai Embassy, Budapest, checked 2026-10-07).

If the contractor is a Thai national, this drops out. If a foreigner serves only foreign clients, the DTV fits. If they would also serve Thai clients, they need a work permit.

5. How close is the role to a job?

The Labour Protection Act treats an agreement, written, oral or implied, to work for wages as an employment contract (unofficial translation, checked 2026-10-07). Severance after one to three years is at least 90 days of wages, and the IP default flips: in employment the author keeps copyright unless agreed in writing (Copyright Act, s. 9). See our hiring guide.

If the contractor works on deliverables, sets their own hours and has other clients, a payout service or contractor platform is enough. If the engagement is long, full-time and run on your team’s schedule, choose a platform with a Contractor of Record tier. 4dev acts as Contractor of Record — the contracting party for each contractor — which reduces reclassification risk. Other providers also sign with the contractor as the counterparty; read the liability clause in the COR contract, not the product name. If the person is really an employee, use an Employer of Record; Deel, Multiplier and Remote run contractors and EOR in one account.

Quick map

Payout rails that work in Thailand in 2026

Sources: Wise fees and speed (wise.com); Wise limits and bank exclusions (Wise help); Krungsri (fee schedule, effective 1 July 2026); PromptPay (bot.or.th); documents threshold (bot.or.th). All checked 2026-10-07.

PromptPay is where a Thai contractor’s own domestic payments run, not a way in from abroad. Wise’s Thailand page and THB guide list bank-account delivery, and neither mentions PromptPay for sending baht. Krungsri’s schedule does show a PromptPay link for transfers from Singapore, free to receive, which helps a payer based there.

Currency rules govern what a contractor must do with large receipts, not whether an invoice arrives. Anyone receiving foreign currency from abroad worth USD 1 million or more must repatriate within 360 days and sell it to an authorised bank or deposit it in a foreign-currency account (bot.or.th, checked 2026-10-07). Below that, no sell-or-deposit rule applies.

What the contractor needs

A Thai contractor is usually an individual, who registers as one on a platform such as Mellow rather than as a company (Mellow help, checked 2026-10-07). A Thai national’s 13-digit national ID number is also their tax ID, so no separate application is needed (lookuptax.com, checked 2026-10-07). They need a bank account in their own name, in baht or an FCD account if you pay dollars, and they issue an invoice for each payment. A foreigner living in Thailand needs the right visa; the Destination Thailand Visa allows remote work for foreign clients but not for Thai ones (Royal Thai Embassy, Budapest, checked 2026-10-07). Classification, tax routes and contract terms are in our hiring guide.

Documents and tax on the payer’s side

Withholding. The Thai withholding rules we found apply to Thai businesses paying freelancers: a fixed 3% for general services and 5% for professional ones, reported on forms PND 3 or PND 53 (Grata International, January 2026). We found no Thai rule that makes a foreign company without a Thai entity withhold. If you pay from abroad, the return is the contractor’s: PND 90 by 31 March (8 April online) (PwC, reviewed 2026-08-24). Ask a Thai adviser if you have a Thai entity or branch.

VAT. The 7% rate runs to 30 September 2027 under Royal Decree No. 807 (Forvis Mazars, August 2026). A contractor registers at THB 1.8 million of turnover, about USD 53,600 at 33.60, and services performed in Thailand but consumed entirely abroad are zero-rated (Forvis Mazars, checked 2026-10-07). The reverse charge on imported services, Form PP 36, falls on a Thai company buying from abroad, so it does not touch you as a foreign payer.

US payers. Collect Form W-8BEN. A foreign person who provides a valid W-8 is exempt from backup withholding and Form 1099 reporting (IRS Publication 515, checked 2026-10-07). Thailand appears on the IRS list of US income tax treaty countries (irs.gov, checked 2026-10-07).

What to keep on file:

1. A signed services agreement with deliverables, rate, currency and an IP clause that names the term.
2. The contractor’s invoice for every payment.
3. Proof of payment showing the amount sent, the amount received and the FX rate.
4. The contractor’s tax ID and, if they invoice above THB 1.8 million, their VAT registration.
5. Form W-8BEN, if you are a US payer.

Where it breaks

• Per-transfer caps and unsupported banks. Wise sends at most THB 500,000 to most banks, about USD 14,900 at 33.60, so a quarterly invoice above that goes in two transfers or by another rail. Banks including Citibank and HSBC have not been supported since May 2025 (Wise help). Check the contractor’s bank before the first payment.
• Fees that eat a small invoice. Crediting a SWIFT wire at Krungsri costs at least THB 200, about USD 6, and the schedule lists a separate SWIFT fee of THB 500 or USD 30 per transfer. On a USD 300 invoice that is a far larger share than on USD 3,000. Send with the sender paying all charges, or use a rail that pays out locally in baht.
• Documents on large remittances. From USD 200,000 a bank asks for supporting documents unless it has already done KYB on the customer (bot.or.th). Send the contract and invoice with a payment of that size. The name on the payment must match the account holder, and Wise also asks for the recipient’s address and the purpose of the transfer. See also AML and KYC.
• Crossing the VAT line. A contractor with several foreign clients can pass THB 1.8 million without noticing, and then must register for VAT within 30 days (Forvis Mazars). Exported services are zero-rated, but the registration, returns and invoicing duties still start.
• A foreign contractor drifting into Thai clients. A DTV holder who takes a Thai client is outside the visa’s remote-work use, whatever your own contract says. Keep your contract limited to your own work and ask the contractor to confirm their status.