Employer of Record in Thailand: 16 Providers Compared (2026)

Employing someone in Thailand: key facts

Thai employment rules sit in the Labour Protection Act (LPA). Section numbers below follow an unofficial translation of the 1998 text that omits amendments No. 2-9 (source, checked 2026-10-05).

Minimum wage

The National Wage Committee sets the rate per province or area, in THB per day. The law sets no monthly figure.

The rate in force is Wage Committee Notification No. 14 (dated 2025-06-17, published 2025-07-01); no newer notification was found. Zone lists come from secondary sources, not the Royal Gazette text.

Employer contributions

• The employee pays a separate 5% to SSF. The SSF base steps to THB 20,000 from 2029-01-01 (maximum THB 1,000) and THB 23,000 from 2032-01-01 (THB 1,150), as scheduled.
• The Workmen’s Compensation class for software or office work was not confirmed, so it is outside the totals on this page.
• There is no mandatory employer pension and no 13th-month contribution.

Working hours and overtime

• Ordinary hours: up to 8 a day and 48 a week; 7 and 42 for work harmful to health (s.23). Break of at least 1 hour after 5 consecutive hours (s.27); at least 1 weekly rest day (s.28).
• Overtime on a working day: at least 1.5x hourly wage, with the employee’s consent each time except continuous work or emergencies (s.61, s.24).
• Work on a holiday: at least 1x for monthly-paid staff (2x if not entitled to holiday pay, s.62); overtime on a holiday at least 3x (s.63).
• Staff with managerial powers get no overtime pay (s.65(1)).

Source: LPA translation, checked 2026-10-05.

Annual leave and public holidays

• At least 6 paid working days a year after 1 year of continuous service (s.30, s.56).
• At least 13 traditional holidays a year, including 1 May, announced in advance by the employer and paid at the normal daily wage (s.29, s.56).

Source: LPA translation, checked 2026-10-05.

Notice and severance

• Open-ended contract: written notice on or before a pay date, to end at the next pay date; not more than 3 months, or wages in lieu (s.17). No notice for dismissal for cause (s.119).
• Redundancy through machinery change: 60 days’ notice or wages, plus severance (s.121).

Source: LPA s.118 as amended by Act No. 7, effective 2019-05-05 (LPA translation; Forvis Mazars), checked 2026-10-05. The 300-day tier is inferred from the amendment summary, not read in a consolidated text. Not payable on s.119 grounds.

13th salary and bonuses

Not mandatory under the LPA; contractual and customary only (Chambers Employment 2025, checked 2026-10-05).

Mandatory benefits

• Paid sick leave up to 30 working days a year (s.57); up to 3 paid business-leave days.
• Maternity leave 120 days, 60 paid by the employer (Act No. 9, from 2025-12-07; previously 98 and 45). Paternity leave up to 15 days at full wages.
• Employers with 10+ employees file a disclosure form each January.
• Health and social benefits come through SSF.

Source: Khonsu Legal, checked 2026-10-05.

Work permits

• A foreigner needs a work permit and a Non-Immigrant B or other work visa (Decree B.E. 2560).
• Employer tests reported by advisor sources, not the Department of Employment: THB 2 million paid-up capital per foreign employee (THB 3 million if foreign-majority-owned), 4 Thai SSF-registered staff per foreigner, at most 10 permits per company. BOI-promoted companies are exempt.
• Applications go through the e-Work Permit system. Whether an EOR can sponsor a permit is not confirmed.

Source: Acclime, checked 2026-10-05.

Currency and payroll

• Payroll runs in Thai baht (THB). Wages must be paid at least once a month; wages on termination are due within 3 days (s.70, LPA translation, checked 2026-10-05).
• 1 USD = 33.595 THB, a cross rate from the ECB reference rates of 2026-10-02 (ECB, checked 2026-10-05).

Is Employer of Record legal in Thailand?

Allowed with limits. No EOR-specific statute or licence was found. Forvis Mazars analyses EOR arrangements through Supreme Court Judgment No. 4970/2552: courts look at who has authority over the employee and the duty to pay wages, and held the provider that kept the power to terminate to be the legal employer (Forvis Mazars, checked 2026-10-05).

The rules that bound the model:

• LPA s.11/1. Where an entrepreneur entrusts a person to recruit workers for part of its business, the entrepreneur is deemed the employer, and those workers must get benefits equal to directly hired staff. Fine up to THB 100,000 (Tilleke, checked 2026-10-05).
• Foreign Business Act. A Thai company is a “foreigner” if foreigners hold at least half its shares (s.4); “other service businesses” on List Three need permission (s.8(3)). EOR providers are therefore normally Thai-majority or BOI-promoted (DSI, checked 2026-10-05).

Risks for the client:

• Joint liability. Courts can hold both provider and client liable, and favour the Thai-present provider because no other party is there to claim against.
• s.11/1 applied. The client is then deemed the employer. No source we found shows a court applying s.11/1 to an EOR rather than a labour-supply subcontractor.
• Foreign-majority entity without a licence, or a nominee structure. Up to 3 years’ imprisonment or a THB 100,000-1,000,000 fine for the nominee and the foreigner, plus a court order to stop the business (s.36-37).
• Foreign staff without a valid permit. THB 10,000-100,000 per worker on a first offence; repeat offences carry up to 1 year’s imprisonment, THB 50,000-200,000 per worker and a 3-year hiring ban. A nationwide enforcement sweep began in May 2026 (PD Legal, checked 2026-10-05).

Who actually employs your hire in Thailand

Thailand-specific evidence here is of two kinds: the vendor’s own statement, and a registry name match. The DBD DataWarehouse is login-protected, so matches come from a public mirror of the DBD register (data.creden.co), which shows name, number, date, capital and activity type but not shareholders. A name match shows that a Thai company of that name exists, not who owns it or whether it holds a Foreign Business Licence.

Seven of the 16 don’t say whether Thailand is served by their own entity or a partner’s, and five more vendors are left out of the table because their pages do not confirm EOR in Thailand. For the Foreign Business Act this matters: a foreign-majority entity needs a licence. Before signing, ask: “What is your Thai entity’s registered name, and does it hold a Foreign Business Licence or BOI promotion?”

How to choose an EOR in Thailand

Does the hire need a Thai work permit? No vendor page in our data confirms its EOR can sponsor one. Deel’s guide says the visa and permit are sponsored by the client’s own Thai entity; Atlas gives 3-7 months where immigration is involved. Plan for your own entity or get the provider’s written answer first.

Do you want the entity named? Deel, Playroll, Multiplier, Pebl and G-P have a Thai company by name in the register mirror; Remote, Native Teams, Rivermate and Atlas state their own-entity model. If entity evidence is the priority, start from these nine and ask for the registered name.

Price or completeness? Skuad shows $199 a month on its Thailand page, but states no entity. Deel ($599) and Remote ($699) cost more and give some entity evidence. Prices are mostly global list prices, so ask for a Thailand quote.

How fast? Deel says a hire can start in as little as 3 days, Playroll 1-5 days, Rivermate 2-5 days, Atlas 5-10 business days where right to work is in place, Safeguard as little as two weeks. These are vendor claims; Remote adds 3 days for a right-to-work assessment for non-nationals.

What it costs to employ someone in Thailand through an EOR

The EOR is the legal employer, so Social Security applies at its standard rate and the Employee Welfare Fund applies unless the EOR runs a provident fund; whether a given EOR is exempt is unknown. Figures below are for Bangkok, an IT or office role, 2026, with no small-employer relief.

Source: Baker McKenzie, checked 2026-10-05. FX: 1 USD = 33.595 THB (ECB cross rate, 2026-10-02). The Welfare Fund is shown for a full year as a simplification; because it starts on 2026-10-01, the actual 2026 cost would be three months of it. Workmen’s Compensation would add THB 480-2,400 per employee per year (rate for office work not confirmed). Severance, leave pay and voluntary insurance are excluded. SSF’s maximum employer contribution rose from THB 9,000 to THB 10,500 a year on 2026-01-01.

The EOR’s own fee is on top. In our table, list prices run from $99 per month (Native Teams) to $699 per month (Remote, Oyster), almost all of them global rather than Thailand-specific. Skuad’s Thailand page shows $199 (from $349); Atlas HXM’s page quotes a market range of $300-800. Prices are all per employee per month, in USD unless marked; Rivermate’s Thailand table lists EUR 299.

Hidden costs, where published: Rivermate says it charges no onboarding or offboarding costs and Boundless no setup fees, both as global claims. No vendor publishes a deposit, minimum term or termination fee for Thailand; where the field is blank, treat it as unpublished, not zero.

When you don’t need an EOR

• A genuinely independent contractor. If the person runs their own work and serves other clients, a contractor avoids Thai Social Security, leave and severance. If the relationship looks like employment, see contractor misclassification.
• Your own Thai entity. Playroll’s Thailand guide puts setting up your own entity at 1-3 months, and notes that foreign-majority companies need a Foreign Business Licence or BOI promotion for most services. It is also the route to plan for if the hire needs a work permit, since the capital and Thai-staff tests apply to the sponsoring employer and EOR sponsorship is unconfirmed.
• PEO. A PEO shares employment with you rather than replacing the employer; see EOR vs PEO, PEO and co-employment.

What changed in 2026

• 2026-01-01 — Social Security wage base rises from THB 15,000 to THB 17,500 a month; the employer maximum goes from THB 750 to THB 875. Next steps, as scheduled: THB 20,000 from 2029-01-01 and THB 23,000 from 2032-01-01 (DLA Piper, checked 2026-10-05).
• 2026-01-01 — No change to the minimum wage; Notification No. 14 (Bangkok THB 400 a day) stays in force.
• 2025-12-07 — LPA Act No. 9 in force: 120-day maternity leave (employer pays 60), 15 days’ paternity leave at full wages, and an annual disclosure form for employers with 10+ employees (Khonsu Legal, checked 2026-10-05).
• 2026-05 — The Department of Employment begins a nationwide sweep against foreign workers without valid permits and their employers (PD Legal, checked 2026-10-05).
• 2026-07-01 — A temporary work permit (Bor Tor 62) is introduced for non-BOI employers using the e-Work Permit system; online filing is reported as mandatory from 2026-07-28 (Silk Legal, checked 2026-10-05). Other sources give different start dates.
• 2026-10-01 — Employee Welfare Fund contributions start: 0.25% employer and 0.25% employee, rising to 0.50% each from 2031-10-01. No further postponement was announced as of 2026-10-05 (Baker McKenzie, checked 2026-10-05).

Numbers vendors haven’t updated

• Deel’s guide gives Bangkok minimum wage as THB 363 a day (from 2024-01-01) and the Social Security cap as THB 750 a month. Current: THB 400 a day from 2025-07-01 (PKF Thailand) and THB 875 a month from 2026-01-01 (Baker McKenzie).
• Pebl’s Thailand page cites minimum wages of THB 328-354 a day, the range from 2022-10-01. Current: THB 337-400 across 17 area tiers, Bangkok THB 400 (FlowAccount). All checked 2026-10-05.

How we built this page

Data was collected and checked on 2026-10-05 against the Labour Protection Act text, law-firm alerts and Thai government pages. Entities were checked against the Thai company register where possible: the DBD DataWarehouse could not be queried, so five providers’ records come from a public mirror of it that does not show shareholders; every other entity claim is the vendor’s own statement. Providers that state or evidence an own Thai entity come first, then those that don’t disclose it. Nobody pays for placement.