COUNTRY

Written Agreements

Thailand's labor law does not mandate that all contracts of employment be concluded in writing. However, all employers who employ more than 20 employees must conclude a "working conditions agreement" with the employees or their union, which must be in writing. The mandatory elements to be included in this contract are the following:

• Employment or working conditions
• Working days and hours of work
• Wages
• Employee welfare benefits to be provided
• Conditions of termination of employment
• Petition procedure for the employee
• Renewal or amendment procedure of the working conditions agreement

In addition, fixed-term contracts must be concluded in writing.

Oral Agreements

The labor law of Thailand allows for the use of oral employment contracts. However, all employers with more than 20 employees must conclude a “working conditions agreement” with employees or their union, which must be in writing. In addition, fixed-term contracts must be concluded in writing. To minimize risk for the employer, it is highly advisable to use written agreements whenever possible.

Implied Agreements

Thailand's Labour Protection Act and Civil and Commercial code refer to the existence of implied employment contracts. However, the law does not describe the circumstances under which an employment contract may be implied. To minimize risk for the employer, it is highly advisable to use written agreements whenever possible.

Thailand's labor law states that a normal working day lasts 8 hours and cannot exceed 9 hours. The total normal working hours per week cannot exceed 42 hours. In instances where the employer and employee have arranged overtime work, the additional work cannot exceed 9 hours daily and 48 hours weekly. The employer must provide a weekly rest period of 1 day per week, and the time between each rest period cannot exceed 6 days.

Employees are entitled to a rest period of 1 hour daily after working continuously for no more than 5 hours. For employees aged less than 18 years, employers are obliged to provide a break of at least 1 hour after continuously working for no more than 4 hours.

1 January: New Year’s Day; Full moon, 3rd Thai lunar month (February): Magha Puja; 6 April: Chakri Memorial Day; 13–15 April: Songkran Festival; 5 May: Coronation Day; May arbitrary date: Royal Ploughing Ceremony and Farmer’s Day; Full moon, 6th Thai lunar month (May): Vesak; Full moon, 8th Thai lunar month (July): Asalha Puja; First waning moon, 8th Thai lunar month (July): Beginning of Vassa; 12 August: The Queen Sirikit’s Birthday; 23 October: King Chulalongkorn Day; 5 December: King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Birthday Anniversary; 10 December; Constitution Day; 31 December: New Year’s Eve.

Thailand's labor law provides that an employee is entitled to annual leave of at least 6 days after working for an uninterrupted period of 1 year with the same employer. Employees are paid at their normal wage rate for the duration of annual leave. The employer must fix the days of leave in advance for the employee or conclude an agreement with the employee regarding the days of leave. The employer and the employee may agree in advance to accumulate any annual leave that has not yet been taken in a year and postpone it to following years.

The employer can choose to provide annual leave on a pro-rata basis for employees who have not completed 1 year of service.

If employees' contract is terminated by the employer before, they must be paid for the unused annual leave for the year.

Under Thailand's employment law, employees are entitled to 30 days of sick leave per year. An employee can take up to 2 consecutive days of sick leave without explanation. If the sick leave period is 3 days or more, the employer can require that the employee produce a certificate from a physician or medical establishment. The law states that employees who do not provide a certificate must give an explanation to the employer.

During an employee's sick leave, the employer must remunerate the employee at their regular pay rate. Employees must be remunerated in the same method as they normally would when working. Employees are entitled to paid sick leave beyond 3 days if they provide a medical certificate.

In Thailand, pregnant employees are entitled to maternity leave of no more than 98 days for each pregnancy. Any maternity leave taken includes holidays that occur during the period of leave. Employers are obligated to pay normal wages to a female employee during the first 45 days of the maternity leave period.

An employer is prohibited from requiring a pregnant employee to work between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM, to work overtime, or to work on holidays. If a pregnant employee works in an executive position, in academic work, in clerical work, or in work relating to finance or accounting, the employer may require the employee to work overtime provided that there is no effect on the employee's health and the employee gives prior consent on each occasion.

Thailand's labor law does not contain any provision regarding paternity leave in the private sector. Government sector employees may receive paid paternity leave of up to 15 consecutive working days, to be taken within 90 days after birth. Any paternity leave that an employer wishes to grant to an employee is arranged through private negotiations. There is no government-mandated paternity leave provision.

Minimum Wage

Thailand's minimum wage varies by province, ranging from THB (Thai Baht) 337 to 400 per day as of 2025, and it is mandatory for all employers, including foreign companies, to comply with these provincial rates. Wages must be paid at least once per month unless otherwise stipulated in favor of the employee.

Overtime, Holiday & Vacation Pay

Thailand's labor law states that an employer cannot require an employee to work overtime unless the employee’s prior consent is obtained on each occasion. However, if the nature of the work requires it to be performed continuously and stoppage may cause damage to machinery, or if it is emergency work, an employer may require an employee to work overtime as necessary.

Any overtime work done by the employee on a working day is to be paid at a rate of no less than 150% of the normal hourly wage. If an employee works overtime on a statutory holiday, the employee is entitled to be paid no less than 300% of their normal hourly wage. Employees who perform (non-overtime) work on a holiday are entitled to be paid no less than 200% of their normal hourly wage.

Employees are entitled to their regular wages during annual leave.

Notice Period

The labor law of Thailand states that where a date of termination is provided in the employment contract, the employer need not give advance notice of dismissal. Where no period of time is specified in the contract of employment, the employer or the employee may terminate the employment contract by providing advance notice in writing to the other party on or before the due date of wage payment for the termination to take effect on the following due date of wage payment. For example, for employees paid on the 5th of each month, notice on or before April 5th is required for termination to be effective on May 5. The advance notice need not be longer than 3 months. In addition, a probationary employment contract is deemed to be an indefinite contract of employment for notice purposes.

An employer is permitted to pay the wages due to the employee during the notice period and immediately dismiss the employee.

Severance Benefits

Thailand's labor law mandates the payment of severance benefits to dismissed employees as follows:

• If the employee has continuously been employed with the employer for more than 120 days, but less than 1 year, they will be entitled to a payment equal to 30 days of wages
• If the employee has continuously been employed with the employer for more than 1 year but less than 3 years, they will be entitled to a payment equal to 90 days of wages
• If the employee has continuously been employed with the employer for more than 3 years, but less than 6 years, they will be entitled to a payment equal to 180 days of wages
• If the employee has continuously been employed with the employer for more than 6 years, but less than 10 years, they will be entitled to a payment equal to 240 days of wages
• If the employee has continuously been employed with the employer for 10 or more years, they will be entitled to a payment equal to 300 days of wages

Pension

In Thailand, the Social Security Fund provides retirement benefits to insured employees at the age of 55 years if they have paid at least 180 months' contributions. Employees may choose to receive the benefits in the form of monthly pensions or lump-sum superannuation gratuity.

The monthly pension is calculated as 20% of the average monthly salary in the last 60 months before retirement, plus 1.5% per year of contributions beyond 180 months. Insured persons who have paid less than 180 contributions are eligible to receive all the contributions paid in a lump sum.

Contributions are made by both employees and employers.

Dependents/Survivors Benefits

The Social Security Fund of Thailand provides benefits to survivors in case of death of an insured person that is not caused by a work-related accident or disease, provided that the deceased had paid contributions for at least 1 month during the 6 months before their death. Survivors of the deceased employee may include their spouse, children, or parents. The following benefits are paid to survivors:

• Funeral expenses up to THB 50,000 (Thai baht)
• Survivors benefits equivalent to 2 months' of the employee's wages if they had paid contributions for 36 months to less than 120 months or 6 months' wages if they had paid contributions for more than 120 months

In case of death that is due to a work-related accident or disease, employers are also obligated to pay monthly pensions to survivors. In this case, the pension paid is 70% of the employee's monthly wages for up to ten years.

Invalidity Benefits

The Social Security Fund of Thailand provides life and disability benefits to the insured persons who have paid contributions for at least 3 months in the 15 months before the onset of disability, provided that the reasons for disability are not work-related. The disability benefits consist of medical expenses, rehabilitation expenses, transportation expenses, and pension.

The benefits received in case of permanent disability are equal to 50% of the wages received by the employee, for a lifetime. For other disabilities, the amount of pension depends on the degree of disability and loss of earnings.

In case of disability caused by a work-related accident or disease, employees are entitled to a pension. For a temporary disability, 70% of the monthly wages of the employee is paid for up to 1 year. For permanent disability, 70% of the monthly wages of the employee is paid for a lifetime.