Getting a Thailand work permit trips up more foreigners than almost any other piece of paperwork here, mostly because the process runs through two separate government systems (immigration and labour) that both have to line up before you’re legally allowed to earn a baht. This guide walks through who sponsors what, the requirements your employer has to meet, which jobs are off-limits no matter what, and how the DTV, BOI and LTR routes change the picture.
This is general orientation based on current published rules, not legal or immigration advice. Requirements, fees and the reserved-occupation list change, and your situation may have details a guide can’t cover, confirm specifics with your employer, an immigration lawyer, or the Department of Employment before you rely on anything here. Figures use ฿33 = US$1 (July 2026). If you’re weighing whether to come as a remote worker instead of a local hire, read our Thailand DTV visa guide first, the two paths lead to very different legal positions.
Work permit and Non-B visa requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Standard company | Married to a Thai national | BOI-promoted company | LTR visa (work-eligible) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visa needed | Non-Immigrant B | Non-Immigrant B | Non-Immigrant B | LTR visa |
| Registered capital per foreign hire | ~฿2,000,000 (US$60,600) | ~฿1,000,000 (US$30,300) | Waived | Not applicable |
| Thai staff per foreign hire | 4 | 2 | Waived | Not applicable |
| Work permit issuer | Department of Employment | Department of Employment | Department of Employment (BOI one-stop) | TIESC digital work permit |
| Typical processing | Employer files WP.32 pre-approval, then work permit after entry | Same as standard | Streamlined one-stop service | ~3-7 working days |
| Annual permit maintenance | Case-by-case renewal | Case-by-case renewal | Case-by-case renewal | ~฿3,000/year (US$91) |
Compiled from current Ministry of Labour, Department of Employment and Board of Investment guidance (2026). Requirements and fees change, confirm current figures with your employer or the relevant government office before applying.
How do you get a work permit in Thailand?
You get a Thailand work permit through your employer, not on your own. A Thai company first submits a WP.32 pre-approval application to the Ministry of Labour, this is the document that lets you apply for a Non-Immigrant B visa at a Thai embassy or consulate abroad (or convert an existing visa at an immigration office in Thailand). Once you’re in Thailand on the Non-B visa, your employer applies for your actual work permit at the Department of Employment. You cannot legally start working until the permit is issued and in hand, and the permit is tied to your specific employer, job title and workplace, not a general right to work anywhere in the country.
The visa and the permit are genuinely two different approvals from two different government arms. Immigration controls whether you can be in Thailand and for how long, the Ministry of Labour controls whether you can work and in what role. Losing your job typically means your work permit becomes invalid immediately, and your Non-B visa extension is usually tied to holding a valid permit, so the two are closely linked in practice even though they’re issued separately.
What does a Thai employer need to sponsor a work permit?
A standard Thai limited company needs two things in place before it can sponsor a foreign worker: registered capital of about ฿2 million (US$60,600) per foreign employee, fully paid up, not just registered on paper, and 4 Thai employees on payroll for every foreigner it employs. A company wanting to sponsor four foreign staff, for example, would need roughly ฿8 million in paid-up capital and 16 Thai employees registered with Social Security. These thresholds are cut in half, to ฿1 million and 2 Thai staff, if the foreign employee is married to a Thai national.
There are two well-established ways around the standard ratio. BOI-promoted companies are exempt from both the capital and staff-ratio requirements entirely, processing work permits instead through the Board of Investment’s one-stop service, this is the route most foreign-owned tech companies, manufacturers and larger investors use once they’re sponsoring more than one or two foreign staff. LTR (Long-Term Resident) visa holders in eligible categories skip the standard company-side ratio altogether and instead apply for a digital work permit through the Thailand Investment and Expat Services Center (TIESC), which combines BOI, immigration and Department of Employment functions under one roof, with typical processing of about 3-7 working days and an annual maintenance fee of roughly ฿3,000 (US$91).
What jobs are reserved for Thai nationals?
Thailand reserves roughly 20 occupations exclusively for Thai citizens under the Foreigners’ Working Act B.E. 2521 and the regulations that have amended it since, a work permit cannot legally authorize employment in any of these regardless of your visa status or how the role is described on paper. Commonly cited reserved occupations include manual labour work, driving taxis, tuk-tuks, motorbike taxis and delivery vehicles, hairdressing and beauty services, street and market vending, agricultural and farm labour (though specialist supervisory or technical agricultural roles are treated differently), and tour guiding. The Department of Employment periodically revises this list, and enforcement has stepped up in recent years, Thai authorities ran a nationwide crackdown in 2026 covering tourism, hospitality, construction, education and online content sectors specifically because foreigners were found working in restricted roles or without valid permits. If your intended job sits anywhere near one of these categories, or if you’re being offered informal cash-in-hand work that sounds like it fits this list, confirm the role’s current status with the Department of Employment or a Thai immigration lawyer before assuming a permit application will be approved.
Can you work in Thailand on a tourist visa or the DTV?
No, and this is the mistake that catches the most people out. A tourist visa carries no work rights whatsoever, full stop, regardless of how casual or short-term the work seems. The Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) is more nuanced but just as strict in practice: it lets you live in Thailand while working remotely for an employer or clients based outside the country, freelancing for foreign clients, running your own overseas-facing business, or working for a company with no Thai operations, but it does not authorize employment with a Thai company or acceptance of Thai-sourced income. Teaching at a Thai school, taking a job in a local office, or picking up Thai-based clients on a DTV is illegal work, not a grey area. Thai banks and immigration have increasingly cross-checked bank account inflows against visa type to catch exactly this pattern, so treat the “foreign income only” rule as actively monitored rather than a formality. If your work involves any Thai-sourced income or a Thai employer, you need a Non-B visa and work permit, not a DTV, our Thailand DTV visa guide breaks down exactly what income sources qualify.
How does renewal and 90-day reporting work?
Work permits and Non-B visa extensions are typically renewed annually, tied to your employer’s continued sponsorship, so a job change or termination requires a fresh application, not just an update to the existing permit. Separately, anyone on a long-stay Thai visa, work permit holders included, must complete 90-day reporting to Thai Immigration confirming their current address, whether in person, by mail, or online, missing a 90-day report doesn’t cancel your work permit directly but is a visa-compliance failure that can complicate future extensions and create exactly the kind of paperwork gap immigration officers flag during renewal. Keep your 90-day reporting current alongside your work permit renewal, they’re separate obligations but both feed into whether your overall stay is considered in order.
What are the penalties for working illegally in Thailand?
Penalties apply to both the worker and the employer, and Thailand has been actively enforcing this rather than treating it as a paper rule. A foreign worker caught working without a valid permit, or working outside what their permit or visa authorizes, faces a fine of roughly ฿5,000-50,000 (US$150-1,515), deportation to their home country, and a 2-year ban on reapplying for a work permit from the date the penalty is imposed. Employers who hire foreign workers without valid permits, or let them work beyond their permitted scope, face separate fines of ฿10,000-100,000 (US$300-3,030) per illegal worker, rising to imprisonment of up to one year or fines of ฿50,000-200,000 per worker on repeat offenses, plus a 3-year bar on employing foreign workers at all. Thailand’s Ministry of Labour ran a nationwide enforcement sweep in 2026 targeting exactly this, checking permits across tourism, hospitality, construction, education and online content sectors nationwide, so this isn’t a rule that goes unenforced in practice.
The honest downsides
The system is genuinely bureaucratic and slow to navigate without help. Company-side requirements are steep for small operations, ฿2 million in paid-up capital and 4 Thai staff per foreign hire is a real barrier for a small business or a single-founder company that isn’t BOI-promoted, which is why many small foreign-owned operations in Thailand end up hiring through a larger sponsoring entity or pursuing BOI promotion earlier than they’d otherwise want to. The reserved-occupations list isn’t always intuitive, a role that seems clearly professional can brush up against a reserved category depending on exact duties, and getting this wrong risks the fines and bans above, not just a rejected application. The DTV’s “foreign income only” boundary is being actively policed through bank-transaction monitoring, so treat it as a real compliance line, not a grey area you can quietly cross. And renewals aren’t automatic, a work permit lapses if you change jobs or your employer stops sponsoring you, so don’t assume continuity without confirming your specific permit’s status.
Where to next
If you’re deciding between a remote-work visa and employer sponsorship, read our Thailand DTV visa guide for the boundaries on foreign-sourced income. Teaching is one of the most common paths into employer-sponsored work here, our teaching English in Thailand guide covers what that specific Non-B and work permit process looks like in schools. Once you’re working legally, our Thailand tax for expats guide explains how your income gets taxed, and our opening a Thai bank account guide covers what a work permit lets you do that a tourist visa doesn’t. For what’s happening while you settle in, browse live Thailand events.
Sources
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand: Non-Immigrant Visa “B” (Business and Work)
- THAILAND.GO.TH: Penalties for foreign employees working illegally
- THAILAND.GO.TH: Penalties for employers who hire foreign workers illegally
- Thailand Board of Investment: Long-Term Resident (LTR) Visa program
- Foreigners’ Working Act B.E. 2521 (1979) and subsequent Royal Decrees on reserved occupations, as summarized in current Department of Employment guidance.
- Reporting on Thailand’s 2026 nationwide work-permit enforcement campaign across tourism, construction, education and online content sectors.