Working in Thailand as a Foreigner: What Is Allowed and What Is Reserved for Thais

Contents of this article10 sections

1. You may not work without a work permit
2. These 27 occupations are reserved for Thais
3. These occupations are open only under certain conditions
4. How to get a work permit legally
5. Remote work on the DTV: where the line is
6. On tourist, retirement or Privilege status, working is off limits
7. Typical mistakes
8. Penalties for breaking the rules
9. Which status allows what?
10. Frequently asked questions

Tour guide, hairdresser, secretary: anyone who wants to work in Thailand quickly hears that certain occupations are closed to foreigners. On top of that, every other kind of work needs a work permit. This article explains what the law says and what it means for holidaymakers, retirees and remote workers.

In short

• Any work by a foreigner in Thailand needs a work permit. A visa alone does not allow work.
• 27 occupations are completely closed to foreigners, including tour guide, hairdresser, Thai massage, office and secretarial work, and driving vehicles.
• Other occupations, such as construction and farm work, are open only under certain conditions.
• With visa-free entry, a tourist visa, a retirement visa or Privilege status you may not work. The DTV allows remote work for clients outside Thailand.
• If you work without a permit, you pay 5,000 to 50,000 baht (roughly 130 to 1,330 euros) and are deported.

The euro amounts are rounded, calculated at the European Central Bank rate of 16 October 2026: 1 euro = 37.60 baht.

You may not work without a work permit

The basis is the Emergency Decree on Managing the Work of Foreigners of 2017, amended in 2018. It defines work as any exercise of an occupation, with or without an employer. The exception is running a business with a licence under the Foreign Business Act. Whether something counts as work does not depend on money alone: regular help without pay can count too.

The work permit is issued by the Department of Employment, the labour authority of the Ministry of Labour. It is valid for one employer, one activity and one place of work. If you change any of these, the permit must be amended.

These 27 occupations are reserved for Thais

The Ministry of Labour set this out in a notification of 1 April 2020, in force since 21 June 2020. These 27 activities are prohibited in every case for foreigners, even with an employer and a work permit.

Services and trade

• Hairdressing and beauty work (haircuts, colouring, make-up, manicures)
• Thai massage
• Tour guide and organiser of city tours
• Broker and agency business (insurance, property, commodities), except in international trade and international investment
• Auctioneer
• Peddling, meaning selling goods by carrying them, by bicycle or by boat at changing locations
• Office and secretarial work
• Legal services and litigation, with exceptions for arbitration
• Driving vehicles, except aircraft in international traffic and forklifts
• Cutting and polishing gemstones and diamonds

Traditional crafts

• Wood carving
• Hand weaving and handmade silk products
• Reeling and twisting silk by hand
• Weaving mats and everyday items from reed, rattan, bamboo or straw
• Handmade mulberry paper
• Lacquerware
• Making Thai musical instruments
• Niello ware, gold and silver jewellery, bronzeware
• Thai dolls
• Alms bowls for monks
• Buddha statues
• Paper and cloth umbrellas
• Rolling cigarettes by hand
• Manual typesetting of Thai characters

These occupations are open only under certain conditions

For these occupations, the employer, the licence and international agreements matter.

• Accounting, auditing, civil engineering, architecture: generally prohibited. Exceptions exist under international agreements, such as ASEAN recognition, with a Thai professional licence.
• Agricultural, forestry and fishing work, animal husbandry, bricklaying, carpentry and construction work, making mattresses, knives, shoes and hats, tailoring and pottery: allowed only for skilled or semi-skilled work and only with one employer.
• Unskilled manual labour and selling in a shop, at a market or at the roadside: only with an employer and under agreements between Thailand and other governments.

Where an occupation requires a licence, you must hold it before a work permit is issued. Any other activity still needs a work permit.

How to get a work permit legally

The normal route goes through a Thai employer.

1. The employer obtains advance approval from the Ministry of Labour.
2. You apply abroad, at the Thai embassy, for a Non-Immigrant B visa, usually for 90 days.
3. After you enter the country, the employer applies for the work permit.
4. Before the 90 days run out, you switch to a one-year extension of stay at the immigration office.

The key figures:

• Employer: As a rule, the company must have registered capital of 2 million baht per foreigner (roughly 53,200 euros) and employ four Thai staff per foreigner. With a Thai spouse this drops to about 1 million baht and two employees. Companies promoted by the Board of Investment (BOI) get easier terms.
• Salary: There are minimum salaries by country of origin. For EU countries, the guideline is around 50,000 baht a month (roughly 1,330 euros). Check with the authority in advance which figure applies to you.
• Duration and cost: A work permit is usually valid for two years at most. For one year you pay 3,000 baht (roughly 80 euros).
• Proof: You must be able to show the work permit during inspections. Otherwise you face a fine of up to 5,000 baht.

Anyone who wants to be self-employed has a harder time: there is no work permit for freelancers without a company. You need an employer or your own Thai company, and in an ordinary Thai company foreigners can usually hold 49 percent at most. Nominees who hold the rest on paper are illegal.

An alternative for well-paid professionals is the LTR visa. The “Highly-Skilled Professional” category comes with a digital work permit. The “Work-from-Thailand Professional” category, by contrast, does not allow work for Thai employers.

Remote work on the DTV: where the line is

The Destination Thailand Visa is valid for five years and allows up to 180 days per entry. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists the “Workcation” category for digital nomads, remote workers, professionals and freelancers. Among other things, you need 500,000 baht in your account (roughly 13,300 euros) and an employment contract or a portfolio from your home country. The visa calculator works out which visa suits your length of stay.

What the DTV allows and what it does not:

• Allowed: work for an employer or client outside Thailand, for example as a developer, copywriter or consultant.
• Not allowed: work for Thai companies, assignments from Thai clients, running a shop, a café or a bar.

The second DTV route, “Thai Soft Power”, is meant for participants: Muay Thai, a Thai cooking course or a treatment. It has nothing to do with work.

You can apply for the DTV yourself or have the application prepared online.

On tourist, retirement or Privilege status, working is off limits

• Visa-free and tourist visa: The exemption applies to tourism only. Remote work is not covered either. More on this in Entering Thailand in 2026.
• Retirement visa O and O-A: For the O-A, “Employment of any kind is strictly prohibited.” This also applies to side income. More in Wintering in Thailand from 50.
• Thailand Privilege: The programme brings a right to stay, but no work permit.
• Marriage to a Thai citizen: Anyone living in Thailand on a marriage visa (Non-O) can get a work permit. Here too, though, you need an employer or your own company. This is not possible from the O-A retirement visa.

Typical mistakes

• Helping out in exchange for board and lodging: In a hostel, a bar or on a farm this can count as work, even without pay.
• Thai clients on the DTV: A photo, video or consulting job from a Thai company is work in Thailand.
• Advertising services online: Social media advertisements for services serve as evidence during inspections.
• Retirement visa plus a side job: Advising, writing or brokering for foreign clients is not covered either.

Penalties for breaking the rules

If you work without a work permit or outside its scope, you pay 5,000 to 50,000 baht. After that you are deported and cannot get a new work permit for two years. Prison sentences for employees were only in the 2017 version and were removed in 2018, but they still appear in older texts. Employers pay up to 100,000 baht (roughly 2,660 euros) per foreigner, more for repeat offences.

Which status allows what?

Frequently asked questions