Thailand work permit: application, fees and renewal

That sequence is the whole game. The Thailand work permit is not a visa, and the visa is not permission to work. You need both, and the visa always comes first.

Key facts and fees

The official costs of a Thailand work permit are modest. Most of the money in a typical “agency quote” is service fees, not government fees.

Processing takes about 7 working days on a standard filing. In practice your employer pays the permit fees, though nothing in the fee schedule requires that.

The Non-B visa comes first

The most common mistake is arriving on the wrong entry. A tourist visa or visa-exempt entry cannot be converted directly into permission to work. You apply for a Non-Immigrant B visa at a Thai embassy or consulate before you travel, using an invitation and company documents from your employer. A single entry costs 2,000 THB and a one-year multiple entry costs 5,000 THB, though embassies set fees in local currency, so expect small variations.

The visa gets you into the country with the right status. The work permit, filed after you arrive, is what makes the job itself legal. Keep the two separate in your head and the process makes sense.

Application step by step

Since 13 October 2025, all standard work permit applications go through the Department of Employment’s e-Work Permit portal. Filing is digital, payment is digital, and there is no in-person visit to a DOE office for a standard application. The old queue-at-the-labour-office walkthroughs you will find on other sites describe a system that no longer exists.

The process runs like this:

1. Your employer registers on the e-Work Permit portal

   And starts the application.

2. You supply your documents

   Passport with the Non-B visa, photos (3 x 4 cm), a medical certificate, your degree certificate, a CV and your signed employment contract. Teachers also need a licence or waiver from the Ministry of Education.

3. Your employer uploads the company side

   Company registration, shareholder list, VAT certificate (Por Por 20), withholding tax filing (PND 1) and social security records.

4. Fees are paid through the portal

   The application is reviewed, normally within about 7 working days.

5. The permit is issued digitally

   You then go to Immigration for your extension of stay (1,900 THB).

The employer must also meet the hiring ratio: 2,000,000 THB in paid-up capital and 4 Thai employees for each foreign hire. If you are setting up the company yourself, start with our guide to registering a Thai company, because the corporate paperwork drives the whole application.

A short note on categories: permits are issued under classifications such as WP1 (the standard permit), WP3 (pre-arrival approval) and WP11, covering skilled workers, experts, executives, teachers and religious workers. Your employer’s filing determines the category; as the applicant you rarely need to think about it.

BOI companies and the digital work permit

If your employer holds Board of Investment promotion, everything gets faster. BOI companies file through the Single Window system, and staff collect approvals at the One Stop Service Center, where urgent cases clear in around 3 hours rather than 7 working days. BOI filings use the e-Expert system, with forms 11.1 and 11.2 covering the position and the person.

The digital permit itself now applies to everyone, not just BOI hires. Since the October 2025 switch, a Thailand work permit is an electronic document you can show on your phone rather than the old blue book. The BOI advantage today is speed and the one-stop handling of visa and permit together, not the digital format.

Renewing your permit and extension

Renewal runs on the same clock as your extension of stay, and order matters: extend your stay at Immigration first (1,900 THB), then renew the work permit to match. Start about 1 month before expiry. If either lapses, you are suddenly working illegally, and the fix is far more painful than the paperwork.

The renewal file is a refresh of the original: updated company documents, your current permit, and evidence that you have been paying Thai tax, usually your tax certificate and filing records. Employment income makes you a Thai taxpayer from the start, so read our guide to income tax on Thai employment before your first renewal rather than after.

Rules, portability and quitting

A Thailand work permit is tied to your employer, your role and your registered work location. It is not a general licence to work in Thailand. Changing jobs means cancelling the old permit and applying again through the new employer; current practice allows this in-country without leaving Thailand, unlike the old advice to fly out and restart.

When you resign, the permit must be returned to the Department of Employment within 7 days. Keep a copy of your permit available at your workplace: failing to show it to an inspecting official carries a fine of up to 5,000 THB.

Working without a permit: the real penalties

The law changed in 2018 and most articles never caught up. Under the Foreigners’ Working Management Emergency Decree (B.E. 2560, amended B.E. 2561), a foreigner caught working without a permit faces a fine of 5,000 to 50,000 THB, deportation, and a 2-year ban on being granted a new work permit. There is no prison term for the worker. The “5 years in jail” figure still quoted across the internet comes from the repealed pre-2018 law.

Employers carry the heavier risk: a fine of 10,000 to 100,000 THB for every foreigner employed without a permit, and for a repeat offence, possible imprisonment, higher fines and a 3-year ban on hiring foreign workers at all. The full penalty framework is set out on the official Thai government portal.

Deportation plus a 2-year ban can end a career in Thailand overnight. If any part of your setup is grey, fix it before an inspection finds it.

Get your work permit handled. One application, done properly, visa to permit to extension. Talk to our visa team. HR arranging permits for a team? The same form reaches our corporate desk.

Who does not need one

A few groups work legally without a standard Thailand work permit. Urgent and essential work of up to 15 days can be performed after notifying the Department of Employment, without a full permit. Diplomats and staff of international organisations are exempt. Employees of BOI companies may begin work while their permit application is pending under BOI transition rules.

There is also a structural alternative: the Long-Term Resident visa comes with its own digital work permit and skips the 4-Thai-employees ratio, which makes it the better route for senior hires and remote professionals who qualify. For everyone else with a Thai job offer, the standard Non-B plus work permit route described above is the path.

What to do next

Line up the sequence before you fly: contract signed, Non-B visa issued, employer registered on the e-Work Permit portal, documents scanned. Diarise your renewal for 1 month before expiry. If the company side is not ready, fix that first; the permit is only as strong as the employer’s paperwork.

A work permit changes your moving costs too: it is the key that unlocks duty-free import of your household goods. The shipping and customs guide covers the exemption in detail.

FAQ

More Thailand visa guides

• All Thailand visas compared
• Business visa (Non-B)
• Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa
• Destination Thailand Visa (DTV)
• Income tax in Thailand
• 90-day reporting
• Registering a Thai company
• International schools in Thailand
• Moving to Thailand: the checklist