Minimum Wage in Thailand (2026): Provincial Rates, Employer Costs

Thailand does not have a single national minimum wage. The Ministry of Labour sets daily rates by province through the National Wage Committee, and those rates currently range from THB 337 to THB 400 per day depending on where your employee works. The current rate schedule was reconfirmed under Notification No.

14 effective July 1, 2026, with Bangkok and five other high-activity provinces sitting at the top tier of THB 400/day. That same rate applies nationwide to Category 2-4 hotels and licensed entertainment venues regardless of province.

For foreign companies hiring in Thailand, 2026 brings more than just the wage rates to track. The social security wage ceiling increased from January 1, 2026, raising the maximum employer contribution per employee.

An entirely new cost layer, the Employee Welfare Fund, launches in October 2026 for employers with ten or more staff. Getting payroll right in Thailand this year means understanding all three of these changes together, not just the headline daily rate.

How Thailand’s Minimum Wage Is Set

Thailand’s minimum wage is reviewed by the National Wage Committee, a tripartite body made up of government, employer, and employee representatives. The committee evaluates cost of living, inflation, labour market conditions, and economic output across provinces before recommending new rates. Those recommendations go to the Cabinet for approval and are published in the Royal Gazette before taking effect.

The wage is set as a daily rate, not hourly or monthly. One standard working day is eight hours, or seven hours for work classified as hazardous under the Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541. There is no statutory hourly minimum in Thailand. If you are used to monthly salary benchmarks, you convert by multiplying the daily rate by the number of working days in a month, typically 26.

Rates are not reviewed on a fixed annual schedule. The committee meets when economic conditions or political priorities warrant it. In practice, Thailand has seen adjustments roughly every one to two years, though the current Pheu Thai government has pushed for faster movement toward its THB 600/day target.

Current Minimum Wage Rates by Province (Effective July 1, 2026)

Thailand has seven active wage bands across its 77 provinces. The spread between the lowest and highest rate is THB 63 per day, which translates to roughly THB 1,638 per month on a 26-day working month. That gap matters when you are comparing hiring costs across locations or deciding where to base operations.

The rates below reflect Notification No. 14 of the National Wage Committee, reconfirmed effective July 1, 2026. No provincial bands changed in this cycle. For the full district-level schedule, the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare publishes the complete rate breakdown.

Note on district-level exceptions

A few provinces split rates at the district level rather than applying one rate province-wide. Chiang Mai is the clearest example: Mueang Chiang Mai district sits at THB 380, while the rest of Chiang Mai province is rated at THB 357.

The same applies to Songkhla, where Mueang Songkhla district carries a higher rate than the rest of the province. If your employee works in a major city district within a lower-rated province, always verify the district-level schedule rather than relying on the provincial headline figure.

Sector-Specific Rules: Hotels and Entertainment Venues

From July 1, 2025, the THB 400/day rate applies nationwide to two business categories regardless of which province they operate in. This is a meaningful change from how Thai minimum wage has historically worked, where location alone determined the rate.

The two categories covered are:

• Hotels classified as Type 2, 3, or 4 under the Hotel Act B.E. 2547, defined as establishments with 50 or more guest rooms. Type 1 hotels, which have fewer than 50 rooms, are excluded and remain subject to their provincial rate.
• Entertainment establishments as defined by Thai law, including nightclubs, pubs, bars, karaoke venues, massage parlours, and similar licensed premises that serve food, alcohol, or beverages.

For an employer running a mid-size hotel in Chiang Rai, which sits in the THB 352 provincial band, this means your minimum daily wage obligation is THB 400, not THB 352. The sector rule overrides the provincial rate where the sector rate is higher.

This matters most for companies in hospitality, tourism, and entertainment who may have assumed their provincial rate applies. If your Thailand operation falls into either category above, verify with your payroll provider that the correct rate is applied across all locations, not just those in high-tier provinces.

What the Daily Rate Means for Monthly Payroll

Thailand’s minimum wage is expressed as a daily figure, but most employment contracts and payroll systems run on a monthly cycle. The standard conversion uses 26 working days per month, which accounts for one rest day per week as required under Section 28 of the Labour Protection Act.

At THB 400/day, a Bangkok employee on minimum wage costs THB 10,400 per month in base salary. At the floor rate of THB 337/day, that figure drops to THB 8,762. These are gross figures before any statutory deductions or employer contributions.

One thing worth noting: monthly-salaried employees are not always covered by the daily minimum wage calculation in the same direct way. The Labour Protection Act requires that monthly salary must not fall below what the daily minimum wage would produce over the actual working days in that month.

In months with public holidays, the number of paid working days changes, and the calculation adjusts accordingly.

Overtime and its relationship to the daily rate

Overtime pay in Thailand is calculated from the daily wage, so the minimum wage rate sets the base for all overtime obligations. Under Section 61 of the Labour Protection Act, the rates are:

• Overtime on a normal working day: 1.5x the hourly rate
• Work on a rest day or public holiday at normal hours: 1x additional (effectively 2x total)
• Overtime on a rest day or public holiday: 3x the hourly rate

The hourly rate for a daily wage worker is simply their daily rate divided by eight. For a Bangkok employee at THB 400/day, that is THB 50/hour, making overtime on a normal day THB 75/hour and holiday overtime THB 150/hour. These are minimums. Contracts can specify higher rates but cannot go below these statutory floors.

Total Employer Cost Beyond the Minimum Wage

The minimum wage is only part of what hiring in Thailand actually costs. On top of base salary, employers must contribute to the Social Security Fund under Section 33 of the Social Security Act at a rate of 5% of the employee’s monthly wage.

From January 1, 2026, the wage ceiling used for that calculation rose from THB 15,000 to THB 17,500 per month, moving the maximum employer SSF contribution from THB 750 to THB 875 per month.

For a minimum-wage employee in Bangkok earning THB 10,400/month, the 5% SSF contribution applies to the full salary since it sits below the THB 17,500 ceiling, adding THB 520/month to the employer’s cost. For employees earning above THB 17,500, the contribution is capped at THB 875 regardless of actual salary.

The SSF ceiling will continue rising in two further phases: to THB 20,000 by January 2029 and THB 23,000 by January 2032, as confirmed in the ministerial regulation published December 12, 2025. This means employer SSF contributions will increase even in years when the minimum wage itself does not change.

The Employee Welfare Fund: what employers need to know now

The Employee Welfare Fund (EWF) launches October 1, 2026. Originally planned for October 2025, it was deferred by one year due to economic pressures including the impact of US trade tariffs on Thai businesses.

The EWF applies to employers with ten or more employees. The contribution rate from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2031 is 0.25% of the employee’s full wage for both employer and employee. From October 1, 2031, that rate doubles to 0.5% for both parties.

Critically, there is no wage ceiling on the EWF calculation. The 0.25% applies to the employee’s actual salary, not a capped base.

For a Bangkok employee earning THB 30,000/month, the employer’s EWF contribution from October 2026 is THB 75/month. Combined with the SSF increase of THB 125/month from January 2026, the total additional employer cost per that employee is THB 200/month or THB 2,400/year. Across a 30-person team, that is roughly THB 72,000 in added annual employer cost compared to 2025.

Employers with an existing Provident Fund arrangement that covers role elimination and death benefits may be exempt from the EWF. Confirm this with your legal or payroll provider before October 1.

How Thailand compares on total employer cost

Thailand’s mandatory employer social security contribution is among the lowest in Asia at 5%, capped at THB 875/month per employee from 2026. Vietnam sits at 21-22% of salary in employer contributions.

South Korea runs 10-11%. China can reach 30-40% depending on the city. For companies weighing Southeast Asia hiring options, Thailand’s statutory cost burden is genuinely low even after the 2026 ceiling increase. The minimum wage itself is not the cheapest in the region, but the total employer cost picture is competitive.

Foreign Workers and the Minimum Wage

The minimum wage rules apply equally to all legally employed workers in Thailand, Thai nationals and foreign nationals alike. An employer cannot pay a foreign worker below the statutory minimum for their province or sector. The Department of Labour Protection and Welfare does not distinguish by nationality when enforcing wage compliance.

That said, foreign workers face a separate salary requirement that sits above the minimum wage. Under immigration rules administered by the Immigration Bureau, a Non-Immigrant B visa holder (the standard work visa for most expatriates) must meet a minimum monthly salary threshold to qualify for and maintain a work permit.

As of current guidelines, that threshold is generally THB 50,000 per month for nationals of most countries, though it varies by nationality and is set by immigration order rather than labour law.

This means the Labour Protection Act minimum wage is largely irrelevant for most foreign professionals working in Thailand on a Non-B visa. Their binding salary floor is the immigration threshold, which is four to five times higher than the minimum wage in Bangkok.

Where the minimum wage does matter for foreign workers is in sectors with large numbers of migrant workers, particularly manufacturing, construction, and agriculture, where workers from neighbouring countries are employed under specific migrant work permit categories.

One more distinction worth flagging: foreign workers on specific migrant work permits, such as those from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam working under MOU-based schemes, are entitled to the same provincial minimum wage as Thai workers. Paying them below the applicable rate is a violation regardless of their visa category or nationality.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Minimum wage violations in Thailand carry criminal liability, not just administrative fines. Under the Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, an employer who pays below the statutory minimum wage can face imprisonment of up to six months, a fine of up to THB 100,000, or both. These penalties apply per violation, not per inspection cycle.

Enforcement sits with the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, whose labour inspectors conduct both scheduled audits and spot checks. Inspectors have the authority to review payroll records, employment contracts, and wage slips on-site. Employers who obstruct an inspection face a separate penalty of up to one year imprisonment or a fine of up to THB 20,000.

Beyond the criminal penalties, employers found underpaying wages are required to pay the shortfall with 15% annual interest from the date the underpayment occurred. That interest obligation applies even if the employer settles voluntarily before a formal case is filed.

How disputes are resolved in practice

Most wage disputes in Thailand are handled before they reach the criminal courts. An employee can file a complaint directly with the Labour Protection Office, where an inspector will attempt mediation between the two parties.

If mediation fails, the case moves to the Labour Court of Thailand. Employees also have the option of reporting violations to the ILO Thailand office. The statute of limitations for wage claims is two years from the date the underpayment occurred.

For foreign companies operating through an EOR, the EOR carries the employer liability. Any wage compliance failure by the EOR is the EOR’s legal responsibility, not the client company’s, which is one practical reason international employers in Thailand use this structure. See the Thailand EOR provider rankings for independently assessed options.

The Road to THB 600: What Employers Should Plan For

The Pheu Thai government that came to power in 2023 campaigned on a THB 600/day national minimum wage by 2027. That target has not been formally withdrawn, but the pace of increases since then makes a uniform THB 600 rate across all 77 provinces by that date unlikely. The July 2025 adjustment brought the top tier to THB 400, leaving a THB 200 gap to close in roughly two years.

What is more realistic is continued upward pressure at the top tier, with Bangkok and the major industrial provinces moving faster than the rest. The tripartite Wage Committee has consistently resisted uniform national rates, arguing that applying Bangkok-level wages to lower-income provinces would hurt employment in those areas. That tension between the political target and the committee’s provincial approach has defined every adjustment since 2023.

For international employers, the practical implication is straightforward. Budget for annual wage increases in Thailand through at least 2028. Companies with operations in Bangkok and the eastern seaboard provinces should model for THB 450-500 by 2027 as a planning scenario, even if the headline target is not met in full.

Companies in lower-tier provinces can expect smaller absolute increases but should not assume their rates stay flat.

The social security ceiling increases locked in through 2032 add a separate cost layer on top of wage growth. As covered in the employer cost section above, the ceiling moves from THB 17,500 in 2026 to THB 23,000 by 2032, which means employer SSF contributions will rise even in years when the minimum wage itself does not change.

Frequently Asked Questions