Working in Thailand: no work permit, no work, and not on a retirement visa either

Working in Thailand is possible, but only with a work permit, and you don't get one on your own. The Thai embassy in The Hague puts it plainly: a foreigner may not work in Thailand, whatever visa they hold, unless they have a work permit, and for that they first need the right visa. For most Dutch people moving to Thailand the answer is therefore short: on the O-A retirement visa, employment of any kind is explicitly prohibited. The find for those who do want to work: a list of occupations stays reserved for Thais, and it includes office jobs.

How do you get a work permit?

Through an employer in Thailand. The route the BOI describes for companies without investment promotion runs like this:

Element	What applies
Visa	Non-Immigrant B; whoever enters as a tourist, in transit or visa-exempt must first change to Non-B
Applying for Non-B from the Netherlands	approval letter WP32 from the Ministry of Labour, and at least 30,000 baht in funds
Issue of the work permit	only after you have entered Thailand and report in person
Duration	1 year for a regular position, 2 years for executives and experts
Renewal	before the expiry date, otherwise it lapses
Changing job or workplace	permission in advance, and an endorsement in the permit

The application includes among other things your passport with a non-immigrant visa valid for at least six more months, proof of your education and references from previous employers, with a Thai translation certified by the Thai embassy if they are not in English, and a recent medical certificate from a Thai doctor. For a regulated profession (teacher, doctor) the professional licence is added. If you work outside Bangkok, you file the application at the provincial office of the Department of Employment.

Which occupations are reserved for Thais?

The list goes back to a royal decree of 1973 with 39 occupations, and has been amended several times since. It includes crafts, from wood carving to making Buddha images, but also work that Dutch people sometimes want to do:

• clerical and secretarial work;
• accounting and auditing, except occasional internal auditing;
• legal services and litigation;
• tour guiding and tour operation, and shop or counter sales;
• hairdressing and beauty treatment;
• brokerage and agency work, except in international trade;
• design and advisory work in civil engineering and architecture, except work requiring special expertise.

A small business of your own as a guide, broker or hairdresser is not a free choice. If your occupation is on the list, neither an employer nor a company of your own will get you a permit. Working without a permit is punishable, for you and for whoever lets you work, and whoever enters Thailand to work in breach of the work permit law can be refused entry under the immigration law.

And if you work remotely for a Dutch employer?

Then the picture is less clear than many people think. The embassy's rule names no exception for remote work. The arrangement that is explicitly meant for it is the LTR visa of the Board of Investment, in the category Work-from-Thailand Professionals: for those employed by a listed company or a company with at least three years of operation and a combined 50 million dollars of revenue over three years, with an average income of 80,000 dollars a year over the past two years (or 40,000 with a master's degree). That category gets precisely no Thai work permit: you work for abroad, not in Thailand.

The other LTR categories can work, with a digital work permit that costs 3,000 baht a year. The LTR visa also exempts the employer from the rule of four Thai employees per foreigner. What the LTR visa means for tax is in the LTR visa and the tax exemption.

What does work mean for your tax?

If you work in Thailand, your wages are taxed there, and at 180 days or more in a calendar year you are a tax resident. How the treaty with the Netherlands handles that is in AOW, pension and tax in Thailand. Whoever keeps working remotely for a Dutch employer should note the second point: foreign income earned from 1 January 2024 that a tax resident brings into Thailand is taxed there. The order of visa, permit and arrival is at /thailand.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 1 of 5 of the journey, step 1.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Thailand or go straight to step 1.2 in the open plan.