Payroll in Thailand means deducting the employee’s 5 % Social Security contribution up to the wage ceiling, adding the employer’s matching 5 %, withholding income tax and paying both the contributions and PND.1 tax each month. New hires must be registered with the Social Security Office, and certificates are issued at year-end.
The Social Security Act requires employers with employees to register with the Social Security Office and to contribute to the Fund. The employee pays 5 % of wages and the employer matches it with another 5 %, both calculated on wages up to a statutory ceiling. Because the ceiling is set by regulation and has been scheduled for changes, take the current ceiling and the maximum contribution from the Social Security Office rather than from an old payslip.
Contributions for each month are paid to the Social Security Office by the 15th of the following month, with the employer remitting both shares. The employer deducts the employee share from the salary and must not keep it. The same deduction appears on the payslip so that the employee can see what was paid.
On top of the Fund, employers contribute to the Workmen’s Compensation Fund, based on a percentage of wages and normally declared annually. Both obligations start with the first employee, so register as soon as hiring begins.
A new employee must be reported to the Social Security Office within 30 days of starting, and an employee who leaves must be reported within the same period. Failing to do so can leave the employee without cover and the employer facing a fine. Keep a hiring checklist that includes the registration, so the step does not depend on someone remembering.
The employee also chooses a hospital for the Social Security healthcare benefit, usually at registration. Employees should be told where the cover applies, and the employer should keep a copy of the registration confirmation in the personnel file.
Foreign employees who hold a work permit are generally covered in the same way as Thai employees, though some categories have exceptions. Confirm the position for each foreign hire with your adviser.
Employers must withhold personal income tax from salaries, estimating the tax for the year based on the employee’s pay and allowances and spreading the withholding across the months. The employee supplies the details that affect allowances, such as marital status, children, insurance premiums and provident fund contributions.
The tax withheld is reported on PND.1 each month, due on the 7th of the following month, with the Revenue Department usually granting a few extra days for online filing. At the end of the year the employer files the annual summary PND.1 Kor, normally by the end of February, and issues each employee with a 50 Tawi certificate showing the year’s income and tax.
Bonuses, commissions and non-regular payments change the picture mid-year. Run the calculation again when a large payment is made, and keep the workings so that the figures on the payslip, the form and the certificate agree.
The Labour Protection Act sets minimum standards for working hours, overtime pay, annual leave, public holidays and sick leave, and employers must keep payroll records for each employee. A record of days worked, leave taken and overtime is the base from which pay is calculated and a document the Labour Department may inspect.
Employment contracts, payslips, social security registrations and personal data must be kept in an orderly personnel file. Personal data in these files is subject to the PDPA, so limit access to those who need it and do not email payslips to personal accounts without a safeguard.
Severance pay, notice and termination rules are separate topics. Before dismissing an employee, ask a labour lawyer how the law applies to the facts.
4softhr can hold employee records, leave and timesheets in one place, which gives your payroll provider or accountant a reliable reference. 4notify can send an SMS or e-mail you write, for example to ask staff to submit their leave forms by a deadline.
4softhr does not calculate payroll, contributions or tax in Thailand, because payroll calculation is available for Romania only. It does not issue Thai payslips or PND.1 forms and it does not register employees with the Social Security Office. Those steps are done by your payroll provider, your accountant and you.
Fix a monthly rhythm. Collect attendance, leave and overtime records at the cut-off date, give them to the payroll provider, review the draft payslips, approve the bank transfer and pay salaries on the agreed day. Then pay the Social Security contributions by the 15th and the PND.1 withholding by the 7th of the following month, filing online where available.
Keep a separate annual list: the Workmen’s Compensation declaration, the PND.1 Kor summary around the end of February, the 50 Tawi certificates for employees and the review of salary bands for the new year. Setting these in the calendar in January avoids the usual scramble.
For each starter, run a short checklist covering the contract, tax-allowance declaration, Social Security registration, bank details and the data privacy notice. For each leaver, run the reverse: final pay, accrued leave, return of equipment, deregistration within the deadline and withdrawal of system access.
Even a ten-person company benefits from writing this down. The calendar is what lets a replacement bookkeeper take over without a gap in filings.
Review the calendar every January against the Social Security Office and Revenue Department announcements, because ceilings, forms and filing channels are updated from time to time and a page printed two years ago may be out of date.
Contributions and tax are calculated in separate spreadsheets, so figures disagree with the payslip.
Calculate Social Security contributions and withholding tax with your payroll provider or accountant and remit them on PND.1 and to the Social Security Office. 4softhr does not calculate payroll, contributions or tax (payroll calculation is available for Romania only) and does not issue payslips.
Leave and overtime data live apart from payroll.
Keep employee, leave and timesheet records in 4softhr as a reference for your payroll.
A mid-year bonus changes the tax withheld, but the payslip, the PND.1 and the certificate disagree at year-end.
Recalculate the withholding whenever a large payment is made and keep the workings with the payroll file. The system does not compute Thai tax, so your payroll provider produces the figures.
Each pays 5 % of wages up to the statutory ceiling, so the employer remits a total of 10 %, including the share deducted from the employee. The ceiling, and therefore the maximum monthly amount, is set by regulation and can change, so check the current figure with the Social Security Office before you prepare each payroll run.
Contributions for a month are paid by the 15th of the following month, and the employer pays both the employee’s share and its own in a single remittance. Late payment attracts a surcharge for each month. Many employers diarise this date next to the PND.1 deadline, so both are handled in the same payroll week.
PND.1 is the monthly return for income tax withheld from salaries, due on the 7th of the following month. PND.1 Kor is the annual summary of salary income and tax withheld for all employees, normally filed by the end of February. Employees receive a 50 Tawi certificate showing their year totals.
Yes, the employer must register new employees with the Social Security Office within 30 days of the start date, and report leavers within the same period. The employee chooses a hospital at registration. Include the registration in your onboarding checklist so it is not missed when the team is busy.
Most foreign employees with a work permit are covered in the same way as Thai employees, but some categories have exceptions, for example under particular agreements or assignments. Confirm the rule for each foreign hire with the Social Security Office or your adviser, and keep the confirmation in the personnel file.
HR and time records; payroll and Social Security are handled with your provider and the agencies.
