In efforts to boost economic growth and ensure that investment-promoted projects employ an appropriate number of Thai personnel, the Thai Board of Investment (BOI) has announced that it will introduce new requirements for companies with ‘BOI promoted certificates’ , implementing minimum income thresholds and a new ‘Thai to Total Permanent Employees’ ratio as applicable to BOI companies.
When is the new law in effect?
The effective dates for applying these new conditions are as follows:
| BOI promoted projects | New rules apply from |
| New projects
(BOI certificate issued on or after 5 June 2025) |
October 1, 2025 |
|
Existing projects (BOI certificates issued before 5 June 2025) |
January 1, 2026 |
What is changing?
As part of measures to strengthen the Thai economy, BOI promoted companies should hire foreigners with a minimum monthly income threshold as listed below:
| Position | Monthly income (THB) |
| Executive level | 150,000 |
| Management level | 75,000 |
|
Engineers, Scientists, IT Specialists | 75,000 or
50,000 with a relevant bachelor’s degree |
|
Skilled Workers, Technicians, Service Staff | 50,000 or
35,000 for International Business Process Outsourcing (IBPO), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), and Trade and Investment Support Office (TISO) with IBPO |
To ensure that a reasonable proportion of Thai workforce are hired by BOI promoted companies in the manufacturing sector, there is a new ratio of ‘Thai to Total permanent employees’ requirement as outlined below. Please note that any foreign employees whose work period of not over 6 months are excluded for the purposes of this ratio.
| Permanent Employees (Thais and Foreigners) | Ratio of Thai employees |
| 0 – 100 | No requirement |
| >100 | >/ 70% |
For critical projects that have a special need to hire more foreigners than the specified ratio above, exceptions may be requested from the BOI on a case by case basis.
During this transition period, workforce planning is of critical importance:
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:
Jiraporn Chongkamanont
Partner
Hatairat Topiboonpong
Senior Manager
Oranee Temkasarp
Senior Manager
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