The enabling law is the Royal Decree B.E. 2522 (1979). The list actually enforced today comes from a Ministry of Labour Notification effective 1 April 2020, organised into four categories: 27 occupations absolutely forbidden to foreigners, 3 open only under a treaty or ASEAN recognition arrangement (accountancy, civil engineering, architecture), 8 open only with an employer sponsor, and 2 open only under a bilateral government arrangement for Myanmar, Lao and Cambodian nationals. Working one of the 27 as a foreigner risks a fine up to 50,000 baht, deportation and a two-year work-permit ban; an employer who hires into a prohibited role risks 100,000–200,000 baht per worker.
The legal foundation
Thailand has restricted which jobs foreigners may hold since the 1970s. The current enabling instrument is the Royal Decree Stipulating Occupations and Professions Prohibited to Aliens, B.E. 2522 (1979), adopted 11 May 1979. According to the ILO’s NATLEX legislative database, this decree replaced three earlier Royal Decrees on the identical subject, from 1973, 1976 and 1977 — the restriction is not new, and has been revised roughly once a decade rather than left static. The 1979 decree itself lists 39 occupations and professions.
Enforcement today runs through a different, newer law: the Royal Emergency Decree on the Administration of Foreign Workers’ Employment, B.E. 2560 (2017), as amended B.E. 2561 (2018), which replaced the older Working of Aliens Act and sets the current penalties (section 04 below). The occupation list and the penalty law are two separate instruments — the first says what is forbidden, the second says what happens if you do it anyway.
The current list: 40 jobs, four categories
The practical list foreigners and employers actually check against is a Ministry of Labour Notification effective 1 April 2020 (B.E. 2563), which restates the 1979 decree’s occupations into four categories totalling 40 jobs. Category 1 is absolute; categories 2–4 are conditional.
| 1 | Labour work (unskilled manual work) |
| 2 | Agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry or fishing — except specialised, technical or farm-management roles |
| 3 | Bricklaying, carpentry or other construction work |
| 4 | Wood carving |
| 5 | Driving or operating vehicles or non-motorised transport — except international aircraft piloting |
| 6 | Selling goods in a retail shop |
| 7 | Selling goods in the street (peddling) |
| 8 | Accounting supervision, inspection or service — except temporary internal-audit assignments |
| 9 | Cutting or polishing precious or semi-precious stones |
| 10 | Haircutting, hairdressing or beauty services |
| 11 | Hand-weaving of cloth |
| 12 | Hand-weaving of mats or handicrafts from rattan, straw, bamboo, jute or bark |
| 13 | Hand-made paper (mulberry paper) production |
| 14 | Lacquerware production |
| 15 | Making Thai musical instruments |
| 16 | Niello-ware production |
| 17 | Gold-, silver- or bronze-smithing (Thai style) |
| 18 | Stone carving |
| 19 | Making Thai dolls |
| 20 | Mattress and quilt making |
| 21 | Alms-bowl making |
| 22 | Silk-cloth production by hand |
| 23 | Making Buddha images |
| 24 | Knife making |
| 25 | Making paper or cloth umbrellas |
| 26 | Shoemaking |
| 27 | Hat making |
| 28 | Broker or agency work — except in international trade or investment |
| 29 | Engineering (civil): design, calculation, systems, research, planning, testing, construction supervision or consultation |
| 30 | Architectural work: design, drafting, cost estimation, construction coordination or advisory services |
| 31 | Garment design |
| 32 | Pottery or ceramic-art production |
| 33 | Hand-rolling cigarettes |
| 34 | Tour-guide or tour-arranging work |
| 35 | Hand typesetting of Thai script |
| 36 | Twisting or twining silk thread by hand |
| 37 | Clerical or secretarial work |
| 38 | Legal services or advocacy — with a narrow exception for international arbitration |
| Occupation | Permitted only if… |
|---|---|
| Accountancy | Treaty / ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement only |
| Civil engineering | Treaty / ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement only |
| Architecture | Treaty / ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement only |
| Labour work (general) | Bilateral government arrangement (Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia nationals) only |
| Domestic service | Bilateral government arrangement (Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia nationals) only |
| Masonry, carpentry & general construction; mattress/quilt-making; knife-making; shoemaking; hat-making; garment design; pottery & ceramics (8 trades) | Skilled or supervisory role, with a properly capitalised Thai employer sponsoring the work permit |
Read the two tables together and the pattern is consistent with the decree’s own logic: hands-on, traditional-craft and public-facing service work is reserved for Thai nationals; skilled, professional, supervisory and specialist work is where foreigners are expected to work, provided the employer, the visa and the work permit are all in order. See work permits in Thailand for that process end to end.
What this means in practice for most expats
The large majority of foreigners working in Thailand — in management, tech, finance, teaching (a separately regulated profession), consulting, hospitality management, engineering project management, and remote or DTV-covered work — never come near this list, because those roles are not on it. The list is most relevant if you are weighing a small, hands-on business: a foreigner cannot personally cut hair, guide tours, drive a taxi or tuk-tuk for hire, sell from a market stall, or act as a Thai legal advocate, no matter how the business is structured. A foreign-owned company can still operate a salon, a tour company or a shop — it simply has to staff the restricted roles with Thai employees and put the foreign owner or manager into a genuinely managerial, non-hands-on position.
A common trap. “Managing” a restricted business on paper while personally doing the restricted work day to day — a foreign owner who personally guides tours, or cuts hair in their own salon — is exactly the pattern enforcement targets, because the actual activity, not the job title, is what the decree and the Notification test.
Penalties
Under the Royal Emergency Decree on the Administration of Foreign Workers’ Employment B.E. 2560 (2017), as amended B.E. 2561 (2018):
- Foreign worker: a fine of up to 50,000 baht, automatic removal from Thailand once the fine is paid, and a two-year bar on obtaining a new work permit. The 2018 amendment removed the prison sentence that applied to the worker under the original 2017 decree.
- Not carrying proof of the work permit (physical or digital) when asked: a separate administrative fine, commonly cited around 5,000 baht.
- Employer, first offence: a fine of 100,000 baht per worker hired without authorisation or into a prohibited role.
- Employer, repeat offence: 200,000 baht per worker, with possible imprisonment of up to one year and a multi-year bar on hiring foreigners.
These figures are drawn from secondary legal-practice summaries of the Emergency Decree, since this page could not retrieve the Royal Gazette text of the 2018 amendment directly. Confirm current amounts with the Ministry of Labour before treating them as final — fines under this decree have been revised before and may be again.
The genuine exceptions
- Treaty and ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangements — open accountancy, civil engineering and architecture to foreign nationals whose home country or professional body has a qualifying arrangement with Thailand. This does not touch the 27 absolutely prohibited occupations.
- BOI promotion — does not add occupations to the permitted list; it fast-tracks work permits and visas, and relaxes the separate 4-Thai-employees-per-foreigner ratio, for roles that are already open to foreigners in a promoted company.
- US–Thailand Treaty of Amity — lets qualifying American-majority-owned businesses operate outside the Foreign Business Act’s ownership limits. That is a different restriction from the occupation list on this page, and Amity status does not unlock the 27 absolutely prohibited jobs.
- Cabinet resolution for neighbouring countries — Myanmar, Lao and Cambodian nationals may work as general labourers and domestic helpers under bilateral government arrangements, a carve-out that does not extend to other nationalities.
What we could not confirm, and did not guess
- We could not retrieve the Ministry of Labour Notification’s own Royal Gazette PDF directly from this environment to quote its Thai text verbatim; the 40-job, four-category structure above is drawn from the Ministry’s own published summary, the government’s citizen information portal, and a National Assembly Library briefing, cross-checked against each other rather than against the primary PDF.
- Exact current penalty baht-figures are drawn from legal-practice summaries of the 2018-amended Emergency Decree rather than the Royal Gazette text of the amendment itself.
- Sources disagree on whether the founding decree is dated 1973 or 1979 in casual references; the ILO’s NATLEX record, which we treat as authoritative here, is explicit that the operative decree is the 1979 one, which itself replaced 1973, 1976 and 1977 predecessors.
Frequently asked questions
Two layers. The enabling law is the Royal Decree Stipulating Occupations and Professions Prohibited to Aliens, B.E. 2522 (1979), adopted 11 May 1979, which itself replaced three earlier decrees from 1973, 1976 and 1977. That decree sits under the Alien Employment framework, now administered through the Royal Emergency Decree on the Administration of Foreign Workers' Employment B.E. 2560 (2017), as amended B.E. 2561 (2018). The practical, currently enforced list — which is what this page reproduces — comes from a Ministry of Labour Notification effective 1 April 2020 (B.E. 2563), which restates and reorganises the decree's occupations into the 40-job, four-category structure below.
Both figures are correct, for different documents. The 1979 Royal Decree itself lists 39 occupations and professions. The 2020 Ministry of Labour Notification that implements it today counts 40, because it separates the occupations into an absolute-prohibition category (27) and three conditional categories (13 more, covering treaty professions, employer-sponsored skilled trades, and labour under bilateral government arrangements) — one more job than the original decree text, reflecting how the categories were split and restated over four decades of amendment. Treat 40, in four categories, as the operative number for 2026.
Not as a blanket rule — those three professions (civil engineering, architecture and accountancy) sit in the treaty-dependent conditional category, not the absolute-prohibition category. A foreign national can practise them in Thailand if their home country has a relevant treaty or falls under an ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement covering that profession. This is separate from the much larger population of foreign engineers and architects who work in Thailand in project-management, design-review or consulting roles that do not require Thai professional licensure — those roles are not on either list.
Under the Royal Emergency Decree on the Administration of Foreign Workers' Employment B.E. 2560 (2017), as amended in 2018, a foreigner working without authorisation — including working in a prohibited occupation — faces a fine of up to 50,000 baht, automatic removal from Thailand once the fine is paid, and a two-year bar on obtaining a new work permit. The 2018 amendment removed the earlier prison sentence for the worker. An employer who hires a foreigner into a prohibited role or without a permit faces a fine of 100,000 baht per worker for a first offence, rising to 200,000 baht per worker with possible imprisonment for a repeat offence, plus a bar on hiring foreigners. Always confirm current figures with the Ministry of Labour or a licensed Thai lawyer, since fines are periodically revised.
They change different things. BOI promotion does not exempt a company from the prohibited-occupations list itself — it fast-tracks visas and work permits, and relaxes the separate 4-Thai-employees-per-foreigner ratio, for occupations that are already open to foreigners. The US-Thailand Treaty of Amity lets qualifying American-majority-owned companies operate in sectors otherwise reserved under the Foreign Business Act — a different law from the one on this page — and does not itself unlock the 27 absolutely prohibited occupations. Neither instrument turns a hairdresser, a tour guide or a legal advocate role into work a foreigner may lawfully take.
The Ministry of Labour publishes its own summary at mol.go.th, and the government's public information portal at thailand.go.th carries a citizen-facing version. Because Ministerial Notifications are revised more often than primary legislation, and because this page could not retrieve the Notification's original Royal Gazette PDF directly, confirm the current wording with the Ministry of Labour, the Department of Employment (กรมการจัดหางาน), or a licensed Thai lawyer before relying on it for a specific hiring decision.
Working legally in Thailand starts with the right visa
Once your occupation and employer are squared away, the next decision is usually where to live near the office or the BTS/MRT.
Sources & References
- ILO NATLEX — official record of the Royal Decree Stipulating Occupations and Professions Prohibited to Aliens, B.E. 2522 (1979). Adopted 11 May 1979. NATLEX records that this decree replaced three earlier Royal Decrees on the same subject (1973, 1976 and 1977) and lists 39 occupations and professions, operating under the (since-superseded) Alien Work Permit Act of 1978.
- Ministry of Labour, Kingdom of Thailand (mol.go.th) — the ministry's own page on occupations prohibited to foreigners, restating the Royal Decree B.E. 2522 framework and the Cabinet resolution permitting Myanmar, Lao and Cambodian nationals to work as labourers and domestic helpers.
- Thailand.go.th — the Prime Minister's Office / Government Public Relations Department's official information portal, page on work absolutely forbidden to foreigners, citing the Ministry of Labour Notification and stating the 5,000-50,000 baht fine plus deportation for unauthorised work.
- Library of the National Assembly of Thailand (library.parliament.go.th) — radio-script briefing on work forbidden to foreigners, dating the operative Ministry of Labour Notification to 1 April 2020 (B.E. 2563) and setting out its four-category structure: 27 occupations absolutely forbidden, 3 forbidden except under treaty/MRA, 8 forbidden except with an employer sponsor, and 2 forbidden except under a bilateral government arrangement.
- ThaiLawOnline — summary of penalties under the Royal Emergency Decree on the Administration of Foreign Workers' Employment B.E. 2560 (2017), as amended B.E. 2561 (2018): the current operative law on work-permit and prohibited-occupation enforcement, replacing the older Working of Aliens Act.
Primary and official sources are cited above. Government rules, fees and procedures in Thailand change over time and vary by office; always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before relying on them. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.
General information only — not legal or immigration advice. Occupation restrictions, work-permit rules and penalties are set by Royal Decree, Ministerial Notification and Emergency Decree, are revised over time, and are applied case by case. Confirm current details with the Ministry of Labour, the Department of Employment, the BOI, or a licensed Thai lawyer before relying on anything here. BAANLYY never takes paid placement.
