The short answer
If your employer ends your job and you have worked there for at least 120 days in a row, you are owed severance pay unless you were dismissed for one of six serious reasons listed in the law. The amount is fixed by how long you worked and your last wage rate. It is a legal minimum, so it applies even if your contract says nothing about it.
Severance is only one of the payments that fall due when a job ends. This table shows the full set and where each one comes from in the Labor Protection Act B.E. 2541.
| Payment | When it is owed | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Severance pay | The employer ends the job after 120 days or more of unbroken service, and no section 119 ground applies | 118 |
| Pay in place of notice | The employer ends an open-ended contract without the written notice the law requires | 17 and 17/1 |
| Wages, overtime and holiday pay earned | Always, up to the last day worked | 70 |
| Pay for unused annual leave | On termination or resignation, as explained in section 05 below | 67 |
| Special severance pay | The workplace moves, or jobs are cut because of new machinery or technology | 120, 121 and 122 |
Source: Labor Protection Act B.E. 2541 with amendments, Department of Labor Protection and Welfare print of August 2024, read 14 November 2026.
The Act covers employees in general. It defines an employee as a person who agrees to work for an employer in return for wages, whatever the job is called, and that definition has no nationality test. If you are a foreigner on a Thai employment contract, the same table applies to you. For the permit side of working here, see working in Thailand and work permits in Thailand.
The severance pay table
Section 118 sets six steps. Each step is a minimum number of days of pay at your last wage rate. The service must be continuous, and the step you are on is the one you have completed on the day the job ends.
| Unbroken service | Minimum severance pay |
|---|---|
| 120 days but less than 1 year | 30 days of wages |
| 1 year but less than 3 years | 90 days of wages |
| 3 years but less than 6 years | 180 days of wages |
| 6 years but less than 10 years | 240 days of wages |
| 10 years but less than 20 years | 300 days of wages |
| 20 years or more | 400 days of wages |
Source: Labor Protection Act B.E. 2541, section 118 paragraph one, items (1) to (6). The 400-day step was added by Act No. 7 B.E. 2562 (2019). Read 14 November 2026.
What the steps mean in practice. Someone let go after four years is on the third step and is owed at least 180 days of pay, which for a monthly salary is roughly six months. Someone let go after eleven months is owed 30 days. Someone let go after 100 days is below the first step and is owed no severance, though notice and final pay still apply.
What counts as wages. The Act defines wages as the money the employer and employee agree as pay for work during normal working time, by the hour, day, week, month or by output, and it includes pay for holidays and leave days. Whether a regular allowance or commission is part of that wage is decided on the facts of each job, and it is one of the most common points of argument in a severance claim. Keep your payslips.
What counts as termination. Section 118 defines it broadly: any act by which the employer stops letting the employee work and stops paying wages, whether because the contract ended or for any other reason. It also covers the case where you cannot work and are not paid because the employer can no longer run the business. A company that closes its doors has terminated its staff for severance purposes.
Workers paid by output. For an employee paid per unit of work, each step is measured as the wages of the last 30, 90, 180, 240, 300 or 400 days worked.
Notice and pay in place of notice
Notice is a separate right from severance, and you can be owed both. Section 17 sets the rule, and it depends on the kind of contract you have.
| Your contract | Notice the law requires |
|---|---|
| Fixed period, and it runs out on its date | None. The contract ends when its period ends. |
| No fixed period (most permanent jobs) | Written notice given at or before one payday, to take effect on the next payday. Notice never has to be longer than three months. |
| Probation | The same as a contract with no fixed period. The Act treats a probation contract as one. |
| Dismissal on a section 119 ground | None. |
Source: Labor Protection Act B.E. 2541, section 17. Read 14 November 2026.
The payday rule is worth reading twice. Say you are paid on the last day of each month. Written notice handed to you on 10 June is given before the 30 June payday, so it takes effect on the payday after that one: the contract ends on 31 July. Notice handed to you on 30 June itself ends the contract on the same date. In practice you are owed at least one full pay period of notice and often close to two.
An employer who wants you gone today has two lawful ways to do it. It can give notice and pay your wages up to the date the notice would end, then release you at once. Or it can skip the notice, in which case section 17/1 requires it to pay the wages you would have received from the day you leave until the day proper notice would have taken effect, and to pay that sum on the day you leave.
The notice rule works in both directions. An employee who resigns from an open-ended contract owes the employer the same written notice.
Cases where no severance is due
There are three situations in which an employer does not owe severance: you resigned, your true fixed-term contract ran out, or you were dismissed on one of the grounds in section 119.
The six grounds in section 119. The employer need not pay severance to an employee dismissed for:
- Dishonesty in their duties, or an intentional criminal offense against the employer.
- Willfully causing damage to the employer.
- Negligence that causes the employer serious damage.
- Breaking the work rules or a lawful and fair order after the employer has given a written warning. In a serious case no warning is needed. A written warning stays in force for no more than one year from the day of the offense.
- Abandoning their duties for three working days in a row without good reason, whether or not a holiday falls in between.
- Being sentenced to prison by a final judgment. If the offense was one of negligence or a petty offense, it must also have caused damage to the employer.
The employer must say why, at the time. The last paragraph of section 119 protects employees from reasons invented later. If the employer does not set out the facts behind the dismissal in the termination letter, or does not tell you the reason when it dismisses you, it cannot raise that reason afterwards. Ask for the termination in writing and keep the letter.
Fixed-term contracts are a narrow exception. Section 118 says the severance table does not apply to an employee hired for a definite period whose job ends on that date. The same section then limits what counts. A definite period is allowed only for a special project that is not the employer's normal business and has a clear start and end, for occasional work with a set end or completion, or for seasonal work done in its season. The work must be finished within two years, and the contract must be made in writing when the job starts. A one-year contract for an ordinary role in the employer's everyday business does not fit that description, so the end of such a contract is a termination under the broad definition in section 118.
Resignation. Severance is for employees whose job the employer ends. If you hand in a resignation, you are not terminated. Read anything you are asked to sign on your last day: a resignation letter and a termination letter lead to very different sums.
Final pay, unused leave and the deadlines
The Act puts short deadlines on the money owed at the end of a job, and it attaches a cost to missing them.
| Money | Deadline | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Wages, overtime, holiday pay and other money due under the Act | Within three days of the termination date | 70 |
| Pay in place of notice | On the day you are let go | 17/1 |
| Special severance after a workplace move | Within seven days of the day the contract ends | 120 |
Source: Labor Protection Act B.E. 2541. Read 14 November 2026.
Unused annual leave. Section 67 has two parts. If the employer ends your job for a reason outside section 119, it must pay for the annual leave of that year in proportion to what you had earned. And whichever side ends the contract, and whether or not section 119 applies, the employer must pay for the accumulated annual leave you were entitled to carry.
Interest and the surcharge. Under section 9, an employer that does not pay severance, pay in place of notice, wages or the other sums listed there on time owes interest at 15 percent a year for the period of default. If the employer holds the money back on purpose and without good reason, then once seven days have passed from the due date it owes an extra 15 percent of the unpaid amount for every seven days. An employer that is ready to pay can stop both running by depositing the money with the Director-General of the department.
Those numbers give you something concrete to put in a written demand. A short, polite letter that names sections 70, 118 and 9 is a sensible first step before you file a complaint.
Workplace moves, technology cuts and retirement
Three special cases have their own rules on top of the table.
The workplace moves (section 120). An employer that plans to move a workplace to a new site must post a notice where staff can see it, for at least 30 days before the move, saying who will move, where and when. If the move would seriously affect the normal life of you or your family and you do not want to go, tell the employer in writing within 30 days of the notice being posted, or within 30 days of the move if no notice was posted. Your contract then ends on the day of the move and you are owed special severance of no less than the section 118 amount, payable within seven days. If the employer posted no notice, it also owes 30 days of wages in place of that notice. An employer that disputes your reason must apply to the Labor Welfare Committee within 30 days, and the committee has 60 days to decide.
Jobs cut because of machinery or technology (sections 121 and 122). When an employer cuts staff because it is reorganizing around new machinery or technology, it must tell the labor inspector and the affected employees at least 60 days ahead, with the date, the reason and the names. If it does not, it owes 60 days of wages in place of notice, on top of normal severance. An employee with more than six years of service also gets extra special severance of at least 15 days of wages for each full year worked, up to 360 days in total. A part-year of more than 180 days counts as a full year for this sum.
Retirement (section 118/1). Retirement at an age agreed with the employer, or set by the employer, is treated as a termination, so the severance table applies. If no retirement age is agreed, or the agreed age is above 60, an employee aged 60 or more may tell the employer they are retiring. That takes effect 30 days later and the employer must pay severance under section 118. Planning to stay in Thailand after work ends is a separate question, covered in retiring in Thailand.
Claiming what you are owed
You do not need a lawyer to start. The Act gives employees an administrative route through the labor inspector, and the Labor Court sits behind it.
- Collect the paper. Your contract, payslips, the termination letter or message, and anything showing your start date. If you were told verbally, write down the date, the words and who was present.
- Ask in writing. Send the employer a dated request listing each sum: severance under section 118, pay in place of notice, final wages and leave pay.
- File with the labor inspector (section 123). You may file where you work or where the employer is based, on the department's form. The Ministry of Labor lists four channels: hotline 1506 (press 3), hotline 1546, the provincial or area labor protection and welfare office, and the online form Kor Ror 7 at eservice.labour.go.th.
- The inspector decides (section 124). The inspector must investigate and issue an order within 60 days of receiving the complaint. An extension of up to 30 more days is possible with reasons. If the inspector finds you are owed money, the order tells the employer to pay it.
- Either side may go to court (section 125). A party unhappy with the order has 30 days from learning of it to bring the case to court. After that the order is final. An employer that sues must first deposit the amount of the order with the court.
Unfair dismissal is a separate claim. Severance is owed whether or not the dismissal was fair. If you believe it was unfair, section 49 of the Labor Court Act B.E. 2522 lets the Labor Court order the employer to take you back at the same wage, or, where the two sides can no longer work together, to pay damages set by reference to your age, your length of service, the hardship caused, the reason for the dismissal and the severance you are due. The Ministry of Labor's public answers add that a legal officer at the Labor Court helps employees write the claim and that there is no cost for doing so. We read section 49 on a law office's reprint, not on a government site, and name it in the sources.
A complaint to the inspector covers money owed under the Labor Protection Act. Claims for contract bonuses, share plans or damages beyond the Act belong in the Labor Court, and for those a Thai employment lawyer is worth the fee.
Unemployment benefit from Social Security
Severance comes from your employer. Unemployment benefit is a separate payment from the Social Security Fund, for insured employees who meet the conditions the Social Security Office sets:
- Contributions paid for at least 6 months within the 15 months before you became unemployed.
- Unemployed for 8 days or more.
- Registered as unemployed through the Department of Employment's website, e-service.doe.go.th. Register within 30 days of the end of the job and the benefit runs from the 8th day of unemployment. Register later and it runs only from the day you register.
- Report in as scheduled, at least once a month.
- Not dismissed for a serious fault. The Office's list is similar to section 119 but not identical: it names abandoning work for 7 working days in a row, where the labor law says 3.
| Why the job ended | Rate | Longest period in a year |
|---|---|---|
| Laid off by the employer | 60 percent of average wages, up from 50 percent | 180 days |
| Resigned, or a fixed-term contract ran out | 30 percent of average wages | 90 days |
Sources: Social Security Office conditions page dated 3 October 2024 (conditions, 30 percent and day limits); Government Public Relations Department notice of 16 July 2025 (60 percent for a layoff under a new ministerial regulation). Read 14 November 2026.
The benefit is worked out on a capped wage, so it is modest for higher earners. The July 2025 notice put the most a laid-off worker could receive at 9,000 baht a month, or 54,000 baht over 180 days. The cap comes from the wage ceiling used for contributions, which the Office's page gives as 15,000 baht a month, so confirm the current figure on hotline 1506 before you budget around it. The Office's own conditions page still showed the older 50 percent rate on the day we read it.
Claims are made on form Sor Por Sor 2-01/7 at a Social Security office. How the Fund works for foreign employees, including health cover and the old-age payment, is in our guide to Social Security in Thailand.
Income tax on severance pay
Severance paid under labor protection law has its own income tax exemption. In a press release of 19 June 2024 the Revenue Department set out the current limit:
| Point | Rule |
|---|---|
| Exempt amount | The part that does not exceed your wages for the last 400 days of work, and not more than 600,000 baht |
| Previous limit | Wages for the last 300 days, and not more than 300,000 baht |
| Applies to | Income received from 1 January 2023 onward |
| Not covered | Severance received because of retirement or because a contract period ended |
Source: Revenue Department press release 20/2567, 19 June 2024. Read 14 November 2026.
The same release says a person who already paid tax on severance inside the new limit can claim it back by filing an amended return within three years. The release covers severance under labor protection law only. It does not mention pay in place of notice, final wages or leave pay. For how employment income is taxed and how refunds work, see personal income tax for foreigners, Thai tax for expats and getting a tax refund in Thailand.
Your visa, your work permit and your lease
For a foreign employee, losing a job in Thailand sets two more clocks running: the right to stay and the rent.
Work permit and Immigration. The Board of Investment's Smart Visa unit states that after leaving a workplace a foreigner must return the work permit to the Office of Employment for their area within 15 days. It also describes the Immigration step for people outside the BOI system: a letter to the Immigration Bureau giving the date the employment ended, and the passport, in which an officer places an employment termination stamp. If the letter gives no date, the date of the letter is used.
How long you can stay afterwards. No official page we could open on 14 November 2026 states a number of days, so we do not give one. A permission to stay that was granted because of a job depends on that job. Speak to Immigration, or to the employer's visa agent, before your last working day, and settle the last day in writing with the employer so that the letter to Immigration carries a date you have planned for. Your options for staying on a different basis are set out in the visa knowledge center.
Your lease. A Thai lease does not end because a job did. Check for a job-loss or transfer clause first. If your landlord rents out three or more homes, the consumer lease rules of B.E. 2568 let a tenant end the lease after half the term on 30 days' written notice. Otherwise you are negotiating, and a landlord will often trade an early exit for notice and part of the deposit. The steps are in breaking a lease early in Thailand, subletting a rental and getting your deposit back.
If you are staying and need a smaller rent. Severance buys time. A move to a cheaper home early in that time stretches it further, and ending a lease properly protects the deposit you will need for the next one. Employers moving staff in or out of Thailand will find the company side in corporate relocation to Thailand.
Frequently asked questions
Section 118 of the Labor Protection Act sets six steps by unbroken service: 30 days of wages after 120 days, 90 days after one year, 180 days after three years, 240 days after six years, 300 days after ten years and 400 days after twenty years. These are minimums, paid at your last wage rate, and a contract can give more but not less.
No. Section 118 covers an employee whose employment the employer ends. If you resign you keep your wages to the last day and pay for accumulated annual leave under section 67, but not severance. This is why being pressed to sign a resignation letter matters: think carefully before you sign one in place of a termination letter.
The Act defines an employee as a person who agrees to work for an employer in return for wages, whatever the title, and the definition has no nationality test. Section 118 applies to an employee whose employment is ended. A foreigner working under a Thai employment relationship is therefore inside the same severance table.
Only on one of the six grounds in section 119, such as dishonesty in your duties, willful damage, serious damage through negligence, breaking lawful work rules after a written warning, three working days of absence in a row without good reason, or a final prison sentence. The employer must state the reason in the termination letter or tell you at the time, or it cannot rely on it later.
For a contract with no fixed end, section 17 requires written notice at or before one payday, taking effect on the next payday, and never needs to be more than three months. The employer may pay your wages for the notice period and let you go at once. No notice is needed for a section 119 dismissal or when a fixed-term contract runs out.
Section 70 says wages, overtime and other money due under the Act must be paid within three days of the termination date. Pay in place of notice under section 17/1 is due on the day you are let go. Late payment carries interest at 15 percent a year under section 9.
The Revenue Department states that severance received under labor protection law is exempt from personal income tax up to the wages of your last 400 days of work and not more than 600,000 baht, for income received from 1 January 2023. Severance received because of retirement or the end of a contract period is outside that exemption.
File a complaint with the labor inspector for the area where you work or where the employer is based, under section 123. The Ministry of Labor lists hotline 1506 (press 3), hotline 1546, the provincial or area labor protection and welfare office, and an online form at eservice.labour.go.th. The inspector must investigate and issue an order within 60 days.
A home that fits a new budget
Live homes for rent with asking rents, photos and the agency that lists each one, so you can compare before you give notice.
General information only, not legal or tax advice. Employment disputes turn on their own facts, and a Thai employment lawyer or the labor inspector should review any claim that matters to you. BAANLYY LLC is a Nevada company and a listing portal: homes on this site are listed by independent owners, agents and agencies, and BAANLYY is not a party to their leases or sales. Legal rules are from the sources named below, read on 14 November 2026, and state the Labor Protection Act as printed by the Department of Labor Protection and Welfare in August 2024.
Sources
- Thai Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541 with amendments and related law (Thai, department print of August 2024, 178 pages): s.9 interest and surcharge, s.17 and s.17/1 notice, s.67 leave pay, s.70 pay within three days, s.118 severance steps, s.119 exceptions, s.120 to s.122 special severance, s.123 to s.125 complaints ↗Department of Labor Protection and Welfare, Ministry of Labor, Kingdom of Thailand (hosted by the Bangkok Area 9 office) · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Labor protection law you should know (Thai, 33 slides): the six severance steps, the six grounds for dismissal without severance, final pay within three days, agreements below the legal minimum are void ↗Bangkok Labour Protection and Welfare Office Area 8, Ministry of Labor, Kingdom of Thailand · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Labor Protection Act (No. 7) B.E. 2562, unofficial English translation: s.9, s.17/1, s.70, the 300-day and 400-day severance steps, s.120 and s.120/1 on relocation ↗ASEAN Secretariat (unofficial English translation, not a Thai government host) · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Ministry of Labor question board, replies from the ministry account (March and April 2022): complaint channels to the labor inspector (hotline 1506 press 3, hotline 1546, provincial or area office, online form Kor Ror 7 at eservice.labour.go.th) and help from a Labor Court legal officer at no cost ↗Ministry of Labor, Kingdom of Thailand · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Act on Establishment of Labor Courts and Labor Court Procedure B.E. 2522, section 49, Thai text: reinstatement at the same wage or damages for an unfair dismissal ↗Thanu Legal (reprint of the Act, not a government host) · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Conditions for unemployment benefit (Thai, page dated 3 October 2024): 6 months of contributions in 15 months, unemployed 8 days or more, register at e-service.doe.go.th within 30 days, 30 percent for up to 90 days after resignation or the end of a fixed term, form Sor Por Sor 2-01/7, hotline 1506 ↗Social Security Office, Ministry of Labor, Kingdom of Thailand · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Government notice of 16 July 2025: unemployment benefit for insured workers who are laid off raised from 50 to 60 percent of wages for up to 180 days under a new ministerial regulation, at most 9,000 baht a month at that date ↗Government Public Relations Department, Kingdom of Thailand (Radio Thailand Rayong) · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Revenue Department press release 20/2567 (19 June 2024): severance under labor protection law exempt from personal income tax up to the wages of the last 400 days and not more than 600,000 baht, for income received from 1 January 2023; severance on retirement or the end of a contract period excluded ↗Revenue Department, Ministry of Finance, Kingdom of Thailand · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Smart Visa FAQ (undated): after leaving a workplace a foreigner returns the work permit to the area Office of Employment within 15 days; the letter to the Immigration Bureau giving the termination date and the employment termination stamp in the passport ↗Smart Visa Unit, Thailand Board of Investment · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Contract Committee Notification on residential building leasing as a contract-controlled business B.E. 2568, with standard contract forms (Thai, 21-page scan): three or more units, advance rent plus deposit capped at three months, early exit after half the term on 30 days' written notice ↗Office of the Consumer Protection Board, Kingdom of Thailand · Accessed 14 November 2026
Official primary sources are listed above with the date we last checked them. Thai rules, fees, thresholds and procedures change and can be applied differently by individual offices and embassies — confirm the current requirement with the responsible authority before relying on it. General information only, not legal, tax or medical advice. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.