Work Permits and Visas for Company Owners and Staff in Thailand (2026 Guide).

The short version: a visa and a work permit are two different things

This is the mistake that costs foreigners the most: assuming that a visa lets you work. It does not. To work legally in Thailand, including in a company you own, you need two documents that come from two different government bodies. A visa lets you stay. A work permit lets you work.

Getting both is a normal, well-trodden process, but it has rules that catch new business owners off guard, especially the requirement to employ Thai staff and to hold enough registered capital. This guide explains how the two documents fit together, what your company needs to sponsor a foreigner, and the faster routes that exist in 2026. It is the bridge between setting up a company in Thailand and actually working in it.

Visa versus work permit

The two documents do different jobs.

• A Non-Immigrant B visa (the "Non-B") is permission to enter and stay in Thailand for business or employment. It is issued by a Thai embassy abroad or, in some cases, converted inside Thailand.
• A work permit is permission to do the actual work. It is issued by the Department of Employment under the Ministry of Labour, and it ties you to a specific employer, job title, duties, and place of work.

You need both, and the usual order is the Non-B first, then the work permit, then a one-year extension of stay built on top of them. Change jobs and the work permit has to change with you, because it is linked to that one employer.

What a company needs to sponsor a foreigner

A foreigner does not get a work permit on their own. A Thai company sponsors it, and the company has to meet conditions before it can. For a standard, non-BOI company, two rules dominate.

• The 4:1 ratio. A company generally needs four Thai employees for each foreign work permit it sponsors. This is the rule that surprises solo founders: to give yourself a work permit through an ordinary company, you usually need four Thai staff on the books.
• Registered capital. The company generally needs around 2 million THB of registered, paid-up capital per foreign work permit (or around 1 million THB if the foreigner is married to a Thai national). Confirm the current figures with the Department of Employment, since they vary by case.

In practice these two rules are checked at different points. The Ministry of Labour anchors the work permit on the capital, while the Thai-staff ratio is enforced by Immigration when you extend the one-year visa. The effect is the same: a standard company that wants to keep a foreigner working and staying needs both the capital and the Thai employees. There are also minimum salary levels that vary by the foreigner's nationality, applied when the permit and visa extension are processed.

This is also why registering the company comes first. The company is what sponsors the permit, so it has to exist, have the capital, and ideally have its Thai staff before the work permit application makes sense.

The BOI shortcut

If your company is promoted by the Board of Investment, the picture changes. BOI-promoted companies are not bound by the 4:1 Thai-staff ratio. Instead, the number of foreign positions is agreed with the BOI based on the promoted project.

On top of that, BOI companies use the One-Stop Service Center, which puts the BOI, the Immigration Bureau, and the Department of Employment in one place and processes visas and work permits on a fast track, often far quicker than the standard route. For a company bringing in several foreign specialists, this alone is a strong reason to look at BOI. BOI promotion also comes with its own salary and Thai-headcount criteria for these fast-tracked permits, which the BOI sets and updates.

The process and timeline

For a standard company, the path looks like this:

1. Get the Non-B visa. This usually starts with the company issuing an employment offer and supporting documents, often with a pre-approval (the WP.3) from the Ministry of Labour, then the visa is issued by a Thai embassy abroad or converted in Thailand.
2. Apply for the work permit. With the Non-B and the company's documents (registration, VAT, social security, shareholder list, and financials), the Department of Employment issues the work permit.
3. Extend the stay. With the work permit in hand, you apply to Immigration for a one-year extension of stay.

On timing, a Non-B from an embassy abroad is often issued within a few working days, while an in-country conversion can take a few weeks. The work permit itself usually takes one to two weeks after submission. A brand-new company sometimes receives a shorter first work permit (three to six months) before it is renewed for a full year.

Staying compliant

Getting the documents is the start, not the end. Three recurring duties matter most:

• 90-day reporting. Any foreigner staying 90 days or more must report their address to Immigration, within a window from 15 days before to 7 days after the due date. The clock resets each time you leave and re-enter the country. After the first report you can usually file online through the Immigration Bureau's TM.47 system, and late filing carries a fine.
• Re-entry permit. A single-entry visa or extension is cancelled the moment you leave Thailand without a re-entry permit. If you travel, get the re-entry permit first, at Immigration or the airport.
• Renewals. The work permit and the one-year extension run on annual renewals, with the 90-day reports continuing in between.

For the full picture of the immigration side, see immigration and visa services in Thailand.

Bringing your family

A foreigner working in Thailand can usually bring a spouse and children. They apply for a Non-Immigrant O (dependent) visa, supported by a legalised marriage certificate or birth certificate, and then extend their stay in line with the main work-permit holder. A dependent visa does not allow the holder to work: a spouse who wants a job needs their own Non-B and work permit. See dependent and family visas for the detail.

The newer visa routes

Not everyone has to use the company-sponsored Non-B route. A few longer-term visas now suit specific situations:

• The LTR (Long-Term Resident) visa, administered by the BOI, runs for up to ten years and covers wealthy individuals, pensioners, remote professionals, and highly skilled workers. For the highly skilled and some other categories it includes a digital work permit, exempts the holder from the 4:1 ratio, and offers a flat personal income tax rate. See the official LTR programme site and Justenda's BOI visa page.
• The DTV (Destination Thailand Visa) is a five-year visa for remote workers earning from outside Thailand. It is important to be clear: the DTV does not grant a Thai work permit and does not allow you to work for a Thai employer. It suits digital nomads, not someone running a Thai company.
• The SMART visa targets specialists, investors, executives, and startup founders in promoted industries, and removes the need for a separate work permit for qualifying roles.

Which of these fits depends on your income, your role, and whether you are working for a Thai company or a foreign one.

When a visa agent or lawyer helps

Routine Non-B and work permit renewals are something a good visa agency handles efficiently, and many founders simply outsource the paperwork and the 90-day reporting. The judgement calls (whether to build a company with four Thai staff, go the BOI route, or use an LTR visa) are where a lawyer or immigration specialist earns their fee, because the right answer depends on your specific business and family situation.

When you are ready, compare work permit and visa services and immigration lawyers on Justenda, message them directly, and get a fee quote before you commit.

A note on what this guide is

This is general information to help you understand work permits and visas, not legal or immigration advice, and the rules, fees, and salary levels change and vary by office and nationality. Confirm the current requirements with the Department of Employment, the Immigration Bureau, or a qualified Thai professional before you rely on any of it for your situation.