Employment Lawyer in Chiang Mai for Employers
Employment law advice in Chiang Mai, for employers. We help companies in Thailand hire, discipline and terminate staff under Thai law, and we act for the employer before the labour inspector and in the Labour Court.
Our clients are companies with Thai and foreign staff whose management works in English. We give our advice in English, in writing, with the statutory references, and we prepare everything that is filed in Thai. Enquiries on employment matters receive a reply the same working day.
Three things employers find out late
They are the reason most dismissals in Thailand cost more than they should.
Your employment contract does not decide the position. The Labour Protection Act does, and it prevails over what you agreed.
An employee with seven years of service is owed 240 days of wages as severance, roughly eight months, and it is due on the day the employment ends, not at the end of the payroll month.
An employer who wilfully fails to pay without reasonable cause owes interest of 15 percent a year, and a further 15 percent of the unpaid sum for every seven days it remains unpaid. A negotiation that runs for two months can cost more than the claim.
What we do
A first consultation on a specific employment question, in English, with our written view of the position and what you should do next.
We advise on how an allegation is investigated, recorded and put to the employee, so that whatever follows can be defended.
We identify the ground available to you, what you will have to prove, and what is payable and when. We prepare the warning letters, the letter of termination, and the settlement and release.
We review your work rules, employment contracts, probation terms and personnel files against the law as it now stands, and prepare replacements in English and Thai.
For companies that prefer advice before decisions are taken. We review documents, answer questions as they arise, and keep your work rules current as the law changes.
We represent you when a labour inspector calls you in, and we act for the employer in the Labour Court.
Before you end an employment
Most of the difficulty in a Thai dismissal is not the decision. It is the record.
You need three things. A ground that the law recognises. Evidence that supports it. The correct payment, made on the correct date.
We look at those before the letter is issued rather than after. If the dismissal has already happened and gone wrong, we tell you. Most disputes here do not begin in court. They begin with a letter from a labour inspector, which is the faster route and the one your employees are most likely to use. A claim may be brought for ten years, which is why we also advise on what you keep and for how long.
What changed in December 2025
If your work rules and employment contracts were written before December 2025, they no longer state the law correctly.
Rose to 120 days, with 60 days paid at full wages.
A new leave of up to 15 days at half wages.
A new leave of up to 15 days at full wages, and it applies to spouses of the same sex.
Contributions were due to start on 1 October 2026: if you employ ten or more people and do not maintain a provident fund, you and each employee pay 0.25 percent of wages, rising to 0.50 percent from October 2031. On 1 October 2026 the Ministry of Labour announced a deferral of about six months because of the floods. No new start date has been published yet. Do not change your payroll until it is, and ask us if you are unsure.
Ten employees is also the point at which you must file work rules. Several obligations arrive together, and most companies pass that line without noticing.
How we work
Four steps from the first email to the written advice.
You send us the facts and the documents: the contract, the work rules, the letter you received, the personnel file. We begin by establishing the facts, because a question about termination cannot be answered from the statute alone.
Once the position is clear we agree the fee in writing, and only then does the work begin.
Our advice is given in writing, in English, with the relevant statutory references, so that it can be placed before a board or a parent company without further translation.
The documents that are filed and served are prepared in Thai. We act for companies throughout Thailand by correspondence, email and video call, and file in the province where the matter belongs.
How much does it cost?
A first consultation on a specific question is a fixed fee. Document reviews, dismissals and court work are quoted after we have seen the record.
We agree the fee in writing before any work begins, and we tell you early if the record does not support the decision you want to take.
Who we work with
Foreign owned companies employing Thai staff. International schools and language schools. Hotels, resorts and restaurant groups. Manufacturers promoted by the Board of Investment. Technology companies and agencies.
Owner managed businesses with five to thirty staff.
What do you need from me?
The employment contract, the work rules, the probation terms and the personnel file of the employee concerned.
The letter you received, or the conduct you are concerned about, in your own words, with dates. We would rather have too much than too little.
The outcome you are hoping for, and the date by which you need to decide. We tell you whether the record supports it.
Email info@aphiwatlaw.com, use the contact page, or call 064 932 1365. Enquiries on employment matters receive a reply the same working day.
Who will handle my matter?
Aphiwat Bualoi is a Thai lawyer licensed by the Lawyers Council of Thailand and Managing Partner of Aphiwat Bualoi Law Office Co., Ltd. He handles the employment work of this office himself, from the first consultation to the Labour Court.
In his first years of practice he sat on the Employment Law Committee of LAWASIA, the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific. He writes the firm’s employment law notes below, each one built on the Labour Protection Act and the Supreme Court judgments that apply it. LinkedIn profile.
On 11 June 2026 we hosted about 40 Chiang Mai business owners at our office, and Aphiwat Bualoi spoke about business opportunities in Chiang Mai. Many of the companies we act for employ between five and thirty staff and meet the ten-employee line, where work rules, the Employee Welfare Fund and other duties arrive together. That is the point where most of our employer clients first call us.
Questions employers ask
Not for every termination. An employer may end an employment on notice with severance paid, without any warning. A written warning matters when you intend to rely on the employee’s conduct to avoid paying severance under Section 119, because the Act requires a prior written warning for repeated breaches and the warning is valid for one year. Even a lawful termination can still be challenged as unfair, so the record matters in both cases.
There is no probation rule in the Act. The 120 days is the point at which severance becomes payable. Before it, severance is not due, but advance notice still is. If notice is not given correctly, the employer must pay in lieu of notice. The employee can also still bring an unfair dismissal claim. A signed “probation not completed” form does not settle the matter on its own.
Very likely, yes. Sending an employee home before her resignation takes effect turns her resignation into your termination. At minimum the wages to the end of the notice period are owed, and if her service qualifies, severance as well.
Proceedings begin with conciliation, and most claims end there. If they proceed, the court decides on the documents and the witnesses. It does not generally order the losing side to pay the other side’s legal costs. Whether to settle depends on the record you hold, which is why we ask to see it before advising either way.
The company is the employer, and the claim is against the company. The Act does, however, contain provisions under which directors and managers can face liability for offences committed by the company, including non-payment of wages. The limited company does not close that door entirely.
Length of service runs to the last day of employment. If the employee works through the notice period, that time counts. If you pay in lieu and end the employment at once, it does not.
An employee may take sick leave for as long as actually sick, with pay for up to 30 working days a year. There is no reduced entitlement in the first year. A medical certificate may be required for absences of three days or more, and only where the days are consecutive.
No statute requires a bonus. It is a matter of contract or custom. A bonus paid every year without conditions can, over time, become a term of the employment, so how it is paid matters as much as whether it is paid.
The label does not decide the question. Where the company controls the work and pays for the person’s time, the relationship is employment and the Act applies whatever the contract calls it.
Wage deductions are restricted by the Act to a short list of cases. Recovering an overpayment is not on that list unless the employee consents in writing. Deducting without consent creates a second claim on top of the first.
Employment law notes
Notes on Thai employment law, written for companies and their management.
Here is what employers have to do. Which changes are in force, which are coming, and which are being reported as if they had already happened.
The two routes a labour claim can take against you. Different powers, different deadlines and different costs.
The three bills Thai employers confuse. Thai law gives a dismissed employee up to three separate claims, and your bookkeeper only knows one of them.
What our clients say
Google reviews from company clients, first names only.
“I recently worked with Aphiwat Law Firm and cannot recommend him highly enough. His expertise in corporate law helped our company navigate complex legal matters and ensure compliance with all applicable regulations. He communicated complex legal matters in English for our team, which was greatly appreciated.”
“Excellent group of attorneys, strong in both personal and corporate matters. They will continue to be our go-to firm based on their careful listening, legal research and knowledge, pragmatism, and skills in both mediation and litigation.”
“We cooperate with Aphiwat Law Firm on our Thai clients. We get strong legal expertise and a trustworthy approach. We strongly recommend this law firm.”
“Aphiwat responded to my enquiry promptly in English. I got what I needed the following day. On the second evening I needed his help further. Again he responded promptly after office hours and provided what I needed the following day.”
“Working with Aphiwat has been a complete pleasure. His very practical knowledge of Thai law covers most business and personal needs. Very upfront and professional at all times, which makes him a good partner in any legal adventure in Thailand.”
Where are you?
Aphiwat Bualoi Law Office Co., Ltd., Room 3i, third floor, Siriphanich Building, 191 Huay Kaew Road, Suthep, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai 50200.
We act for companies throughout Thailand. Employment work is done by correspondence, email and video call, and we file in the province where the matter belongs.
Email info@aphiwatlaw.com. Call 064 932 1365. LINE and WhatsApp on the contact page.
About the firm
Aphiwat Bualoi Law Office Co., Ltd. is registered in Thailand under number 0505564002453, with five of us in central Chiang Mai. We act as legal consultant to companies, and advise on estate planning, property, notarial services and employment.
Advice for companies and employers. We do not act for employees against their employers.
Send us the contract, the work rules and what has happened. We will tell you in the first reply whether the record supports the decision you want to take.
Send us the facts