Thailand’s first Free Trade Agreement with some European countries
Thailand has signed its first Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), an intergovernmental organization comprised of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. As the next step, the government will submit the agreement to the parliament for ratification. Once ratified, the relevant authorities will issue sub-regulations to comply with the FTA. The entire process is expected to take approx. 1 year.
https://www.nationthailand.com/business/economy/40043751
Tax incentive for companies in the Special Economic Zone
The Cabinet has approved, in principle, tax measures for companies or juristic partnerships operating within a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and engaging in targeted businesses, as designated by the Special Economic Zone Development Policy Committee. Eligible entities will benefit from a reduced corporate income tax rate of 10% on net profit for 10 consecutive accounting periods. However, this tax incentive applies only to income generated from:
- The production of goods within the SEZ; or
- The provision and utilization of services within the SEZ.
Currently, there are 10 SEZs in the border areas of Tak, Mukdahan, Sa Kaeo, Songkhla, Trat, Nong Khai, Narathiwat, Chiang Rai, Nakhon Phanom, and Kanchanaburi
https://www.thaigov.go.th/news/contents/details/92339
Security guard to be entitled to overtime
Under the draft Ministerial Regulations, approved in principle by the Cabinet, security guards will be entitled to overtime as follows:
| Type of overtime | Current rate
(of hourly wage) |
Proposed rate
(of hourly wage) |
| Overtime on normal working hours | 1 time | 1.25 times |
| Overtime on holidays (weekly holidays, and public holidays) | 1 time | 2.5 times |
https://www.thaipbs.or.th/news/content/348660
Amendment to the Long-Term Resident (LTR) Visa criteria
The revised criteria will amend the current LTR Visa criteria, with the key changes as follows:
| LTR Visa Category | Amendment |
| Highly skilled professionals and remote workers | Remove requirement regarding work experience |
| Highly skilled professionals | Extend the scope of the eligible professionals to cover lecturers in higher education and vocational education institutions |
| Remote workers | Reduce income requirements for the employer from USD 150 million à USD 50 million, during the past 3 years and further allow the income of the affiliated companies to be included in the calculation |
| Wealthy global citizen | Remove the income requirement of USD 80,000 per annum |
| All categories | Extend the scope of the dependants to cover parents and persons under the care of the visa holders, and remove the cap on the number of dependents |
https://www.thansettakij.com/business/economy/616926
Updates on Social Security Fund (SSF)
- Relief measures for disaster-affected areas
Insurers under SSF in the disaster-affected provinces as per the announcement of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation will benefit from a reduced social security contribution rate of 3% (from the previous 5%) for both the employers and the employees for insurers under Section 33 (employee). For voluntary insurers under Section 39 (ex-employee), the rate is reduced to THB 283 (8 €) per month (from the previous THB 432 (12 €)). Furthermore, the deadlines for the contribution submission for both types of insurers for September 2024 – December 2024 are extended for 3 months from their original dates.
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/54480.pdf
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/54479.pdf
2. Increased child support benefit
The child support benefit is increased to THB 1,000 ( 27 € ) per month (from the previous THB 800 ( 22 €) ) until the child reaches the age of 6 years and for up to 3 children at a time.
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/54513.pdf
3. Extended the deadline for the submission of contributions via e-payment
Social security contributions via the e-payment system will have an extended deadline from the 15th of every month to the 22nd (7-day extension).
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/54509.pdf
Solar rooftop to be exempted from requiring a factory license
Installation of Solar rooftop powerplants regardless of their capacity will now be exempted from a factory license requirement. However, they are still subject to the permit/license requirements under the Building Control Act and the Energy Industry Act.
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/55768.pdf
Increased minimum wage
The new minimum wage was effective from 1 January 2025 onward. Employees in Chachoengsao, Chonburi, Phuket, Rayong, and Koh Samui district of Surat Thani are entitled to the highest minimum wage of THB 400 ( 11 €) per day. The areas with the lowest minimum wages are Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, with a minimum wage of THB 337 (9 €) per day.
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/55781.pdf
Relief measures for disaster-affected BOI-promoted companies
The BOI issued an announcement to support promoted businesses affected by floods from 2024 onward. The details are as follows:
- Timeline for application:
- Past flood: Within 6 months after the date of this announcement (1 November 2024);
- Current and future flood: Within 6 months after the flood has receded;
- Key benefits
- Import Duty Exemption: On new or used (up to 10 years old) machinery replacing damaged equipment.
- Decommissioning: Damaged machinery can be removed without tax liabilities.
- Increase Production Capacity: Approval for increased production based on newly acquired machinery.
- Raw Material Write-Off: Losses due to flooding can be written off without tax liabilities.
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/50137.pdf
Revised foreign company’s land holding criteria for executives
Under the new announcement of the BOI, foreign companies will no longer be able to own land for residential use for executives or specialists. Other conditions remain unchanged.
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/50150.pdf
ROPA exemptions for SMEs
In addition to the similar regulations for data controllers, the Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC) issued an announcement regarding the businesses that are exempted from having to produce a full version of the record of processing activities (ROPA) for data processor, and broadens the scope of exemptions.
The key changes are summarized below, which apply to both data controllers and data processors:
| Topics | Original (only for data controller) | Revised |
| Exempted businesses |
– SMEs – Community enterprise or community enterprise network – Social enterprise or social enterprise network – Cooperatives, cooperative associations or farmer groups – Foundations, associations, religious organisations or non-profit private organisations – Household businesses or other businesses of a similar nature |
– SMEs – Community enterprise or community enterprise network – Social enterprise or social enterprise network – Cooperatives, cooperative associations or farmer groups – Foundations, associations, religious organisations or non-profit private organisations – Household businesses or other businesses of a similar nature – Condominium juristic persons or housing estate juristic persons – Businesses operated by a data controller who is an individual |
| Additional conditions |
The exempted business must not be a service provider that is required to keep computer traffic data under the Computer Crime Act |
The condition is removed and replace by: The exempted business must not be entities that are required to employ a data protection officer as per Section 41 (1), 2, and (3) are not subject to this exemption |
|
The exemption does not apply in the case where: 1. The collection, use, or disclosure of personal data poses a risk of infringing the rights and freedoms of the data subject; 2. The entity is not a business that only occasionally collects, uses, or discloses personal data occasionally; or 3. The business collects, uses or discloses personal data under Section 26 (sensitive personal data) *In case the personal data activities (collect, use, disclose) of the exempted business fall under points 1-3, they will be required to have a full ROPA for such activities (not for the whole business). |
Remain unchanged |
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/55857.pdf
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/55856.pdf
Top-Up Tax
The Emergency Decree on Top-up Tax applies only to Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) whose Ultimate Parent Entity (UPE) has a consolidated financial statement of at least 750 million € for at least two out of the four accounting periods preceding the relevant accounting period. Under the Decree, MNEs will be subject to a top-up tax if their Thai effective tax rate falls below 15%. However, the specific details regarding tax collection and procedural implementation are still pending further sub-regulations.
