Can I get payslips in English from a Thai payroll provider?

What the law actually asks for

The Labour Protection Act requires an employer with ten or more employees to keep wage documents showing working days, rates and amounts paid, signed by each employee or evidenced by a bank transfer, and to keep them for at least two years. The same threshold triggers two other records that the Act explicitly says must be in Thai: the work rules and the employee register.

The official English translation of the Act attaches no language rule to the wage documents themselves. Nothing in it stops a payslip being in English, or bilingual, which is what most foreign-managed companies end up wanting: the employee reads the Thai, the owner reads the English.

What stays in Thai whatever you ask

• The monthly PND 1 and the annual PND 1 Kor (which is which).
• The monthly social security return, สปส.1-10.
• The 50 ทวิ certificate each employee receives after year end.

The Revenue Department publishes English translations of several of these forms on its English site, which helps you read what was filed, and every one of them has its own page here with the Thai and English names side by side.

What to ask for in the quote

1. English or bilingual payslips for every employee, as standard rather than as an extra.
2. A monthly payroll summary in English showing gross pay, both social security shares, tax withheld, net pay, and the total cost to the company. That last figure is the one your budget needs and the one most Thai-language reports leave you to work out.
3. Copies of each month’s filed returns and payment receipts, so you can see the filing happened rather than take it on trust.
4. Who answers employees’ questions about their pay, and in which language.

English capability is the main thing that divides the cheapest Thai payroll shops from the rest, and it is where the price difference in our payroll cost survey comes from more often than the work itself. The payroll request form has a box for Payslips in English, so each of the three firms quotes with it included and you are comparing like with like.

Related questions

• PND 1 or PND 1 Kor: which one, and when?
• How do I change accountant in Thailand without losing my books?
• Hiring your first employee in Thailand: what is the compliance checklist?

Sources

• Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, unofficial English translation by the Office of the Council of State, sections 108, 112, 114 and 115 (PDF)
• Revenue Department (English site): withholding tax forms, including P.N.D.1 and the withholding tax certificate

This is general information about how a filing works, not accounting or tax advice for your company. Confirm anything that matters against the official notice or with your accountant. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.

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