{"id":6622,"date":"2026-09-05T19:11:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T12:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/glossary\/four-to-one-ratio\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T08:40:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T01:40:27","slug":"four-to-one-ratio","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/four-to-one-ratio\/","title":{"rendered":"The 4:1 Thai-to-Foreign Employee Ratio for Business Visa Extensions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>rapport de 4 pour 1<\/strong> (ratio de 4 employ\u00e9s tha\u00eflandais pour 1, \u00e9galement \u00e9crit <em>rapport de quatre pour un<\/em> ou <em>la r\u00e8gle du 4 pour 1<\/em>) est l'exigence selon laquelle une entreprise tha\u00eflandaise doit employer quatre ressortissants tha\u00eflandais pour chaque \u00e9tranger qu'elle parraine pour un permis de travail et le permis d'un an correspondant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/extension-of-stay\/\">prorogation de s\u00e9jour<\/a>. Il s'accompagne d'un second chiffre, 2 000 000 de bahts de capital social lib\u00e9r\u00e9 par \u00e9tranger. Aucun de ces deux chiffres ne figure dans le d\u00e9cret d'urgence sur la gestion du travail des \u00e9trangers lui-m\u00eame ; ils proviennent tous deux des crit\u00e8res appliqu\u00e9s par le D\u00e9partement de l'emploi et le <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/immigration-bureau\/\">Bureau de l&#039;immigration<\/a>, c'est pourquoi elles sont appliqu\u00e9es \u00e0 chaque renouvellement plut\u00f4t qu'une seule fois.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Table des mati\u00e8res<\/h2><nav><ul><li><a href=\"#where-the-rule-comes-from\">D'o\u00f9 vient la r\u00e8gle<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#what-it-costs-and-where-companies-go-wrong\">Ce que cela co\u00fbte et l\u00e0 o\u00f9 les entreprises se trompent<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#the-numbers-and-who-is-exempt\">Les chiffres, et qui en est exempt\u00e9<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#frequently-asked-questions\">Foire aux questions<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"where-the-rule-comes-from\">D'o\u00f9 vient la r\u00e8gle<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>The ratio is an Immigration rule. It is item 2.1(5) of the criteria table annexed to Immigration Bureau Order 12\/2568 of 23 January 2025, and Immigration applies it when it grants the one-year extension of stay for business: the business must keep one foreigner to four permanent Thai employees. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/work-permit\/\">permis de travail<\/a> itself is governed by a different instrument with a different test. For an ordinary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/company-limited\/\">soci\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e0 responsabilit\u00e9 limit\u00e9e<\/a> the Department of Employment regulation of B.E. 2547 sizes the employer by capital, one permit per 2,000,000 baht of paid-up registered capital, and sets no headcount ratio for a company at all. A foreigner who wants to work here for a year needs both, which is why the two tests are so often run together. The four Thai employees must be genuine: on the payroll, paid at least the provincial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/minimum-wage\/\">salaire minimum<\/a>, immatricul\u00e9e \u00e0 la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 sociale et figurant sur le bordereau de cotisations mensuelles des mois pr\u00e9c\u00e9dents, g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement trois. Le capital doit \u00eatre lib\u00e9r\u00e9, et non simplement souscrit, et chaque ressortissant \u00e9tranger suppl\u00e9mentaire n\u00e9cessite 2 000 000 de bahts suppl\u00e9mentaires et quatre Tha\u00eflandais de plus.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Neither figure scales without limit, which matters when a company plans its third or fourth foreign hire. For a company limited the regulation works on capital, and that route is capped at ten, unless the employer paid at least 3,000,000 baht of corporate income tax last year, brought in at least 30,000,000 baht of foreign currency from exports, brought at least 5,000 foreign visitors as a tourism business, or employs at least 100 Thai nationals. The four Thai employees are no part of that regulation for a company: the only headcount route it contains, one foreigner per four Thai employees and not more than three, is clause 6, which applies where the employer is a natural person. The ratio a company meets is the Immigration one above. The criteria are clause 5 of the Department of Employment Regulation on the criteria for considering permission for aliens to work B.E. 2547. It was made under the older Working of Alien Act, and the Emergency Decree of 2017 keeps existing subordinate rules in force so far as they do not conflict with it and until rules made under it replace them.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>La r\u00e9duction de moiti\u00e9 s'applique lorsque l'\u00e9tranger est mari\u00e9 \u00e0 un ressortissant tha\u00eflandais : deux employ\u00e9s tha\u00eflandais et 1 000 000 de bahts, pour le permis de ce conjoint uniquement. Une entreprise op\u00e9rant dans le cadre du Trait\u00e9 d'amiti\u00e9 a besoin de 3 000 000 de bahts. Les entreprises b\u00e9n\u00e9ficiant de la promotion du BOI n'ont pas du tout \u00e0 respecter ce ratio, puisque le BOI approuve directement leurs postes pour \u00e9trangers.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-it-costs-and-where-companies-go-wrong\">Ce que cela co\u00fbte et l\u00e0 o\u00f9 les entreprises se trompent<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>Le co\u00fbt r\u00e9el d'un permis.<\/strong> Quatre employ\u00e9s tha\u00eflandais au salaire minimum de Bangkok de 400 bahts par jour repr\u00e9sentent 48 000 bahts par mois de salaires, plus la part patronale de la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 sociale, avant tout frais de bureau ou de comptabilit\u00e9. Ce chiffre, et non les frais gouvernementaux de 3 000 bahts, est le prix d'un permis avec parrainage personnel, et le <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/self-sponsoring-your-work-permit-in-thailand\/\">guide d'auto-financement<\/a> expose la mani\u00e8re dont les entreprises g\u00e9r\u00e9es par leurs propri\u00e9taires s'y prennent.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>Erreurs courantes.<\/strong> En comptant les aides \u00e0 temps partiel, les parents ou les actionnaires qui ne per\u00e7oivent pas de salaire ; en laissant partir un employ\u00e9 tha\u00eflandais peu de temps avant le renouvellement sans rempla\u00e7ant d\u00e9clar\u00e9 \u00e0 la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 sociale ; et en versant quatre salaires \u00e0 des personnes qui ne travaillent jamais. Le dernier cas est celui de l'employ\u00e9 fictif, et il figure d\u00e9sormais dans l'application de la r\u00e9glementation sur les pr\u00eate-noms d\u00e9crite dans le <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/recent-crackdowns-on-nominees-in-thailand-the-law-and-court-cases\/\">guide de la r\u00e9pression des pr\u00eate-noms<\/a>: cela constitue une accusation de fraude \u00e0 l'encontre du directeur, et pas seulement un refus de permis. Les documents qui prouvent le ratio sont le formulaire mensuel de s\u00e9curit\u00e9 sociale, la d\u00e9claration de retenue \u00e0 la source PND.1 et la liste des employ\u00e9s avec des copies des cartes d'identit\u00e9.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-numbers-and-who-is-exempt\">Les chiffres, et qui en est exempt\u00e9<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>La r\u00e8gle standard et ses variantes se lisent plus facilement c\u00f4te \u00e0 c\u00f4te.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Situation<\/th><th>Employ\u00e9s tha\u00eflandais par \u00e9tranger<\/th><th>Capital lib\u00e9r\u00e9 par \u00e9tranger<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e0 responsabilit\u00e9 limit\u00e9e de droit tha\u00eflandais<\/td><td>4<\/td><td>2 000 000 de bahts<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u00c9tranger mari\u00e9 \u00e0 un ressortissant tha\u00eflandais<\/td><td>2<\/td><td>1 000 000 de bahts<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 relevant du Trait\u00e9 d'amiti\u00e9<\/td><td>4<\/td><td>3 000 000 bahts<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>soci\u00e9t\u00e9 promue par le BOI<\/td><td>Pas de ratio<\/td><td>Tel qu'approuv\u00e9 par le BOI<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>titulaire d'un visa LTR ou SMART<\/td><td>Non applicable<\/td><td>Non applicable<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>The ratio is a condition of permission to stay, not a company law rule: a Thai company with no foreign staff may have as few employees as it likes. It also has nothing to do with the 51\/49 shareholding split under the Foreign Business Act, though the two are often confused because both appear in the same company file at renewal.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Three structures get the ratio relaxed to <strong>one Thai employee per foreigner<\/strong> rather than four, and are also excused the 2,000,000 baht of paid-up capital and the audited financial statements that sit beside it: an <strong>international trade business operating as a representative office<\/strong>, un <strong>regional office<\/strong>, et un <strong>multinational company operating as a branch office<\/strong>. That is item 2.1(6), in the same limb as the 4:1 itself, and its list of three is exhaustive. A <strong>startup<\/strong> also reaches one to one, but through a different limb of item 2.1 with conditions of its own, and the difference decides what a young company has to show. That limb covers the eighteen targeted industries the state supports and startups certified under Annex C of the order by DEPA or the National Innovation Agency; it asks for a foreign employee earning at least 50,000 baht a month and a company with at least 1,000,000 baht of registered capital, a quarter of it paid in the first year and the whole of it by the fourth. Inside that limb the eighteen targeted industries carry the one-to-one ratio outright, while for a <strong>startup the one-to-one ratio applies once five years have passed since the company was registered<\/strong>. None of these relaxations touches the capital the Department of Employment asks for; they are relaxations of the Immigration ratio only, and a business that expects to rely on one should confirm it is filed in the category the order names.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"frequently-asked-questions\">Foire aux questions<\/h2>\n\n<div id=\"rank-math-faq\" class=\"rank-math-block\">\n<div class=\"rank-math-list\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-1\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Ai-je besoin de quatre employ\u00e9s tha\u00eflandais pour obtenir un permis de travail en Tha\u00eflande ?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>For an ordinary Thai company limited, yes: four Thai employees on social security and 2,000,000 baht of paid-up capital for each foreigner sponsored. The capital is checked by the Department of Employment for the work permit and the four Thai employees are checked by Immigration for the one-year extension of stay, at the first application and at every renewal.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-2\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Est-ce que la promotion BOI supprime le ratio de 4 pour 1 ?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>Oui. Une entreprise promue par le BOI n'a pas \u00e0 respecter ce ratio, et ses postes occup\u00e9s par des \u00e9trangers sont approuv\u00e9s par le biais du BOI avec des permis trait\u00e9s au Centre de services \u00e0 guichet unique (One Stop Service Centre). L'exemption ne couvre que les postes approuv\u00e9s par le BOI.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-3\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Quel est le ratio si je suis mari\u00e9 \u00e0 un(e) Tha\u00eflandais(e) ?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>L'exigence est r\u00e9duite de moiti\u00e9 pour le propre permis de ce conjoint : deux employ\u00e9s tha\u00eflandais et 1 000 000 de bahts de capital lib\u00e9r\u00e9. Les autres \u00e9trangers de la m\u00eame entreprise ont toujours besoin des quatre employ\u00e9s complets et de 2 000 000 de bahts chacun.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Voir aussi\u00a0: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/work-permit\/\">permis de travail<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/social-security\/\">s\u00e9curit\u00e9 sociale<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/registered-capital\/\">capital souscrit et lib\u00e9r\u00e9<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/boi\/\">BOI<\/a>, et les guides sur <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/work-permit-in-bangkok\/\">permis de travail \u00e0 Bangkok<\/a> ET <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/self-sponsoring-your-work-permit-in-thailand\/\">l'auto-parrainage d'un permis de travail<\/a>.<\/p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>4:1 ratio (\u0e2d\u0e31\u0e15\u0e23\u0e32\u0e2a\u0e48\u0e27\u0e19\u0e1e\u0e19\u0e31\u0e01\u0e07\u0e32\u0e19\u0e44\u0e17\u0e22 4 \u0e15\u0e48\u0e2d 1, also written four-to-one ratio or 4 to 1 rule) is the requirement that a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":214,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":"4 to 1 ratio work permit","rank_math_title":"4 to 1 Ratio Thailand: Visa Extension, Not Work Permit | ThaiLawOnline","rank_math_description":"Thailand's 4 to 1 ratio is an Immigration rule for the one-year business visa extension, not a work permit test. Who checks it, and the exceptions.","rank_math_breadcrumb_title":"","rank_math_canonical_url":""},"class_list":["post-6622","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6622"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8418,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6622\/revisions\/8418"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}