Resign or Get Laid Off? What Resigning Costs You in Thailand

Why resigning forfeits severance

Section 118 requires severance when the employer terminates the employment — defined as the employer not allowing the employee to keep working and not paying wages, for whatever reason, including the business being unable to continue. A resignation is the employee's own act, so it never qualifies, however long you have worked.

Retirement counts as termination (Section 118/1), so retiring employees receive severance by length of service. A fixed-term contract that simply ends is an exception, but only for genuine project, temporary or seasonal work with fixed dates, no longer than two years, agreed in writing at the start.

Severance rates under Section 118

Service is counted continuously from your first day, probation included. The 400-day band was added by the Labour Protection Act (No. 7) B.E. 2562 (2019).

A day's wage for a monthly-paid employee is the last monthly wage divided by 30 — 1,000 baht on a 30,000 salary. Regular monthly payments made with the salary in return for work may also count as wages; ask the Labour Protection office if you are unsure. These are minimums: a contract or work rules that give more prevail.

Three worked examples

Each assumes you qualify for unemployment benefit and have no leave carried over. The benefit is calculated on the 17,500 cap.

• 8 months on 18,000: severance 30 days = 18,000; benefit 52,500–63,000 laid off vs 15,750 resigning. Resigning costs 54,750–65,250 baht.
• 4 years on 30,000: severance 180 days = 180,000, plus 36,750–47,250 more benefit. Resigning costs 216,750–227,250 baht.
• 21 years on 45,000: severance 400 days = 600,000. Resigning costs 636,750–647,250 baht.

Severance grows with salary and has no cap; unemployment benefit does. The longer you have worked and the more you earn, the more resigning costs.

Laid off but no severance: Section 119

No severance is due if the employment is ended because the employee:

• was dishonest in their duties or intentionally committed a criminal offence against the employer
• intentionally caused the employer damage
• caused the employer serious damage through negligence
• breached a lawful work rule or order after a written warning (valid for one year), or in a serious case without warning
• was absent for three consecutive working days without reasonable cause
• was imprisoned by a final judgment

The employer must state the cause in the termination letter or at the time of termination; a cause not stated cannot be relied on later. If you are dismissed without a letter or a reason, ask for one in writing.

Unemployment benefit: why a lay-off pays more

Unemployment benefit comes from the Social Security Fund, not your employer, and is separate from severance. After resigning you receive 30% of your insured wage for up to 90 days; after a lay-off, up to 180 days at a higher rate. The insured wage is capped at 17,500 baht a month (raised from 15,000 on 1 January 2026).

The lay-off rate is unresolved: the SSO website still says 50%, while the media report a 2025 ministerial regulation raising it to 60%. The calculator shows both. Register as unemployed within 30 days of leaving, or the benefit runs only from the date you register.

If you hold a work permit, losing your job also affects your visa status — see what happens to your work permit when you resign.

Made to leave immediately: pay in lieu of notice

An employer must give notice by pay cycle just as an employee must (Section 17 — count yours with the notice period calculator). To make you leave at once, it must pay your wages from that day until the date the termination would have taken effect, on the day you leave (Section 17/1). This is on top of severance.

Example: paid at month-end and told to leave on 10 October, the termination would take effect on 30 November, so 51 days' wages are due on 10 October — about 51,000 baht on a 30,000 salary. Tick the box in the calculator to work out yours. Dismissal under Section 119 needs no notice.

Pushed to resign: what to do before you sign

A common pattern: HR hands you a pre-typed resignation letter and suggests resigning is better for your record, with a few hours to decide. If the company wants you gone but wants you to be the one who resigns, the gap in the calculator is money it would not have to pay. A resignation you sign is generally treated as a resignation, so the best protection is not signing under pressure.

• You do not have to sign in that meeting. Ask for time.
• Ask for the reason in writing. If the company wants to end your employment, it can issue a termination letter.
• Keep a record: emails, chat messages, notes of what was said and when.
• Run your numbers above so you know what you would give up.
• Talk to the local Labour Protection and Welfare office or call 1506 first. If you already signed under pressure, get advice quickly and bring your evidence; the outcome depends on the facts.

Weighing a voluntary separation offer

Separation schemes are lawful and sometimes pay more than the statutory minimum. Enter the offer above to compare it with the severance and notice pay your employer would owe on a lay-off. Before accepting, get these answers in writing:

• the total, when it is paid and whether in one payment
• whether it includes accumulated leave and final wages or they are paid separately
• what reason the company will report to Social Security, which affects your unemployment benefit
• whether you are asked to sign a waiver of claims — read every line first

When the money is due, and what if it isn't paid

On a lay-off, outstanding wages, overtime and holiday pay are due within three days (Section 70); pay in lieu of notice is due on the day you leave (Section 17/1). Late wages, notice pay or severance carry 15% interest a year, plus a further 15% of the amount every seven days if the employer deliberately withholds it for more than seven days (Section 9).

You can file a complaint free of charge at the local Labour Protection and Welfare office, or sue in the Labour Court, where employees pay no court fees.

What this calculator leaves out

To keep every figure verifiable, these are not calculated:

• civil servants, government contract staff and state-enterprise employees, who fall under different laws
• special severance for relocation (Section 120) or for redundancy through new machinery or technology (Sections 121–122)
• income tax on severance
• this year's annual leave pro rata, owed in addition on a lay-off