How to pay remote employees in Thailand

How to pay remote employees in Thailand

Thailand is filled with talented, hardworking individuals who are looking for a variety of opportunities to expand their skills, work with great companies, and earn a good living. That’s why it’s worth considering hiring remote employees in Thailand if you want to grow your own business.

Before you dive in, though, there are a few important things to consider:

How to pay an international invoice

1. Negotiate currency exchange rates

Talk to your remote employees to find out if they would be willing to accept payment in your domestic currency. For example, if you’re a business in the United States and you need to pay a company in China, you may find that many businesses are happy to be paid in dollars.

2. Find a money transfer provider that works for you

Paying for an international invoice to a remote employee in Thailand doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. With the right provider, you can transfer your money easily online, and at a better rate. We’ll compare two popular options for making an international money transfer later in this article.

3. Mitigate your currency risk

Currency risk is the risk that a business or individual’s financial performance or position will be impacted by fluctuations in the exchange rate. Depending on the provider you choose, you can access tools to help mitigate risk like forward contracts to protect against any unfavourable currency movements. This will help with offering consistent pricing if you need to pay remote employees in Thailand regularly.

How to transfer money to remote employees in Thailand

Sending money abroad to Thailand on a regular basis, like for when you have hired remote employees to work for you, can quickly become costly. And you certainly don’t want that, especially if your goal was to save money by hiring people to work for you from remote. Here are two of the most popular ways to pay an international invoice, and how the compare:

Transferring money abroad with a bank

The main problem with banks is that they charge high margins and fees whenever you need to make an international money transfer. On top of that, they’re typically only open during specific business hours, so that can hold you back when you’re running a global business, especially when you want to take advantage of a great exchange rate before it’s gone.

Using an International Money Transfer (IMT) provider

When you switch to an online international money transfer provider like OFX, you’ll quickly notice how much things can change. You can start saving money without sacrificing speed or security, and you can reap the benefits of better customer service and 24/7 operating hours. Make a transfer whenever you want, ask for help whenever you need it, pay your invoices on time, and avoid getting hit with high fees and margins along the way.

Let’s compare:

	Fixed fees	Exchange rates margins	Support
OFX	Low to no fixed fees, depending on where you’re sending from.	A small margin that’s typically lower than the banks’ margins.	Available 24/7 over the phone to provide helpful human support for all currency-related enquiries.
Standard bank	Hefty fixed fees, sometimes around $30, just to make a transfer.	Many banks can charge up to a 5% margin on the interbank rate, depending on how much you’re transferring.	Banks operate within certain hours of the day, so you can’t always get the support you may need.

What your business should look for in a global money transfer provider

Here are a few of the top reasons why an international money transfer provider like OFX stands out against the competition when compared to other providers, and an indication of what you should be looking for in a partner in payments:

Speed

The last thing that you want is to send a payment to your worker in Thailand, only to have it delayed, and to worry about where your money ended up. Plus, you don’t want your remote employees to grow impatient or frustrated with you either. With OFX, you can rest easy, knowing that every transfer will be swift and secure. With many of our major currency transactions, it can take only 1-2 days* to transfer.

Good rates

Good rates are hard to come by when converting currencies and transferring money abroad. But with OFX, you can avoid high margins and fees, and you can also take advantage of various other tools that can help you strategically send money to Thailand. For example, you can use currency charts to track changes in exchange rates, and you can also use forward contracts and limit orders to make the most of the best exchange rates when they occur.

OFX’s Forward Exchange Contracts let you lock in your preferred exchange rate for 12 months, which means you can safeguard against volatile exchange rate fluctuations. If you aren’t ready to pay your Thai remote employee just yet, but you want to lock in a specific exchange rate, you can do it with a forward contract.

Limit Orders let you easily set a target exchange rate, and then you let us do the rest. We’ll watch the market closely and contact you once your target rate has been triggered. Then, you can make your transfer, or roll it into a Forward Exchange Contract.

Human service

Because OFX is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you can make an online transfer from the comfort of your home or office whenever you’re ready. But what if you run into questions or concerns? No problem! The currency specialists at OFX are there for you whenever you need them. You simply can’t get that kind of human support with a bank.

Legal and tax requirements for paying remote employees in Thailand

Hiring a formal employee who is living and working in Thailand might entitle them to legal protections and benefits that you would need to comply with, and that can be difficult to do if your business does not already have an official presence in Thailand.

Hiring independent contractors from Thailand, on the other hand, may be a better option. In that case, you might not need to withhold any money from their pay for taxes and benefits. Rather, they’ll likely be responsible for following their own local tax laws by setting aside money that they’ll pay as a result of managing their own business as a freelancer in Japan.

Just be sure you know what constitutes an independent contractor, and stick with those requirements so that you don’t end up hiring someone as an employee, which may result in tax and legal obligations.

The best places to find remote employees in Thailand

Thanks to the internet, which connects us all, it’s never been easier to tap into the pool of talent in Thailand that’s waiting to work with businesses from abroad. Here are a few of the sources that you can try when you’re ready to hire a remote employee from Thailand:

Ready to connect with workers in Thailand?

More and more people throughout Thailand are turning to freelance work for a variety of reasons, so there’s no better time than now to consider hiring remote employees who can help you with everything from web development and IT, to design, writing, and more. Just be strategic when it comes to paying those workers so you can save money and keep them happy.

*Delivery times are indicative and measured in business days from the time your funds are received by OFX.

IMPORTANT: The contents of this blog do not constitute financial advice and are provided for general information purposes only without taking into account the investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs of any particular person. UKForex Limited (trading as “OFX”) and its affiliates make no recommendation as to the merits of any financial strategy or product referred to in the blog. OFX makes no warranty, express or implied, concerning the suitability, completeness, quality or exactness of the information and models provided in this blog.