Thailand Social Security Benefits: How to Claim Medical, Maternity, Disability, Death, Child Allowance, Pension and Unemployment

The Seven Benefits at a Glance: Section 54

Many foreign employees and employers working in Thailand know only that social security is deducted from wages every month, without knowing what that money actually buys. Section 54 gives the complete list — an insured person, or a person entitled under the Act, may receive the following benefits from the Fund:

• Injury or sickness benefits — medical benefits in case of accident or sickness, including health promotion and disease prevention;
• Childbirth benefits — benefits relating to delivery;
• Disability benefits;
• Death benefits;
• Child support benefits (child allowance);
• Old-age benefits;
• Unemployment benefits — except for insured persons under Section 39.

Section 54 also makes clear that the right to receive benefits cannot be transferred and does not fall within the liability of execution of judgment. In other words, social security benefits are the insured person's personal protection — creditors cannot take them.

A quick note on who is insured: under Section 33, an employee not less than 15 and not more than 60 years of age is an insured person; an employee already insured who reaches 60 and remains employed by an employer subject to the Act is deemed to continue as an insured person.

Injury and Sickness Benefits: Covered After Just 3 Months of Contributions

Eligibility: under Section 62, an insured person who suffers an accident or illness not arising from work is entitled to injury or sickness benefits, provided contributions have been paid for not less than 3 months within the 15 months before the date of receiving medical services. (This section covers non-work-related injury and sickness only; work-related cases fall outside it.)

What is covered: the non-work-related injury and sickness benefits listed in Section 63 include: cost of disease diagnosis and examination; health promotion and disease prevention; medical treatment and rehabilitation of functional capacity; food and medical care in a medical facility; medicines and medical supplies; ambulance or patient-transfer transportation; emergency assistance where the insured person suffers damage from receiving medical services (after paying, the Social Security Office has the right to recover from the wrongdoer); and other necessary services. The specific criteria and rates are determined by the Medical Committee with the approval of the Committee.

Lost income compensation: under Section 64, an insured person who must stop work for medical treatment on a doctor's order due to non-work-related injury or illness may receive lost income compensation at 50% of wages calculated under Section 57, for not more than 90 days at a time and not more than 180 days in total per calendar year; for chronic diseases as defined in a ministerial regulation, this may exceed 180 days but not 365 days per year. If during the stoppage the insured person is still entitled to wages from the employer under labor protection law or an employment contract, that wage entitlement must be exhausted first, and the Fund pays only for the remaining period; if the wages paid by the employer are lower than the Fund's compensation rate, the shortfall can be claimed from the Fund.

Childbirth Benefits: 5 Months of Contributions, Claimable for Your Own or Your Spouse's Delivery

Eligibility: under Section 65, an insured person who has paid contributions for not less than 5 months within the 15 months before the date of receiving medical services is entitled to childbirth benefits for the delivery of the insured person or their spouse. This means a male insured person can also claim for his wife's delivery. An insured person who has no spouse but openly cohabits with a woman as husband and wife under the conditions prescribed by the Secretary-General may also claim for that woman's delivery.

What is covered: the childbirth benefits listed in Section 66 include: costs of examination and prenatal care; medical treatment; medicines and medical supplies; delivery; food, lodging and nursing care in a medical institution; care and nursing of the newborn; ambulance or patient transportation; and other necessary services, at the criteria and rates prescribed by the Medical Committee with the approval of the Committee.

Childbirth leave allowance: under Section 67, an insured person who must stop work for childbirth is entitled to a childbirth leave allowance paid as a lump sum at 50% of wages under Section 57 for a period of 90 days, not exceeding two times in total.

Disability Benefits: Severe Disability Is Paid for Life

Eligibility: under Section 69, an insured person who becomes disabled from a non-work cause is entitled to disability benefits, provided contributions have been paid for not less than 3 months within the 15 months before the disability.

What is covered: Section 70 lists: costs of disease diagnosis and determination; medical treatment; medicines and medical supplies; food, lodging and nursing care in a medical institution; ambulance or transportation for the disabled person; physical, mental and occupational rehabilitation; and other necessary services, at criteria determined by the Medical Committee with the approval of the Committee.

Income replacement: under Section 71, an insured person disabled not from work receives income replacement allowance at the rate and for the duration determined by the Medical Committee with the approval of the Committee, capped at 50% of wages under Section 57; if the disability reaches the severe level of loss determined by the Medical Committee, the allowance is paid at 50% of wages for life.

Death and Funeral Benefits: Family Is Protected After Just 1 Month of Contributions

Under Section 73, when an insured person dies from a non-work cause, two benefits are paid provided contributions were made for not less than 1 month within the 6 months before death:

• Funeral expenses: paid at the rate prescribed in the ministerial regulation, but not less than one hundred times the maximum rate of the minimum daily wage under labor protection law. Order of payment: first, the person the insured designated in writing who actually arranged the funeral; next, a spouse, parent or child with evidence of having arranged the funeral; then any other person with evidence of having arranged the funeral.
• Death subsidy: paid to the beneficiary the insured person designated in writing; if none was designated, it is divided equally among the spouse, parents and children. The amount is tied to contribution history: with 36 months or more but less than 120 months of contributions before death, the subsidy equals 4 times 50% of the monthly wage under Section 57; with 120 months or more, it equals 12 times 50% of the monthly wage.

Practical tip: the written-designation step is often overlooked. An insured person can designate the funeral arranger and the subsidy beneficiary in advance, avoiding disputes among family members over distribution.

Child Support Benefits: 12 Months of Contributions Within 36 Months

Eligibility: under Section 74, an insured person who has paid contributions for not less than 12 months within the 36 months before the month of entitlement has the right to child support benefits.

What is covered: Section 75 provides that child support benefits consist of: allowance for the maintenance of a child; allowance for child education; allowance for child medical treatment; and other necessary allowances, at the criteria and rates prescribed in a ministerial regulation.

Age and number limits: under Section 75 ter, child support applies to children up to the age prescribed in the ministerial regulation, which must not exceed 15 years, for up to 3 children per occasion; adopted children, or children given to another person for adoption, are not counted. Where both father and mother are insured, only one of them may receive the child support benefit; but where there is a registered divorce or separation and the child is in the custody of one parent, that parent receives it. The monthly amount is set by ministerial regulation — the exact figure should be confirmed against the official rules (our firm can assist).

Old-Age Benefits: 180 Months of Contributions for a Monthly Pension

Eligibility: under Section 76, an insured person who has paid contributions for not less than 180 months (15 years) is entitled to old-age benefits, and the 180 months need not be continuous — months contributed before and after a job change or a break in contributions all count toward the total.

Two forms: under Section 77, old-age benefits comprise: (1) a monthly subsistence allowance, called the old age pension; and (2) a single lump-sum payment, called the old age gratuity. The criteria, procedures, duration and rates for both forms are prescribed by ministerial regulation — the exact amounts should be confirmed against the official rules (our firm can assist).

Age of entitlement: under Section 77 bis, an insured person with not less than 180 months of contributions receives the old-age pension from the month following the month in which they reach 55 years of age; if at 55 their status as an insured person has not yet terminated under Section 38 or Section 41, payment starts from the month following the month in which that status terminates. A person with fewer than 180 months whose insured status has terminated receives old-age compensation instead.

Note for foreign insured persons: under Section 77 bis, an insured person who does not have Thai nationality, whose insured status terminates — whether or not 180 months have been paid — and who does not wish to continue residing in Thailand, may receive old-age compensation under the criteria, procedures and conditions prescribed in the ministerial regulation. For foreign employees planning to return home after finishing work in Thailand, this provision is especially worth knowing.

Unemployment Benefits: 6 Months of Contributions, Payable From the 8th Day

Eligibility: under Section 78, an employee who is an insured person must have paid contributions for not less than 6 months within the 15 months before unemployment, and must also meet all of the following conditions to receive unemployment benefits:

• be capable of working and ready to take suitable work as arranged, not refuse training, be registered with a state employment office, and report not less than once per month;
• the unemployment must not be due to dismissal for any of the following: dishonesty in the performance of duty, an intentional criminal offence against the employer, intentionally causing loss to the employer, serious violation of work regulations or lawful orders, abandoning duty for 7 consecutive working days without reasonable cause, gross negligence causing serious loss to the employer, or imprisonment by final judgment (except offences committed through negligence or minor offences);
• not be a person entitled to old-age benefits.

Start date and rate: under Section 79, the insured person is entitled to unemployment benefits from the 8th day counted from the date of unemployment from the last employer, at the criteria and rates prescribed in the ministerial regulation. Also note that under Section 54, unemployment benefits do not apply to insured persons under Section 39.

How the Benefit Wage Base Is Calculated: Section 57

The 50% of wages that appears throughout this article is not based on your current monthly salary. It is calculated under Section 57: for Section 33 insured persons (current employees), take the highest 3 months of wages used as the contribution base within the 15 months before the month of entitlement, add them together and divide by 90 to get the daily wage base; where there are fewer than 3 full months of wages, the average daily wage is used. For Section 39 insured persons, the calculation averages the amounts used as their contribution base.

How SLF Can Help

SLF Accounting provides end-to-end social security (SSO) services for businesses on Koh Samui and throughout Thailand: employer SSO registration, adding and removing employees, monthly SSO filing and payment (employee and employer each at the 5% rate), and assisting employees with claims for the benefits above — from maternity allowances and sick-leave income compensation to unemployment registration paperwork after leaving a job. If your company is just starting to hire, or an employee has a specific benefit claim question, feel free to contact our firm — we will verify the eligibility conditions against your actual contribution records before taking any action.

FAQ

How many years of social security contributions are needed to get a pension in Thailand?

Under Section 76 of the Social Security Act, an insured person who has paid contributions for not less than 180 months (15 years) in total is entitled to old-age benefits, and continuity is not required — months contributed after a break still count toward the total. Section 77 provides two forms of old-age benefit: a monthly old age pension and a lump-sum old age gratuity. Section 77 bis provides that the pension is payable from the month following the month the insured person reaches 55 (or, if their insured status has not yet terminated by then, from the month following termination). Calculation percentages and other specifics are prescribed by ministerial regulation.

Can I claim SSO unemployment benefits if I lose my job in Thailand?

Yes, subject to conditions. Under Section 78, you must have paid contributions for at least 6 months within the 15 months before unemployment, be registered with a state employment office and report at least once a month, and the unemployment must not be due to dismissal for causes such as dishonest performance of duty, intentionally harming the employer, serious disciplinary violations, or 7 consecutive working days of absence without reasonable cause. Under Section 79, benefits run from the 8th day of unemployment, at rates prescribed by ministerial regulation.

Does Thai social security pay childbirth benefits when a male insured person's wife gives birth?

Yes. Under Section 65, an insured person who has paid contributions for at least 5 months within the 15 months before receiving medical services can claim childbirth benefits for their own or their spouse's delivery; an insured person with no spouse who openly cohabits with a woman under the prescribed conditions may also claim. Section 67 adds a childbirth leave allowance: a lump sum at 50% of the wage base for a period of 90 days, not more than twice in total.

What can family members receive from Thai social security when an insured person dies?

Under Section 73, if the insured person paid contributions for at least 1 month within the 6 months before death, funeral expenses are paid (not less than one hundred times the maximum rate of the minimum daily wage); with 36 or more but fewer than 120 months of contributions, a death subsidy of 4 times 50% of the monthly wage base is also paid; with 120 months or more, 12 times. The subsidy goes to the beneficiary the insured person designated in writing; if none, it is divided equally among the spouse, parents and children.

Related guides

• Thailand Social Security (SSO): Employer Registration and Contribution Duties
• Thailand SSO Employer Registration and Monthly Contribution Filing
• Workmen's Compensation in Thailand: What Counts as a Work Injury, How Much Is Paid, and What Employers Must Contribute