Thailand's social security ceiling is now ฿17,500 — max contribution ฿875, from 1 January 2026

For more than two decades the Section 33 social security contribution was 5% of monthly wages capped at a ฿15,000 wage base, which fixed the maximum contribution at ฿750 a month from each side. A Ministerial Regulation published in the Royal Gazette on 12 December 2025 raised that wage base to ฿17,500 with effect from 1 January 2026. The contribution rate did not change — 5% from the employee, 5% from the employer, and 2.75% from the government — but the higher cap lifts the maximum monthly contribution per party from ฿750 to ฿875.

This is the first step of a phased schedule, not a one-off. Phase 1 (2026–2028) sets the ceiling at ฿17,500 and the cap at ฿875; phase 2 (2029–2031) moves it to ฿20,000 and ฿1,000; phase 3 (from 2032) reaches ฿23,000 and ฿1,150. Any guide quoting a single fixed number will drift again at each step, so the effective date attached to the figure matters as much as the figure itself.

The gating input most guides skip: the cap only bites above a wage threshold. If your monthly salary is at or below ฿17,500 your contribution is simply 5% of actual salary and nothing changed in structure — you pay more only because the ceiling moved. It is workers earning above ฿17,500 whose deduction rises the full ฿125, to ฿875. Below that line the ฿875 maximum never applies to you.