Capital: Bangkok

29 Forced Labour (1930) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
reported violations - 2011
Background
In March, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) began large demonstrations in Bangkok calling for the dissolution of Parliament and new elections. In April and May, Thai military forces used lethal force to disperse protesters from rally sites near Parliament and a Bangkok shopping district. In the attacks, 91 people were killed. Two journalists were among the dead, and another 15 reporters were wounded. A preliminary state probe into the violence indicated that Thai Special Forces fired into a Buddhist temple grounds where several thousand protesters had taken refuge on 19 May. Due to protests, the government proclaimed the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation in Bangkok and other provinces on 7 April. The decree allowed the Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) to detain anyone without charge for up to 30 days in unofficial places of detention and gave officials effective immunity from prosecution for most acts committed while implementing the decree. Free-speech activists said authorities had blocked at least 110,000 internet sites. Thailand slipped 23 places to 153rd (out of 178) on the press freedom index.
The government implemented a National Verification (NV) and registration process for all migrant workers in Thailand who were already working in Thailand with valid work permits. Under the NV program, migrant workers were required to verify their nationality with their home country before they were re-issued legal work permits in Thailand. Those workers who failed to comply with the NV program were subject to deportation.
29 Forced Labour (1930) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Capital: Bangkok

reported violations- 2011
Trade union rights in law
Despite initial guarantees, trade union rights are coupled with numerous excessive restrictions. The 2007 Constitution guarantees freedom of association
freedom of association
The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
and specifically mentions unions as one of the organisations that can be formed. Several categories of workers enjoy only limited or no freedom of association
freedom of association
The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
, however, including civil servants, teachers, and government officials. A law drafted in 2010 would allow civil servants to organise.
Non-nationals may not form a union and may not be elected to union leadership posts. Loss of employment also means loss of union membership. A union’s right to have advisors is limited, and these must be approved by the Ministry of Labour. Furthermore, a union can be dissolved if its membership dips below 25% of the eligible workforce. Only one union can be formed at each enterprise, and state enterprise unions may not affiliate with private sector labour congresses or federations.
While the right to collective bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
is secured, only unions that represent at least 20% of the workforce may present bargaining demands, which must be voted on at the union’s annual meeting or the union loses its right to engage in bargaining. Strikes are prohibited in state enterprises, and civil servants do not have the right to strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
. The 2010 civil servants draft law would not alter this situation. The government can also restrict any strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
that would “affect national security or cause severe negative repercussions for the population at large”. Finally, the list of “essential services
essential services
Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
” significantly exceeds the ILO
International Labour Organization
A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.
See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
definition.
Freedom of association / Right to organize
Principles
Freedom of association :
- >The right to freedom of association is enshrined in the Constitution.
- >The right to freedom of association is regulated by law.
The new Civil Service Act does not include provisions regarding freedom of association or collecting bargaining.
Anti-Union discrimination:
- >The law prohibits anti-union discrimination, but does not provide adequate means of protection against it.
Restrictions
Restrictions on workers' right to form and join organizations of their own choosing:
- >Single trade union system imposed by law and/or a system banning or limiting organising at a certain level (enterprise, industry and/or sector, regional and/or territorial, national)
- Each state enterprise can only have one union.
- >Restrictions on workers' right to join the trade union of their choosing imposed by law (i.e. obligation to join a trade union of a certain level e.g. enterprise, industry and/or sector, regional and /or territorial national)
- The law provides that members of a union "shall be workers working for the same employer" of the enterprise or company represented by the union, or "employees engaging in the same category of work." If a worker loses his/her job at that enterprise, he or she must be dismissed from membership of the union.
- >Restrictions on trade unions' right to establish branches, federation and confederation or to affiliate with national and international organisations
- Affiliation between state enterprise unions and private sector labour congresses or federations is restricted by law.
Restrictions on trade unions' right to organize their administration:
- >Restrictions on the right to elect representatives and self-administer in full freedom
- An executive committee member of a union must be at least 20 years old to stand for election despite the fact that the legal age to work is 15. The law also prohibits any non-Thai citizen from being an elected leader of the union committee. The result is that the estimated 1.5 to 2 million migrant workers from Burma, Cambodia and Laos who are present in the country are effectively stripped of any right to form a trade union.
- >Restrictions on the right to freely organise activities and formulate programmes
- The Thai government uses NPKC Order 54 from the 1991 military government to restrict the unions’ right to have advisors. Under this order, each union is entitled to no more than two advisors, who must register with the Ministry of Labour and have their registration regularly renewed. The Ministry has broad discretion to deny registration and penalise labour leaders who fail to register.
- >Administrative authorities' power to unilaterally dissolve, suspend or de-register trade union organisations
- If a union’s membership dips below 25% of the eligible workforce it is liable to be dissolved administratively by the state.
Categories of workers prohibited or limited in law from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office:
- >Non-national or migrant workers
- The law prohibits anyone who is not a Thai national from being one of the ten workers required to organise and register a union.
- >Others categories
- The 2003 Private University Act exempts private universities from the Labour Protection Act and the Labour Relations Act. Similarly, the Private Schools Act of 2007, passed by the military-appointed Parliament in December 2007, stipulates that all teachers and educational personnel are not covered by these two key labour laws. The law establishing quasi-government "public institutions" also prevents workers in those institutions from forming a union. An increasingly wide variety of quasi-government organisations have been established as "public institutions", thereby creating a growing section of official employment that is legally union-free.
Right to collective bargaining
Principles
Right to collective bargaining:
- >The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law but strictly regulated.
Restrictions
Legal barriers to the recognition of collective bargaining agents:
- >Previous authorisation or approval by authorities required to bargain collectively
- A union must take a vote at its annual meeting in order to put forward its demands, failing which the union has no right to engage in collective bargaining.
- >Excessive requirements in respect to trade unions' representativity or minimum number of members required to bargaining collectively
- Employees constituting at least 15% of the workforce, or a trade union with a membership representing at least 20% of the workforce, may present collective bargaining demands.
Right to strike
Principles
Right to strike:
- >The right to strike is recognised by law but strictly regulated.
Restrictions
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors:
- >Undue restrictions for "public servants"
- The State Enterprise Labour Relations Act (SELRA) prohibits strikes and lock-outs within state enterprises. Civil servants do not have the right to strike.
- >Discretionary determination or excessively long list of "essential services" in which the right to strike is prohibited or severely restricted
- Private sector workers have the right to strike, but the government may restrict strikes that would "affect national security or cause severe negative repercussions for the population at large". The law forbids strikes in "essential services," which it defines in significantly broader terms than those laid down by the ILO.
29 Forced Labour (1930) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Capital: Bangkok

reported violations - 2011
In practice
See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights in June of 2009 that alleged that Thailand’s current policy of denying compensation to migrant workers for work-related accidents and illnesses violated domestic and international labour standards international labour standards Principles and norms related to labour matters, primarily codified in the Conventions and the Recommendations of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Include core labour rights such as freedom of association and the right to organise, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike, which are all covered by ILO Conventions 87 and 98.
See ITUC Guide to international trade union rights . In February 2010, the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.
See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations in its deliberations at the 99th International Labour Conference upheld the SERC complaint and directed the Thai government to provide migrant workers the same benefits and entitlement to work-related illness and injury as enjoyed by Thai nationals.
29 Forced Labour (1930) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Capital: Bangkok

reported violations - 2011
Violations
AutoAlliance (Thailand) Co. Ltd. (AAT), a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and Mazda Motor Corporation, based at the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (ESIE), locked out its Ford-Mazda Thailand Union (FMTU) employees on 5 January after negotiations broke down over wages and bonus issues. The plant’s 2,200 full-time workers were given until 6 January to either report to work and accept the AAT’s offer on wages and bonus or face a lockout lockout A form of industrial action whereby an employer refuses work to its employees or temporarily shuts down operations. . Employees accepting the offer would be guaranteed full pay and benefits and receive a full-year bonus. During the lockout lockout A form of industrial action whereby an employer refuses work to its employees or temporarily shuts down operations. AAT utilised uniformed and non-uniformed police and Thai military personnel to intimidate workers demonstrating against the lockout lockout A form of industrial action whereby an employer refuses work to its employees or temporarily shuts down operations. . The owner of the ESIE filed charges against six union leaders for damages caused by blocked traffic during the union picketing picketing Demonstration or patrolling outside a workplace to publicise the existence of an industrial dispute or a strike, and to persuade other workers not to enter the establishment or discourage consumers from patronising the employer. Secondary picketing involves picketing of a neutral establishment with a view to putting indirect pressure on the target employer. . The lockout lockout A form of industrial action whereby an employer refuses work to its employees or temporarily shuts down operations. ended on 10 February when AAT and FMTU negotiated a settlement to the dispute.
In a related matter, subcontracted workers at the plant, whom AAT hires through a HR Digest Co., Ltd. (HRD), and who work on the production line with FTMU members, joined the FMTU during the lockout lockout A form of industrial action whereby an employer refuses work to its employees or temporarily shuts down operations. and requested that HRD enter into negotiations for a collective agreement. In response, AAT locked out the subcontracted workers and HRD dismissed 108 employees. On 15 November, the Labour Relations Commission ruled against 80 dismissed HRD workers who had filed a complaint that alleged they were illegally dismissed for their union activities after they joined the FMTU. The workers plan to appeal the decision to the Provincial Labour court.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike in October, 2009. Sophon directed the SRT to appeal the decision to the Labour Court.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike on 18 May in support of their demands for increased wages, better health and safety provisions, and improved working conditions. In response to the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , the company hired members of the Thai Navy to guard the plant. In addition, one union striker and his wife were seriously beaten by an unknown assailant, believed to be a company-hired thug, when they travelled home from a union meeting. As the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike continued through the month of June, Tycoons evicted strikers from company dormitories and hired strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike -breakers. Tycoons is headquartered in Taiwan and manufactures metal wire, rods, bars, and fasteners, as well as other specialised metal parts.
The Tripartite Industrial Relations
industrial relations
The individual and collective relations and dealings between workers and employers at the workplace, as well as the institutional interaction between unions, employers and also the government.
See social dialogue
Committee (IRC) ruled on 24 June that France-based Michelin Tyre Company’s (Michelin) management at its plant in Laem Chabang, Chonburi Province, violated the provisions of the Industrial Relations
industrial relations
The individual and collective relations and dealings between workers and employers at the workplace, as well as the institutional interaction between unions, employers and also the government.
See social dialogue
Act of 1975. The decision was in relation to a dispute that arose in March 2009 when plant workers signed a petition to protest the company’s unilaterally imposed 35% wage cut. Management locked out employees who refused to remove their names from the petition. Twenty-two union members were arrested, suspended from their jobs, and faced criminal charges filed with police by company officials.
The IRC noted that Michelin discriminated against 12 union members of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ (ICEM)-affiliated Petroleum and Chemical Workers’ Federation (PCFT-ICEM) whom it had previously reinstated on 18 January – but not to their former jobs. The IRC had ordered management to reinstate the 12 workers to jobs inside the factory equivalent to those they held previously within ten days of the decision. Michelin did not comply fully with the court decision when it reinstated the 12 workers on 18 January, and the 12 refused their new job assignments, filing a complaint with the IRC. With respect to the criminal charges filed against union members, a Chonburi Provincial court set a hearing for 4 November 2011 to address the company’s charge that the workers blocked the exit to the factory.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike from 18-23 November in support of its demand for equal pay for workers doing the same job, improved benefits and shorter working hours. The strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike was called after numerous meetings with the company and government mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.
See arbitration, conciliation efforts failed to achieve a new agreement. Management informed workers that if they did not end the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and return to work, they would lose their benefits. Goodyear locked out the striking workers and told the union that it would not end the lockout lockout A form of industrial action whereby an employer refuses work to its employees or temporarily shuts down operations. unless the union agreed to separate the work rules from the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
agreement, which would give Goodyear more flexibility to dismiss workers. Goodyear has locked out 620 GTMU members since 22 November.
See collective bargaining agreement
agreement; Chintana Apparel Company (Chintana) dismissed all eight members of the Chintana and Affiliates Workers’ Union (CAWU) Executive Committee on 27 February, with the charges stemming from the union’s holding of a membership meeting to provide an update on negotiations with the company; Japan-based Nikon (Thailand) (Nikon) dismissed 34 members of the Nikon Workers’ Union of Thailand (NWUT) on 28 February after union leaders presented bargaining demands for a new collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
agreement (CBA); at Nikon (Thailand) Co the chairman of the Nikon labour union, Thongchai Sitthidet, said management suspended nine labour union board members on 24 March after they encouraged fellow workers to demand better benefits from the company; Thai Fukoku Co. Ltd (Fukoku) dismissed 13 union leaders on 21 June after they formed a union on 14 June; TFO Tech (Thailand) Co. Ltd. dismissed eight Thailand Autoparts and Metal Workers’ Union (TAM) negotiating team members on 22 June after the TAM submitted bargaining demands for a new CBA; SKB Tech (Thailand) Co., Ltd., (SKB) dismissed the President and Secretary General of the SKB Connection Labour Union that recently formed at the SKB factory; B. Mayer Thailand and T.G. Technology Co., Ltd dismissed 15 members of the B. Mayer and T.G. Worker’s Union’s Executive Committee and 13 other union members on 2 October, shortly after the union had formed; and Sumitomo Rubber Co., Ltd, dismissed four workers on 12 October after they formed a new union and submitted collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
proposals to company officials.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike at Asian Seafood on 21 August when the company changed the payment of overtime from the legally required method to a production/piece rate based on each kilogram of shrimp the worker cleaned. Thai authorities arrested and detained eight workers in connection with the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . More than 1,000 Burmese workers at the Dechapanich Fishing Net Factory (Dechapanich), one of the largest nylon fishnet factories in the world, went on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike on 9 September to support their demand for reinstatement of six co-workers dismissed by the company the day before. The company dismissed the six workers for taking more than three days of leave each month. When the six dismissed workers demanded the return of their work documents, they found that the company had written the word “cancelled” next to their work visa. Also, the workers’ overseas workers identification card, issued by Burma’s Ministry of Labour, had been altered by putting photos and information other than that of the worker. Without proper work documents, the workers could not look for other work and were subject to deportation. The workers also complained that they were receiving THB 140 (USD 4.65) per day while the statutory minimum wage for Khon Kaen was THB 157 (USD 5.30) per day and that they did not receive any overtime pay. On 14 September, local immigration authorities reinstated the work visas for the dismissed workers, and on 15 September, Dechapanich agreed to return work documents to all employees. However, as of 8 October, there were still about 369 migrant workers who had still not received their documents.
29 Forced Labour (1930) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Capital: Bangkok
