Five years after abortion was legalised in Thailand, abortion access remains limited. As an answer to these constraints, the abortion rights group Tamtang Foundation has opened Tarntawan Clinic, aiming to find a friendlier way of providing abortion care and to widen access to abortion in Thailand.

The House of Representatives today (24 September) approves a new bill proposing amendments to the Labour Protection Act so that employees are entitled to 3 days of menstrual leave per month.

A group of women human rights defenders have called for parental leave in Thailand to be made more inclusive by extending it to unmarried partners and family members.

At a time when Thailand’s birth rate is falling and the government is encouraging people to have more children, a growing number of women have reportedly been fired after their employer-mandated pregnancy tests come back positive. Many have decided to get an abortion to avoid unemployment.

A House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee has approved a bill increasing paid parental leave from 90 days to 120 days. The bill is expected to be returned to parliament for its second and third reading once the session opens in July.

Following a campaign by the Northern Labour Network, the Ministry of Labour has ordered the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare to send letters to employers encouraging them to offer menstrual leave and free period products to their employees.

<p>As Thailand will soon be due for another general election, members of the civil society are now concerned that policies advocating for the welfare of women, children, and LGBTQ+ people and for gender equality would be used as a campaigning tool, as many political parties have yet to implement policies proposed during the 2019 election.</p>

<p>Shero Thailand, a non-profit organization which aims to eliminate gender-based violence in Thailand, launched the Lawyers for Women&rsquo;s Rights (LWR) network on 29 January 2022 to train lawyers to provide legal aid and advocate for survivors of gender-based violence.</p>

<p>Women and LGBTQ activists who participated in the 2020 pro-democracy movement are facing gendered harassment and discrimination even from within their own movement, says a new report by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.</p>

<p>The new abortion law, in which abortion after the 12th week of pregnancy is still a criminal offence, does not respect international human rights principles, says a network of activists and civil society organisations who gathered in front of parliament on 25 January, when the bill was passed by the Senate.</p>

<p>The Thai parliament on 20 January passed a new bill allowing abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy. However, the bill does not decriminalize abortion,&nbsp;as abortion after the 12th week of pregnancy is still a criminal offense.&nbsp;</p>