Labour right activists and residents in Chiang Mai staged a Labour Day march through the city on 1 May to demand a reform of the Social Security Scheme so that everyone is entitled to the same benefits. They also call for improvement to workers’ rights, including a four-day work week and an annual minimum wage increase.

Participants marched a 2-KM route between the Buddha Sathan near Tha Pae to the Chiang Mai Railway Station Park carrying signs calling for better labour protection, including those calling for the minimum wage to be raised.

In a statement, the organizers said that workers have been affected by the rising oil prices due to the war in Iran, the increased cost of living, and the economic instability that put them at risk of unemployment. Meanwhile, Thailand saw several Prime Ministers in less than three years and the dissolution of a major political party, which affects people’s trust in the political system. A continuing economic recession means workers risk being laid off, or had to go into informal employment, which lacks proper protection.

The Thai government has failed to improve people’s quality of life, they said, while the Social Security Scheme is being questioned over its ineffectiveness and lack of transparency. Moreover, people’s health is being affected by air and water pollution, as well as the rising temperature which made it difficult to work outdoor.

To resolve these issues, they call for a reform of the Social Security Scheme so that it would include every worker and so that it would be better suited to protecting workers during crises.

They noted that many workers are not included in the Scheme despite being formally employed, such as cleaners, farm workers, or employees in small businesses. Meanwhile, independent workers like delivery riders, musicians, or freelancers have nothing to fall back on.

The Social Security Scheme should therefore be changed to include every worker, whether formally employed or not, in the same Scheme. Everyone should also be entitled to the same healthcare scheme, and they proposed combining the three existing healthcare schemes into one. This would reduce the workload of hospitals and ensure that patients will not be charged extra.

They call for a 3000-baht universal pension scheme, and for there to be no limit to contributions to the Scheme so that people who contribute more can get the full benefits. The Social Security Scheme currently cap the monthly salary for calculating contributions at 17,500 baht, meaning that employees who make more than the limit do not get the full pension. They hope that removing the cap would mean that, if anyone become unemployed, they will get paid more in unemployment benefit, which should be raised to 80% of previous salary so that they can survive while looking for a new job and not have to take anything that is available and be subjected to exploitation. Meanwhile, the definition of unemployment from unforeseeable circumstances should also be expanded to include those who are unable to work due to air pollution, water contamination, or heat crisis.

They also call for pregnancy and child support benefit schemes to be made universal, as the duty of making sure children are raised well should be shared by the whole society.

Noting that these reforms are difficult as long as the Social Security Office remains a government office, they propose that the Office be made an independent organization like the National Health Security Office or the Bank of Thailand.

They also made other demands, including a four-day work week, menstrual leave, an annual minimum wage increase, the right of every worker to organize into unions, equal employment for all genders, the right to clean air, a good public transport system, and the repeal of an anti-sex work law to prevent stigmatization of sex workers.