Parliament yesterday (6 March) rejected one of the Move Forward Party’s labour protection bills, which proposed to limit working hours and require an annual wage increase, but accepted another MFP bill proposing to extend parental leave from 98 to 180 days.

Workers laid off from three garment production companies marched from the Democracy Monument to Government House today (5 March) to demand severance pay. They asked the government to cover the severance and press charges against the companies.

Representatives of 95 labour unions gathered at parliament on Wednesday (28 February) to show support for a new labour protection bill proposed by the Move Forward Party (MFP) and call for the bill to be approved in its first reading.

In a sewing factory on the Thai border, migrant workers are working in abusive condition and being paid less than minimum wage to sew garments. Those who demand a fair wage were fired. Their names were put on a blacklist, and other factory owners were told to not hire them. Now, they are filing a lawsuit with a court in the UK against clothing brands for ordering products from a factory that used forced labour and paid unfair wages.

Laid-off workers from two textile companies have submitted a letter to the PM, seeking financial support from the government as they have not received wages and severance pay from the companies.

A civil society network is proposing the repeal of the 1996 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act as part of a movement to legalise sex work and grant sex workers protection under the labour laws.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, when performance and entertainment venues closed, Thailand's musicians faced unemployment and lack of income. Many were forced to sell their beloved instruments or resort to finding other jobs to make ends meet, while missing out on assistance from the government for being informal workers. Meanwhile, the pandemic brought to the surface issues faced by workers in the Thai music industry, from precarious employment and unfair working conditions to lack of support for the creative economy.

<p>Jon Åström Gröndahl, the Swedish Ambassador to Thailand, has announced that the Embassy will halt assistance to Thais to go picking berries in Sweden after hearing claims of shadow contracts and fake documents.</p>

<p>Members of the Bang Kloi indigenous community employed as weavers in the local craft centre suffer poor working conditions and are paid less than the minimum wage, say activists from the Save Bang Kloi Coalition.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Thailand is a common destination for large numbers of migrant workers, especially from neighbouring countries like Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia. Among them are many LGBTQ who came to Thailand to escape harassment and prosecution in their own country, but found themselves faced with gender-based discrimination and unsafe work environments in Thaioand. No policies have been implemented for their protection.</p>

<p>Thai-Cambodian discussions at the recent ASEAN summit put labour issues on the table. Despite the pleasant chat, migrant workers in Thailand have yet to see what, if any, measures the authorities will adopt to help address their problems.</p>