Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Thailand (Ratification: 1969)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report received in November 2004. The ILO Subregional Office in Bangkok has also brought to the Committee’s attention additional information concerning the application of the Convention.

1. Employment policy and social protection. In its 2002 direct request, the Committee encouraged the Government to follow an integrated approach to social protection and employment promotion and requested the Government to report on the implementation of unemployment benefits as a complement to its employment policies. The Committee notes with interest that the Government began collecting contributions for unemployment insurance on 1 January 2004 and issuing benefit payments on 1 July 2004. The Committee understands that the National Health Office has introduced a universal health-care scheme and that the Social Security Office is considering the extension of social security to the non-covered population. The Committee welcomes these developments and hopes that the Government will continue to report on the progress of extending adequate social protection to the entire population and the steps taken to coordinate its employment policy with the unemployment benefit system.

2. Coordination of employment policy with poverty reduction. The Committee notes with interest that the number of people in poverty has been decreasing since the period of financial crisis in 1997 from 8.9 million in 2000 to 6.2 million in 2002. The Government indicates that its objective is to eradicate poverty by 2009 by increasing income, reducing expenses and expanding opportunities. The Government has set up the National Centre to Fight against Poverty and the Subcommittee on Occupation and Employment Promotion, which is chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister. The Committee also notes that, although the number of poor has decreased, the share of income of the poorest quintile has remained at 4 per cent over the past decade. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the results achieved with the implementation of the measures under the Ninth National Economic and Social Development Plan (2002-06), including information on the situation of socially vulnerable groups, such as workers in the rural sector and the informal economy. In this regard, the Committee stresses the need for measures ensuring that employment, as a key element of poverty reduction, is at the heart of macroeconomic and social policies. It would appreciate detailed statistics on labour market trends and further information on the extent to which economic growth leads to an improved labour market and reduction in poverty levels. The Committee would also appreciate receiving information on how measures taken to promote employment operate within a "framework of a coordinated economic and social policy" (Article 2, paragraph (a), of the Convention). Please indicate how concerns to improve the quantity and quality of employment are taken into account in economic policies, such as bilateral and multilateral trade agreements on employment.

3. Labour market and training policies. The Committee notes that the Department of Employment, the Department of Skill Development, and the Ministry of Education have implemented vocational training programmes to students, women in poor regions or from religious minority groups, persons with disabilities and other categories of unemployed peoples. The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security oversees labour policies related to trafficking, disadvantaged workers and persons with disabilities; yet other socially vulnerable groups, such as home and rural workers, are protected by ministerial regulations issued by the Ministry of Labour. The Committee notes the progress achieved through these various measures; for example, the Subcommittee’s Roadmap for Employment Promotion has already yielded results with respect to youth employment. The Committee would appreciate being informed of the results of the various training programmes and the measures taken to ensure that skills acquired under the training programmes meet the demands of the labour market. It would appreciate information on how the various governmental departments are coordinating employment, labour market and training policies. The Committee refers to the provisions of the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142), and of the recently adopted Human Resources Development Recommendation, 2004 (No. 195).

4. Prevention of discrimination (Article 1, paragraph 2(c)).

-  Women. The Government states that section 38 of the Labour Protection Act of 1998 and Ministerial Regulation No. 2, which proscribes employers from requiring women workers to engage in specified harmful work, were designed with the purpose to provide special protection to women workers and not to discriminate based on sex. The Committee notes that, in 2004, labour force participation rates in Thailand were lower for women (65.1 per cent) than for men (81.8 per cent). Women remain over-represented in financially unstable work such as homework, agriculture and manufacturing. The Committee asks the Government to provide updated information on the efforts to monitor the opportunities of women workers to obtain and retain jobs and to promote equal access to education, training and employment.

-  Persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that persons with disabilities accounted for 1.8 per cent of the population or 1.1 million people in 2001 and received two-thirds of the income earned by other workers. The Committee understands that people registered with a disability (357,753 in 2003) are entitled to some state assistance and that the Government is revising the Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons Act. It would appreciate receiving indications on the progress of integrating persons with disabilities in the open labour market.

-  Migrant workers. In its last report, the Government expressed concern regarding the protection of regular and irregular workers and the prevalence of trafficking in persons. In order to regulate the flow of migrant workers in its efforts to provide them with protection, the Government has signed bilateral Memorandums of Understanding with neighbouring countries including Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Myanmar. The Committee understands that, in July 2004, about 1.28 million people were registered as foreign migrant workers and were given permission to work, seek employment or stay as dependents in Thailand until 30 June 2005. Some 800,000 workers obtained work permits. It asks the Government to continue to report on the action taken within the framework of an active employment policy to prevent abuse in the recruitment of labour and the exploitation of migrant workers in Thailand (see Part X of the Employment Policy (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1984 (No. 169)).

-  Workers in the rural sector and the informal economy. The Committee notes with interest that the Government is cooperating with the Office in the Informal Economy Project with a view to provide workers in this sector greater protection. The Department of Employment has organized vocational guidance in villages, and training is provided to homeworkers in order to increase their productivity and safeguard their occupational safety and health. The Committee notes that a special ministerial regulation for the protection of homeworkers and a ministerial regulation on the protection of workers in the agricultural sector were adopted in 2004. It would appreciate receiving further information on the measures taken to increase employment opportunities and to improve working conditions for those in the rural sector and the informal economy.

5. Consultation of representatives of the persons affected. The Committee notes the satisfaction expressed by the National Congress of Thai Labour (NCTL) regarding the overall performance of the Ministry of Labour. The Committee further notes that the Government has taken into account the recommendation made by the National Labour Advisory Development Council in formulating and implementing employment policies, in particular, the unemployment insurance scheme mentioned previously. However, the NCTL indicates that consultations held in the tripartite bodies concerned with skills development policy lack practical effect. The NCTL invites the Government to give more weight to the viewpoints of the social partners and to provide assurance that consultations will be taken in good faith. It is the Committee’s view that governments and representative organizations of employers and workers share responsibility for ensuring that representatives of marginalized sectors of the active population have a meaningful part in the formulation and implementation of policies of which they are the prime beneficiaries (paragraph 493 of the General Survey of 2004 on promoting employment). It accordingly requests the Government to provide information on tripartite consultations dealing with employment policies, and to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that representatives of the rural sector and the informal economy are likewise part of such consultations. With respect to migrant workers, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the involvement of employers’ and workers’ representatives, including representatives of migrant workers, in the development and implementation of migration measures. It also encourages the Government to inform both employers and workers of government policies and labour standards protecting the rights of migrant workers.