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. 2015 Aug;25(2):189-211.
doi: 10.1177/1048291115586036. Epub 2015 May 20.

Informal Workers in Thailand: Occupational Health and Social Security Disparities

Pornpimol Kongtip  1 , Noppanun Nankongnab  2 , Chalermchai Chaikittiporn  2 , Wisanti Laohaudomchok  3 , Susan Woskie  4 , Craig Slatin  5
Affiliations

Informal Workers in Thailand: Occupational Health and Social Security Disparities

Pornpimol Kongtip et al. New Solut. 2015 Aug.

Abstract

Informal workers in Thailand lack employee status as defined under the Labor Protection Act (LPA). Typically, they do not work at an employer's premise; they work at home and may be self-employed or temporary workers. They account for 62.6 percent of the Thai workforce and have a workplace accident rate ten times higher than formal workers. Most Thai Labor laws apply only to formal workers, but some protect informal workers in the domestic, home work, and agricultural sectors. Laws that protect informal workers lack practical enforcement mechanisms and are generally ineffective because informal workers lack employment contracts and awareness of their legal rights. Thai social security laws fail to provide informal workers with treatment of work-related accidents, diseases, and injuries; unemployment and retirement insurance; and workers' compensation. The article summarizes the differences in protections available for formal and informal sector workers and measures needed to decrease these disparities in coverage.

Keywords: Occupational Safety and Health; Thailand; formal workers; informal workers; social security.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of formal and informal employment by region in 2012.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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