Thailand’s labour force comprises approximately 40.1 million workers, of whom only 47.7% are in formal employment while over 52.3% are engaged in informal work without full access to labour protections and social security. WIEGO data for 2024 confirms that at the national level, informal employment reached 65% of total employment. Women constitute approximately 10 million out of 20 million independent workers in the informal economy. This factsheet focuses on the structural labour framework applicable to Thai formal and informal workers. For migrant workers, whose residence status is tied to employment and who face distinct legal, administrative and structural barriers, please refer to the companion factsheet on the Rights of Migrant Workers in Thailand.

During the 3rd UPR cycle in November 2021, Thailand received at least twenty recommendations related to labour and workers’ rights, of which seventeen were supported. Key recommendations remain unimplemented: ratifying ILO Convention No. 87 (Freedom of Association), ILO Convention No. 98 (Collective Bargaining), ILO Convention No. 131 (Minimum Wage Fixing), ILO Convention No. 183 (Maternity Protection) and ILO Convention No. 189 (Domestic Workers). The National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (2019-2022) has expired without producing effective outcomes for informal workers, and the second-generation NAP-BHR remains stalled. The Draft Act on Promotion and Development of the Quality of Life of Informal Workers has yet to be enacted.

This assessment shows that Thailand has partially implemented a small number of 3rd cycle recommendations and persistently failed to implement most. The 2025 amendments to the Labour Protection Act extended maternity leave from 98 to 120 days and introduced 15 days of paid paternity leave (effective 7 December 2025) and one day of menstrual leave, but informal workers remain excluded. The mandatory Employee Welfare Fund contribution scheme, delayed from October 2025, is due to commence on 1 October 2026 for employers with 10+ formal employees. On the ground, formal workers continue to face wage theft and misuse of bankruptcy procedures; 21 million informal workers (65% of employment nationally) remain structurally excluded from equal social protection; and sex work remains criminalised despite the CEDAW Committee Concluding Observations to Thailand (2025) calling for its decriminalisation. (For the specific situation of Indigenous workers, please refer to the companion factsheet on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights; for people living with HIV and people who use drugs in employment, see the companion factsheet on the Rights of PLHIV and PWUD.)