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News & Updates

Child Labor in Thailand

June 25, 2006

Since Thailand ratified the ILO’s Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No 182) in 2001, many state agencies have made efforts to address this issue. ¹

Nevertheless, worst forms of child labor still remain a major problem in Thailand. As a result, ILO has agreed to support regional scholars in Thailand to conduct research on worst forms of child labor.
In Chiang Rai, Rajabhat Universty has conducted research which categorized three forms of child labor which include: 1) child domestic workers 2) children working in karaoke bars/restaurants and 3) child beggars. The research included 603 children, both Thai and foreign, under,18 years of age.

In the domestic work sector, 78.4% were female and 27.8% were below 15 years of age. Most worked more than 8 hours/day. 95.7% received a salary of less than 4,000 baht/month. For child begging, 88.2% had income lower than 4,000 Baht. The majority reported that they were physically and verbally abused. Furthermore, 14.5% were coerced into begging. Nevertheless, it was reported that 34.4%c were satisfied with this job. 46.7% had never been rescued. Some children working in karaoke bars and restaurants were sexually harassed. In Chiang Rai, the child labor population includes Thai, Lao, Burmese, and hilltribe children.

In addition, Prince of Songkla University (Pattani Campus) has conducted research on child labor in the fishing industry.  The respondents include 300 children under 18 years of age. Some of these children were maltreated and worked in unhygienic conditions. Some were sold to another fishing boat which prevented them from returning to land after their initial contract finished.

ILO also reported that Cambodia and Laos have child labour issues. Migration to Thailand has now become a major trend. Comparatively, in Vietnam, child labor is less of an issue as all students will complete the compulsory education level (grade 9) within 3 years.

¹ Adapted from: ‘Child labor in Thailand.’ Matichon Newspaper, 12 June 2006. (Source: UNIAP)