Just as in previous years, certain groups of women in Thailand remained out in the cold as the country marked International Women’s Day on Saturday (March 8).
“The government never mentions us,” said a female sex worker in Bangkok. “We are ignored despite working in a field that has been part of human history for hundreds or thousands of years.”
B (not her real name) laments that even though she works hard to support her family just like women in other professions, unlike them she is subject to arrests, fines, and humiliation.
Thanta Laovilawanyakul, coordinator of the Empower Foundation, which supports sex workers in Thailand, said Thai law had branded sex workers as villains for decades.
But that could be about to change.
“We are now pushing for a Sex Workers Bill because we too should be recognized as women who support their families and contribute to the Thai economy,” she said.
‘Quarter of a million prostitutes generate $6.4 billion’
Havocscope, a platform monitoring the global black market, estimated that Thailand had around 250,000 prostitutes in 2015 – the eighth-highest number in the world. It calculated that prostitution generated approximately US$6.4 billion in Thailand at the time.
However, under the Prostitution Prevention and Suppression Act (1996), sex workers in Thailand face criminal penalties if arrested.
“This means they will have criminal records, making it hard for them to get employed in other fields later on,” Thanta pointed out. “Some women just turn to the flesh trade out of necessity for a period in their lives – they don’t intend to stay in the industry forever.”
She added that female prostitutes are usually family breadwinners, with 80% being mothers. On average, each female sex worker supports five family members.
“They have often come from other jobs where the income was too low to secure their family’s survival,” Thanta explained.
A 47-year-old woman, who identified herself only as “A”, said she turned to sex work out of a sense of duty as the eldest daughter after her mother left her job to care for her ailing father at home.
“My siblings were still young,” she recounted. “Before, I had worked as a road sweeper, a shop assistant, and a factory worker. But my income was nowhere near enough to support the whole family.”
A said she only turned to providing sexual services when her family couldn’t make ends meet. When there was enough money, she switched to other jobs.
Thanta stated that criminalizing prostitution restricted sex workers’ rights in many different ways. For example, if a customer stole their phone or other belongings, they could not go to police as this would risk being arrested and prosecuted for providing sexual services.
A 30-year-old sex worker lamented that while public attitudes towards prostitutes had become more sympathetic, the state remained hard-hearted.
“I think the police target me. They keep arresting me for various offences – even for driving a car without a proper license plate, despite the fact that I have never driven,” she said.
Domestic slavery?
Kanyapha Prasopsuk from the Network of Thai Domestic Workers said women in her occupation often have no legal protection, despite working more than 10 hours a day.
“The nature of our job means we don’t get holidays or overtime pay,” she said. “Even worse, we can be fired at any time, without severance pay.”
These problems exist, she said, because domestic workers are not fully covered by Thailand’s social security scheme, even though they have long sustained Thai society.
“I would like to ask Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra if she would be able to do her job without a housemaid at home to do the ironing and nannying,” Kanyapha said.
Kodchapon Klakthongkam, president of the Federation of Informal Workers (Thailand), said the lack of official recognition for certain occupations leaves many people in precarious situations without job security or legal protections.
Informal workers do receive some social security coverage, but with fewer benefits than formal workers, whose employers make monthly contributions to the Social Security Fund.
Along with domestic workers, people who provide services from their homes also feel insecure. When they fall ill, they have no welfare to fall back on,” Kodchapon said.
Supaporn Phanprasit, a member of Riders Center Collective, said the vast numbers of Thais working as delivery riders via leading platforms have no access to social welfare.
“We are described as independent workers or driver-partners, but these definitions essentially leave us without support,” she said.
Experience has shown her that female riders face high risks on the job. Many of her colleagues have been involved in road accidents, some resulting in disabilities or even fatalities.
“Compensation for them is far from fair, to be honest,” she said.
Supaporn works for a leading delivery platform, whose value was recently estimated to be around 1% of Thailand’s GDP.
According to the National Statistical Office, Thailand had approximately 21.1 million informal workers in 2024. The government says it is now pushing for a new law that will protect people in the informal sector, including small vendors, odd-job workers, and farmers.
Prejudice leads to inequality
Pinnapa Prueksaphan, an ethnic rights activist, said social inequalities stem from prejudice.
“Some people don’t see others as equals,” she explained. These biases are what drive discrimination and human rights violations, she added.
Civil society organizations recently held a seminar to mark International Women’s Day 2025, highlighting how Thailand’s economic policies often leave women behind.
“Women are always at a crossroads, forced to choose between family care and career advancement,” said Apantree Charoensak, vice president of the Thai Labor Solidarity Confederation.
No work benefits, no family
In her view, government policies usually favor the business sector, where the trend is toward hiring informal workers to reduce costs. As a result, many women workers feel they are unable to start a family and pursue a respectable career at the same time.
The work-family bind may be contributing to Thailand’s declining birth rate, which fell to fewer than half a million births in 2022 – the lowest in 70 years.
With its birth rate already at a historic low, Thailand is on track to become a super-aged society within the next three decades.
“If the government doesn’t change its approach, how will it cope with the lack of workers in the next 30 years?” Apantree asked.
