Queering the Gig Economy in Thailand
By Niran Hora
Although many gig workers enjoy the freedom and the flexibility to work the hours they please, they are not given basic employment protections. The benefits of Thailand’s Section 33 of the Social Securities Act, are unavailable to gig workers because of their unclear occupational status. Platform companies deduct 25% of their gig workers’ income as commission fees, providing no form of insurance, holidays, pension or other benefits. The International Labour Organisation has calculated that Grab, one of Thailand’s most used platforms, has a whopping 29% of their gig workers who work for more than 8 hours a day. This is the equivalent of a full-time job. To earn a liveable wage, a single gig worker is required to work at least 10 hours per day. Thailand’s gig workers are excluded from Thailand’s Labor Protection Act, Labor Relations Act, Occupational Safety Act as well as The Health and Environment Act. Equal Asia Foundation anecdotal evidence has pointed out that LGBTIQ+ persons in Thailand mostly stay away from formal employment. Poor access to higher education and professional training discrimination in educational institutions and the workplace all contribute to this. The informal/ gig economy allows LGBTIQ+ persons to have greater choice and agency in the way they make their livelihoods. However, as we have seen, the gig work economy is fraught with risks and insecurities. These vulnerabilities are compounded by other intersectional vulnerabilities such as refugee status, religion, disability, indigenous identity, age and gender identity.
Platform companies justify the lack of protection of gig workers by classifying them as independent contractors. However, gig workers more often than not do not have either independence or flexibility in their work with these platforms. These companies also argue their costs would rise significantly if they begin ‘formalising’ gig workers — claiming that they are not in the profit-making stage yet. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that there has been a high demand for these services allowing these companies to make significant windfalls. The other common claim that these companies make is that they are ‘just tech companies’, and that they only connect people to other people that provide the service instead of admitting they are service providers themselves. This exploited loophole enables such businesses to take little to no responsibility for the people that are responsible to work. Due to COVID-19, the number of gig workers has risen, making more of Thailand’s citizens, including Thailand’s LGBTIQ+, vulnerable to being overworked with no protection. This challenge is not unique to Thailand. Samavesh Chamber of Commerce has noted that gig workers face the same issues in India.
A number of agencies and labour justice organisations argue that platform companies actually control the amount of work assigned to gig workers and can even penalise those who do not meet targets. For LGBTIQ+ gig workers, companies controlling dress codes and how they present themselves has always been contentious. Platform companies still control dress codes and exercise other forms of control that are not LGBTIQ+ friendly. ILO reports that 71% of Thailand’s gig workers receive no benefits. Accident insurance does exist for some platforms, but can only come into effect if a gig worker has worked full-time, 8 hours a day for at least 6 months.
Just Economy and Labour Institute (JELI) has been collaborating with labour coalitions in Thailand that are participating in the democracy movement. Such coalitions include the Workers’ Union as well as Labour Network for People’s Rights, which comprises workers from diverse backgrounds that exist in both the formal and informal sectors. JELI works with these groups to address issues such as unfair employment practices, rising unemployment and lack of severance pay for workers that have been laid off. One key focus of the institute is working with groups, such as the Freedom Riders Union to amend Thailand’s Labour Relations Act, allowing migrant workers to team up and form legitimate unions.
Moreover, JELI has noted that women gig workers in the care economy are even more overlooked in the eyes of Thai law. This very reason is why the institute has teamed up with the Empower Foundation to abolish the Prostitution Prevention and Suppression Act as an aim to provide basic labour protections, making sex workers less vulnerable to exploitation. With the help of insightful cooperation and reporting from Feminista, a Thai feminist organisation that advocates promoting gender equality, JELI is working to provide solutions for female gig workers in Thailand.
Multiple solutions can be proposed to help address the vulnerability of gig workers in Thailand. The first is to establish a tripartite arrangement to amend the definition of gig workers in Thai law, considering them as full-time employees, countries like the UK and Vietnam have tried following this suit. Another possible solution would be to establish and promote a social security scheme applicable to gig-workers with a reasonable price point. Malaysia has been known to recently establish such a system.
On a similar note, Equal Asia Foundation aims to connect individuals from across sectors to create platforms that support LGBTI+ businesses along with gig workers, hopefully improving standards and even increasing supplier diversity. One more solution could involve creating more laws that regulate platform companies to provide minimum benefits to gig workers, such as minimum wage, hours, insurance, etc. A final solution could be to encourage collective bargaining, allowing gig workers to be able to negotiate with platforms regarding their issues and basic needs, which the Equal Asia Foundation will be working to address with its initiatives. Collective bargaining is a big step in providing fundamental rights to gig workers and employees that otherwise would not be heard.
Through the Economic Res-Q project, both southern partners are committed to providing solutions to build economic resilience high enough to withstand all future unfortunate events. The partnership will also focus on developing a more inclusive economic ecosystem as countries begin implementing their economic recovery plans post the COVID-19 pandemic. CGLCC will be working with both southern partners in India and Thailand to address this issue, developing an entire roadmap to financial post-COVID-19 recovery for communities of LGBTIQ+ and communities that intersect. As an incubator, Equal Asia Foundation understands that the LGBTIQ+ populations do intersect with the underserved community of gig workers, therefore solutions must be delivered to the entire community as a whole as opposed to only certain groups within.
- Platform Company — Companies that provide infrastructure, which connects consumers to external producers that enable a value-creating interaction.
- Care Economy — formal and informal sector of businesses that look after the physical, emotional, psychological, and developmental needs of one or more people.
