Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Thailand (Ratification: 1969)

The Committee notes with regret that for the third year in succession the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. The Committee notes the information supplied in the Government's report received in November 1989 in reply to its previous direct request. According to the evaluation of the first two years of the Sixth National Development Plan 1987-91, its employment objectives have been achieved. The Government indicates that the employment rate is higher than the projected rate in every sector except the rural sector, which was affected by adverse climatic conditions. Particular difficulties encountered in the achievement of the objectives of the Plan were the infrastructure inadequacy and the shortage of skilled manpower in several occupations. The Government also indicates that these problems are being bound in mind and taken into consideration. The Committee trusts that in its next report the Government will supply further information on the situation, level and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment, both in the aggregate and as they affect particular categories of workers such as women, young persons, older workers and disabled workers, as requested in the report form of Article 1 of the Convention.

2. Please indicate how employment policy objectives are related to other economic and social objectives set in the new plans or programmes currently being implemented. As requested in the 1989 direct request, please refer in particular to the impact on employment of the economic strategy emphasizing privatization of public enterprises.

3. In reply to the 1989 direct request, the Government indicates that self-employment promotion has received particular attention. It has supplied detailed information on many self-employment programmes established by various official agencies. The Committee also notes with interest the information obtained from the technical cooperation and field programmes responsible for Office activities in Asia and the Pacific with regard to cooperation in projects to promote rural women self-employment through self-help organizations (project THA/84/W09/72/11), labour-based construction-cum-rural self-employment (project THA/86/014) and strategic approaches toward employment promotion (project JPN/RAS/M09). The Committee notes that the general policy assumptions guide this latter project activities and in particular that employment creation packages should be closely combined with microeconomic policy analysis and that employment promotion requires a larger and more active role of the labour ministry. The Committee welcomes these activities which contribute to a better practical implementation of the Convention and hopes that the Government will provide in its next report further information on the action taken as a result of the technical assistance provided by the Office (Part V of the report form). The Government might usefully consult Part V on the informal sector of Recommendation No. 169 concerning the employment policy (supplementary provisions), 1984. Those provisions could contribute to a better understanding of the requirements of the Convention and facilitate its application.

4. The Committee notes with interest the achievements of the first two years of the Sixth Plan with regard to the programme on rural area development. Please continue to supply information on the implementation of plans or programmes designed to meet the employment needs of parts of the country which have not benefited satisfactorily from national development.

5. The Committee notes the information on the joint organization of the Labour Bazaar Day in the period 19-24 March 1987, by domestic employment offices and employers. It would be grateful if the Government could supply further details on measures taken to coordinate education and training policies with prospective employment opportunities.

6. Article 3. The Committee refers to its previous comments and reaffirms the importance of the consultations that must be held with representatives of the persons affected by the measures to be taken in the employment policy field. The consultations provided for in the Convention should not be restricted to matters of employment policy in the narrow sense, but should extend to all aspects of economic policy which affect employment. Furthermore, in addition to providing for consultations in the formulation of employment policies, the provisions of the Convention and of Recommendation Nos. 122 and 169 also envisage cooperation with representatives of employers and workers in the implementation of this policy (see paragraphs 96 and 100 of the Committee's General Survey of 1972). The Committee therefore trust that the Government will supply detailed information in its next report on the holding of consultations under Article 3 of the Convention.