ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the twin issues of globalization and deregulation as seen in the Thai context, and examines their effect on Thailand's labour market and the viability of its fledging labour movement. As one of Asia's 'little tiger' economies, Thailand experienced nothing short of dramatic economic development from the late 1980s through 1997, with real growth rates in the range of eight to nine per cent during most of this period. The pattern of economic development adopted by the various military-dominated regimes that governed Thailand from the mid-1930s up until the early 1990s strongly influenced the country's industrial relations system. The Thai Labour Relations Act is patterned, to some extent, on the American National Labour Relations Act. An understanding of trade unionism in Thailand and its relationship to forces such as globalization and deregulation requires knowledge of the historical evolution of the Thai working class.
