ABSTRACT
In the last two decades, Thailand has been transformed into an exportoriented, industrializing nation. External challenges arising from the impact of globalization, economic restructuring, the liberalization of the financial market, and deregulation of labour markets in Thailand have weakened the trade unions’ position and capacity over these years. It was not until the economic crisis in 1997, however, that massive layoffs of workers exposed the inadequacies of the country’s social protection scheme and the weakness of trade unions when a large number of workers, particularly those in the informal sector, received little protection. Unemployment insurance was non-existent. Moreover, trade unions could not offer much protection for workers mainly because these organizations lacked resources. Thailand has one of the lowest rates of unionization in the world (World Bank 2000), and hence, offers an interesting case study of trade unions.
