Thailand

The objective of the MoU is to determine responsibilities and provide common guidelines for all related government agencies in an effort to integrate procedures on non-detention of migrant children under the age of 18.

Thailand developed a comprehensive data collection system to support migration policies, including integrating migration and child-focused topics in censuses and making the best possible use of administrative data.

In May 2010, a joint ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand task force developed ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF) as the mechanism to benchmark national qualifications frameworks into mutually comparable regional standards.

On 29 November 2017, COMMIT (an inter-governmental body of the Governments of Cambodia, China, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, with UNDP’s UN-ACT project serving as Secretariat), at the 12th COMMIT Senior Officials Meeting, finalized a preamble to support ILO’s General Principles and Operational Guidelines on Fair Recruitment.

Over the past few years, Thailand has regularized over two millions undocumented migrant workers, enabling them to get the same legal protection as Thai nationals and gain access to basic social services such as healthcare and education.

In access to Education, on 19 January 2018, the Ministry of Education issued a directive instructing all public schools to accept for enrolment all children including those that do not have Thai nationality or legal documents.

In 2014, the OECD Development Centre, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), initiated a three-and-a-half-year project, co-financed by the EU Thematic Programme on Migration and Asylum. The project assesses the economic contribution of labour migration in developing countries as countries of destination. It seeks to arrive at a reliable and evidence-based understanding of how immigration affects the economies of a number of low- and middle-income countries, focusing on particular on:

The Poverty Reduction through Safe Migration, Skills Development and Enhanced Job Placement in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Thailand (PROMISE) project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) aims to improve the employability of migrants; to promote safe migration from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar into Thailand; and to contribute to poverty reduction in the region.

All ASEAN Member States adopted  in 2007 the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers.

The Declaration underlines ASEAN Member States’ commitments to, among others, promote decent, humane, and dignified employment, as well as prevent and curb smuggling and trafficking of persons. Indonesia and ASEAN member states are now working towards the establishment of a legally-binding instrument on the protection of all migrant workers, regardless of their employment status.

The Thai Cabinet endorsed in October 2016 the National Strategy Migrant Worker Management B.E. 2560-2564 (2017-2021), which amongst its objectives, include the management of the importation, working condition, and the return to the country of origin of migrant labor and the improvement of migrant labor standards to become in line with international standards.

Through its policy of “Healthy Migrants in Healthy Communities,” Thailand has provided access to health services and health insurance for both documented and undocumented migrants including their dependents.

Under the Compulsory Migration Health Insurance (CMHI) scheme, the yearly premium for an adult is an affordable 1,600 THB or 44 USD per year, while the premium for a child is only 365 THB or 11 USD per year.