Thailand

Background to the Thai coup

This is an unpublished review I wrote in 2002, with some background to the Thai coup.

Thailand has developed into a modern independent capitalist country, where capitalist relations of production dominate both the cities and the countryside, and where the class struggle is played out between the...

Corruption crisis in Thailand

Since the beginning of the year Thailand has witnessed growing protests. This article, written by Danielle Sabai and Jean Sanukon on 20 March in Bangkok and abridged from International Viewpoint, explains the background. Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand and one of the country’s most important businessmen, is at the centre of the storm. He came to power with his new party in the elections that followed the major economic crisis of 1997. Under his authority, the big businessmen of the capital succeeded in dominating the political life of the country, running it in the service of...

Workers news Round-up

South Africa Hundreds of thousands of workers in South Africa supported a one-day general strike in protest against job losses on 18 May. Three of AngloGold’s Vaal River mines were shut. Most workers were on strike at Harmony Gold’s big mines in the Free State. Two-thirds of the workforce stayed away from the Kloof mine. At the Beatrix mine in the Free State only one out of four shafts was operational. Many members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa joined the strike. The union targeted Mittal (formerly known as Iscor), Denel, DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Ford and Volkswagen. Two...

Thai Labour Solidarity Committee

Thai Labour Solidarity Committee (TLSC), made up of 26 labor organisations including trade unions, labour federations and congresses and NGOs, is receiving donations from its members and the public to help affected workers from the tsunami in Thailand. The TLSC is working with the Phuket Federation of Hotel and Service Labour (PHSL) in surveying the number of workers who need help. After visiting the affected areas, the TLSC set up the Mobile Assistance Centre (MAC) in Phuket to assist affected workers. Also, the team was set up to survey the number of deaths, injured and unemployed with the...

International round-up

Unions at Wal-Mart! After years of dogged attempts to organise unions in Wal-Mart, workers in Canada are starting to make some gains at this, the world’s largest retailer. In August, the Quebec Labour Relations Board certified a union at the Wal-Mart store in Jonquière, Quebec after more than half of its 145 workers signed cards to become members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). A mandatory contract will soon have to be agreed — and that would create the first union branch at Wal-Mart anywhere in North America. Workers at a Wal-Mart store in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, are...

Workers of the World - ROUND-UP

Zanón factory - two years under workers' control Anti-privatisation protest in Thailand Korean workers win wider union rights Zanón factory - two years under workers' control Every day, the 330 workers of Zanón Ceramics Factory who both work at and run the largest ceramic floor-tile factory in Argentina are, legally speaking, usurping the factory and its machinery. That they have been able to sustain this legally precarious situation for two years is due to the incredible solidarity they have garnered from their local community in Neuquén. While an outstanding order to evict these workers has...

Clean up your computer!

By Mark Osborn CAFOD (Catholic campaigning organisation) have produced a a useful, detailed, expose of the terrible working conditions, harassment and poverty pay faced by electronics workers, making computer parts, in Mexico, Thailand and China. Thailand is the world's second largest producer of hard disc drives. A Thai worker making these drives, that end up in computers sold by companies like Dell earns around £2.50 per day. They do not receive sick pay or holiday pay (in contravention of Thai law). Sub-contracted workers were reported as looking tired and ill, and if workers become...

Workers mark anniversary of world's worst factory fire

Workers in Thailand have commemorated the 10th anniversary of the world’s worst factory fire. On 10 May 1993 the Kader fire killed 189 people, mostly young women workers and seriously injured over 500. The Kader factory was a Thai- Hong Kong-Taiwanese joint venture, making toys such as the Barbie doll. The factory collapsed after a fire on the ground floor spread to solvents and paints stacked in narrow corridors. When the fire started workers were told to stay at their posts. Fires had broken out several times before, causing at least one death. The original design plan for the factory...

Sacked Thai workers continue production

A factory in Thailand which supplied Nike, Reebok and Adidas closed down, without warning, in October 2002. It owed its 350 workers $400,000 in back wages and redundancy pay. An international campaign began, calling on the Thai government to bring the owners of the factory to justice and to ensure that workers were paid all that they were owed. Warrants were issued for the arrest of the owners, and the government ordered that the workers be paid back wages. Workers held a three-month picket outside the Ministry of Labour, held demonstrations in front of Government House and the US Embassy, had...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.