Page 23 - รายงานผลการประเมินสถานการณ์ด้านสิทธิมนุษยชนของประเทศไทย ปี 2562

คณะกรรมการสิทธิมนุษยชนแห่งชาติ
National Human Rights Commission of Thailand 22

In the area of social protection, improvements were made on the benefits of workers under
the social security law. The government has also taken steps to allow informal workers to be able
to enjoy social protection under Article 40 of the Social Security Act, or to apply for membership of
the National Savings Fund on a voluntary basis. However, the number of informal workers who voluntarily

enter the protection scheme is still relatively low. In addition, the government has a policy to help
low-income people in slum communities to have secure housing and access to basic utilities.

In education, the government has made efforts to promote rights to access to quality education,
as guaranteed by international treaties, the Constitution and relevant national laws, by providing supports
to children from poor families and other vulnerable children to return to the education system or by

preventing drop-out of school through the implementation of the Equitable Education Fund (EEF). Efforts
have been made to improve the quality of education through teacher development and the use of
technology by engaging the private sector. These initiatives have to be pursued continuously.

In terms of health, the state has taken steps to increase citizens’ access to public health care
services through the development of primary care systems. Efforts have been made to solve critical

health problems, namely adolescent pregnancy, which has been successfully reduced to a certain
extent. The health situation that should be monitored is increased contraction of sexually transmitted
diseases among teenagers and youths, and increased people who have got injuries due to the use of

substandard or improper marijuana products. The determinants of health, namely PM 2.5 pollution and
the use of pesticides, remain problematic.

As for business and human rights issues, the government has announced the National Action Plan
on Business and Human Rights, the first of its kind in Asia. The Action Plan prioritizes issues in 4 areas:
i.e., labour rights; communities, land, natural resources and the environment; human rights defenders;
and international investment. This is in line with the NHRC’s recommendations to the government during

the preparation of the Plan. The challenges now are on effective implementation of the Plan and on
sensitizing business entrepreneurs to be more concerned about human rights while conducting their
business.

Regarding issues of economic, social and cultural rights, the NHRC has made several recommendations
to the government and relevant agencies, such as, to take care of laid-off workers to ensure they

receive benefits as prescribed by law; to enhance labour capacities to accommodate future economic
conditions; to solve the problems of service contractors in government agencies; to encourage more
informal workers to enroll into the social protection systems; and to protect labour rights to organize
and collective bargaining in line with international labour standards.

In education area, the NHRC has recommendations for supporting the implementation of

the Equitable Education Fund (EEF) to help children outside the education system to receive education,
particularly in the high school level which is part of basic education, as well as to accelerate
the improvement of the quality of teaching and learning in every institution.