The Thai Labour Museum - a history of strife, sweat and toil
The Thai Labour Museum is housed in a modest single story red
building by the railway line near the Makkasan railway station.
The building used to be the railway police station, then the
railway labour union office, before being converted to a museum
on 17 October 1993.
The monument outside the Thai Labour Museum signifying the
"Dignity of Labour" shows a man and a woman pushing a huge
wheel, the wheel of history.
The museum captures the 300-year history of the Thai labour
movement from the days of slavery to the present, tracing the
evolution of the Thai labour.
Slavery
The journey in the Thai Labour Museum starts with the period of
slavery. Since the 1700s slaves and commoners or Phrai worked
without wages. The Phrai were tattooed with their names of the
area of abode and their masters.
The advent of paid labour
The Bowing Treaty in 1855 in the reign of King Rama IV opened
up trade and pressure for reform. Increased labour demand was
met by the influx of Chinese immigrants. This was the advent of
paid labour though conditions were abysmal.
Reform - the abolition of slavery
In 1873, King Chulalongkorn or King Rama V abolished slavery, a
watershed in the history of Thai labour fittingly recorded in
the Thai Labour Museum. All men were free to seek employment for
a fair wage.
Political reform and the labour movement
The early 1920s had no clear government policy on labour. Labour
had no right of organization. Industrial disputes and strikes
were frequent. Intellectuals, the pioneers of the labour
movement, tried to raise awareness to this growing problem.
The 1932 coup brought hopes of improvement. The Thai Tram
Workers Association, the first labour union was formed. A
nationalist economic policy required Thai ownership of
companies, registration of unemployed and recognition of
workers' rights.
World War II and the Cold War
The Japanese occupation in World War II put a halt to things,
causing unemployment, inflation and severe hardships. Many
workers joined the underground resistance movement.
Thai labour's setback continued during the Cold War. Military
dictators, who were staunchly anti-communist and anti-labour,
clamped down on labour as workers' rights and unions were
considered unfavourable to investment.
The turbulent 1970s to the end of the century
Widespread discontent forged an alliance of workers, farmers and
students that boiled over in 1973. The video in the Thai Labour
Museum gives a detailed account of the events leading up to the
bloodbath on 14 October 1973.
Other problems were that of abuse of child and women labour and
gross neglect of workers' safety. In 1993 188 workers, mostly
women, perished when a fire burnt down the Kader Doll Factory.
The 1997 economic crisis was another bitter pill.
Thai labour and Songs for life
The last stop in the Thai Labour Museum is a fitting finale as
it embodies the spirit of the politically disenchanted, the
exploited and neglected. The labour movement took their plight
to the people through music.
Hardships and toil are expressed through songs with poignant
images of broken dolls and tearful children mourning the loss of
their mothers in the Kader Doll Factory fire.
Current issues facing Thai labour today
Issues still facing Thai labour today are a fair minimum daily
wage, the privatization of state enterprises and workers'
safety. Will a new page be written in Thai labour history for
inclusion in the Thai Labour Museum?