Tripartism and social dialogue

Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Supply Chains Asia (RISSC) in Thailand

Funded by the Government of Japan, the RISSC project aims to build more resilient, inclusive and sustainable global supply chains as an entry point and catalyst for advancing decent work, addressing human and labour right risks, and building forward better from the COVID-19 pandemic. In Thailand, the RISSC project focuses on the automotive manufacturing sector.

Automotive manufacturing in Thailand. © Shutterstock

Key industry facts

  • Thailand is the largest automotive producer and exporter in ASEAN and the 11th largest in the world, producing over 2 million units per year.
  • Automotives are the country’s second largest export sector, accounting for 9.2 per cent of exports in 2020 and 6.4 per cent of GDP in 2021.
  • The sector is dominated by 19 major automotive assemblers, 8 of which are Japanese (Toyota, Isuzu, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mazda, Suzuki and Hino).
  • The sector employs 345,000 people, of whom 40 per cent are women.

Decent work challenges and opportunities

  • Skills gaps and shortages
  • Wage stagnation
  • Decent Work deficits, including workers’ rights violations -particularly lower tiers and informal parts of the supply chain
  • Weak social dialogue at enterprise and industry level

Project objective

Decent work is promoted and advanced in more resilient, inclusive and sustainable automotive manufacturing supply chain in Thailand.

Target beneficiaries

  • Employers and workers in the automotive sector
  • Policymakers
  • Other key industry stakeholders

Constituents and stakeholders

  • Thai Government: Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, and Ministry of Industry
  • Representative organizations of employers: ECOT, TAIA and TAPMA
  • Representative organizations of workers: LCT, TTUC, NPCE, SERC, ALCT, CILT, TEAM and FTAW
  • Japanese industry stakeholders

For further information please contact:

Mr Noppavut Pravat
 National Project Coordinator
Email: RISSC@ilo.org or pravat@ilo.org