The Mekong Migration Network (MMN) celebrated International Labour Day 2024 in Chiang Mai by participating in and co-organising the march and public assembly led by the Northern Labour Network, to which MMN is affiliated.

Over 150 people, including both local Thai and migrant workers, marched in solidarity, chanting slogans such as “All workers are brothers and sisters” and “All workers, please come out and stand for our rights together”.

During the subsequent public assembly, which saw an attendance of upwards of 300 people, worker representatives submitted a letter outlining 29 labour rights demands to the Chiang Mai Provincial Government. Ms. Angkana Techakoment, Director of the Chiang Mai Provincial Labour Office, accepted the demands on behalf of the Provincial Government. She assured the assembly that they will be forwarded to the policy department and then to the respective ministries for review and response.

Later, the Northern Labour Network, in collaboration with various organisations, including MMN, MAP Foundation, Human Rights and Development Foundation, EMPOWER Foundation, and other labour groups, organised a May Day 2024 event at Tha Phae, Chiang Mai. The event, which drew over 300 attendees, provided a platform for knowledge sharing and networking. MMN set up a booth to distribute its publications and engage with attendees. The highlight of the evening was a roundtable discussion themed “All workers are brothers and sisters”, aimed at fostering solidarity among workers of diverse backgrounds. Representatives from migrant youth groups, trade unions, NGOs, sex workers, and medical workers shared their respective challenges. In particular they focused on the lack of social protection, and the reality that workers in certain occupations are often not recognised as such.

The event concluded with the Northern Labour Network presenting its demands to representatives from political parties, including the Move Forward Party and FAIR Party. Following this, all attendees collectively read the May Day 2024 statement, which emphasised that the region’s economic growth, particularly in Chiang Mai, had not benefited the workers, whose living conditions remain unchanged. The Network urged stakeholders to heed its demands and called for unity among workers to strengthen labour groups’ negotiating power and improve workers’ quality of life—a core objective of the Northern Labour Network.