On 6 July 2025, the Mekong Migration Network (MMN), in collaboration with its members, the Foundation for Education and Development, MAP Foundation, Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association, and Arakan Workers Organisation organised a consultation with migrant workers in Mae Sot, Thailand. The event aimed to enhance migrants’ knowledge of the Thai Social Security System (SSS) and provided an opportunity for them to ask questions and share concerns directly with staff from Mae Sot’s Social Security Office (SSO).

Thirty-two migrants (17 females and 15 males) attended the consultation, most of whom were garment factory workers. Participants had various personal experiences of the Thai SSS.  During the morning session, they discussed in groups the challenges of accessing social security as migrant workers. These included employers who refuse to enroll them, restrictive eligibility criteria, difficulty accessing accurate information, complicated claims processes, and difficulty in ascertaining their enrollment status. During the afternoon session, selected migrant spokespersons presented these issues directly to staff from Mae Sot’s SSO and called on them to take action to resolve these problems.

In response, Ms. Suparada Potha, Labour Specialist, Practitioner Level at the Mae Sot SSO, explained how some of these issues arise and how they can be avoided. She also provided a detailed explanation of the Thai SSS, including the seven core benefits available, namely (1) free medical treatment for non-work-related illness; (2) maternity benefit; (3) child support; (4) bereavement benefit; (5) retirement pensions; (6) unemployment benefit, and (7) disability benefit. Ms. Potha stressed that while social security benefits and contributions are largely the same for both Thai and foreign nationals, migrants should be aware that they can only receive unemployment benefits for 30 days as they are required to secure new employment within this period or will lose their immigration status.

During the Q&A session that followed, workers raised other practical concerns based on their personal experiences, such as mismatched documents, delayed payments, limited bank access, and language barriers. Ms Potha advised on these specific challenges. Finally, she explained that migrant workers often remained unregistered because their employers either fail to register them or claim that their workers are unwilling to register, despite most businesses being under a legal obligation to do so. She confirmed that workers cannot self-register and that all complaints received lead to SSO officers investigating the employer.

Read the full report here