MIGRANT domestic workers in Thailand need to be formally recognised as employees with legislation to protect their rights, the president of a foreign workers group has said.

Champadolma Lama, president of the Network of Migrant Domestic Workers in Thailand, said some foreign workers might get comfort from being seen as “part of the family”, but that type of relationship can severely undermine their labour rights and social protection as workers.

A recent survey found that foreign domestic workers worked excessive hours, averaging 11.89 hours a day.

Those caring for children or for the elderly reported an average of 13.5 hours per day. The survey also found that most workers did not receive days off, even though Thai law requires employers to provide at least one day off per week.

“When they [employers] say we’re a part of the family it makes us feel very special – but they have to know that we are still workers,” Champadolma said. “When you say I’m a part of the family, you can’t knock on my door at two in the morning just to open the door because the boss is coming home from a party”.

Champadolma migrated to Thailand from Myanmar in 1992 when she was just 17 years old. Over 24 years she has worked for seven different families under a variety of working conditions.

Giving one example, she said she loved the children she had been hired to raise. “Being a nanny, both my employers used to work. I used to work from 5am until 8 o’clock at night. The recognition for what I did was not there,” she said.

Emotional ties usually have a significant impact on the working life of domestic workers, making them reluctant to negotiate terms of employment or even unable to leave abusive situations.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) recently conducted a study linking public attitudes to working conditions experienced by migrant domestic workers in Thailand and Malaysia.

The study emphasised the need to change public attitudes towards migrant domestic workers and for their work to have the same protections as other sectors.

A key finding of the study was that a “fictive kin” relationship – a social tie based on neither blood nor marriage – between domestic migrant workers and their employers was prevalent in Thai households.

‘Master-servant relationship’

This type of relationship usually did not entail the same long-term commitment to emotional and social well-being as kin relationships, the study said. Furthermore, the employer maintained the power to apply the fictive kin relationship selectively or even to withdraw it entirely.

The survey estimated that 300,000 domestic workers, both migrants and Thai nationals, work in Thailand. More than 50 per cent are migrants from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and, more recently, Vietnam. Thailand has no formal migration channels open to domestic workers, which often leads to irregular migration and informal working arrangements, putting workers further at risk.

“Many scholars say that employment relationships originate from the history Thailand has,” said Chayanich Thamparipattra, one of the study’s main researchers. She described the relationship as a “master-servant relationship” and how isolated living situations have “blocked some of their rights such as education and freedom”.

She added: “Ministerial regulations still don’t provide any protection for important rights such as minimum wage or maternity protection.”

The study noted that a formal contract could solve some of these issues, but it was found that migrant workers associated contracts with restrictions of their freedom to leave an employer. Only 7 per cent of migrant domestic workers involved in the survey had a written contract. Employers also expressed the opinion that contracts were not appropriate for domestic workers.

Despite being a crucial part of many households, domestic work is often not viewed as being “proper work”, leaving workers vulnerable. In Thailand, domestic workers are often overworked, and often undervalued both economically and socially in their household roles.