Julaphan, the Minister of Labor, participated in the 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, discussing four agendas to transform Thai labor, enhance workers' rights, and collaborate with Italy to send workers in the agricultural and industrial sectors abroad to work legally.
On 12 June 2026, Mr. Julaphan Amornwiwat, Minister of Labor, revealed after completing the annual International Labour Conference (ILC) at Geneva, Switzerland, held from 9 to 10 June, that during the meeting he held official discussions with international representatives and organizations to strengthen relationships and expand labor cooperation for the benefit and rights of Thai workers.
Mr. Julaphan disclosed that besides attending the annual ILC and the Asia-Pacific Labour Ministers' Meeting (ASPAG Ministerial Meeting), he also had the opportunity for five key bilateral meetings with labor ministers and international organization leaders to advance Thai labor policies on the global stage.
He revealed that he held talks with Ms. Marina Elvira Calderone, Italy's Minister of Labour and Social Policies, expressing gratitude that Italy included Thailand in its labor flows decree, enabling Thai workers to work legally there, and urged the acceleration of a joint Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
He also exchanged ideas on the Dual-Track Education model, a strong collaboration framework between technical institutes, universities, and local businesses, aiming to learn from this model and adapt it to systematically develop Thai workforce skills by seamlessly linking education and business sectors.
Lessons from Singapore: Plans to develop social security and foreign labor tax systems.
In discussions with Dr. Tan See Leng, Singapore's Minister for Manpower, Julaphan revealed they jointly studied two main lessons: Singapore's Central Provident Fund (CPF) system to help develop a more flexible and modern social security system in Thailand, and Singapore's foreign labor tax system as a model to improve management and living standards for foreign workers in Thailand.
Enhancing collaboration with IOM to protect migrant workers' rights and combat human trafficking.
He then met with Ms. Amy E. Pope, Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), emphasizing Thailand's policy to promote legal migration pathways through MOUs with neighboring countries and equal, non-discriminatory protection. Currently, over 1.5 million migrant workers are covered under Thailand's social security system. They also discussed cooperation in protecting vulnerable workers and preventing forced labor and human trafficking.
Discussion with ILO Director-General on approaches to protect platform workers.
Concluding with talks with Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Julaphan praised the ILO's role in supporting Thailand through the national Decent Work program, which significantly improves the quality of life and skills of Thai workers.
Additionally, Julaphan expressed his intention to extend labor protections to platform workers and discussed ways to improve legal frameworks to ensure the security of this labor group.