Stuck in Labor Rights? Exploring Social Protection for Hairdressers in Northeast Thailand: An Ethnographic Case Study

Abstract

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to explore how labor rights, with regard to working conditions, provide social protection to informal hairdressers in Northeast Thailand. The study was conducted using purposive sampling of 30 ethnographic case respondents from 2019 to 2020 in Maha Sarakham province in Thailand. In-depth interview transcripts comprised the application of thick description to theme development and intercoder validity for interpreting the data. The study found that labor rights regarding working conditions (job instability, occupational stress, workload, overtime arrangements, and low-quality employment) are associated with social protection (employment benefits, the right to labor, legal protection, social security coverage, and labor welfare funds). Furthermore, the findings suggested that informal hairdressers have a right to equal benefit of social security payments under Sects. 39 (voluntarily insured labor) and 40 (persons who are not employees) of Thailand’s social protection regulations, which highly involve labor rights for informal hairdressers.