Thai Minister Urges 15-Day Leave For New Dads

[webfact]

PATERNITY LEAVE

Minister urges 15-day leave for new dads

THAMMARAT KITCHALONG

THE NATION

Phadermchai calls on employers to cooperate and help boost family ties

BANGKOK: -- From this month onwards, men will be allowed to take 15 days off to help take care of their newborns, Labour Minister Phadermchai Sasomsap said as he called on businesses across the nation to cooperate.

This came after state and private organisations called on the ministry to amend the 1998 Labour Protection Act and allow men to take up to 90 days off so they can help their wives look after their newborns. However, Phadermchai said this proposal would be difficult to put into effect as the ministry had no authority to force business establishments to give their employees such long holidays.

Since amending the law would take a very long time, he said he had told the Labour Protection and Welfare Department to draft the ministerial regulation calling on businesses to cooperate and grant paternity leave to male employees.

He said it would be up to the employers if they want to grant 15-day leave to male employees who can prove that they are legally married and that their wife has just given birth. He said this would be similar to the paternity leave granted to civil servants and state-enterprise staff.

"I'd like to urge businesses to be more sympathetic and allow new fathers to bond with their children," he said.

He also called on employers to help promote warmer family ties by giving parents a chance to look after their infant together. He said it was very rare for both parents to be off at the same time because they had to work hard to support their families.

Rayong-based factory worker Sanan Sukchai, 29, said he backed this idea because Thai couples were no longer part of an extended family structure and hence some time off together would be a great help for new parents.

Sanan explained that when his son was born a year ago, he and his wife had to work really hard to take care of him.

"We have to help our wives by taking turns in waking up at night to attend to the baby's needs. We can't just let our wives wake up and take care of the baby on their own." He said that he ended up having to use all his annual leave to help his wife during that difficult time.

-- The Nation 2012-12-07

[johna]

Seems to me that a lot of Thai Dads take leave as soon as they hear of the pregnancy.

[OzMick]

All, or only those they can find?

[noitom]

Thai men will take that leave regardless of pregnancy.

[Jane Doe]

'He said it would be up to the employers if they want to grant 15-day leave to male employees...'

Up to the employers means no leave

I have never seen a worse place than LOS when it comes to little children. Kids are dumped with grandparents, aunts, relatives (and don't they call everyone their bro or sis?) and I have heard the funniest excuses. They (a couple in their late twenties) are to young to have children... They have no money to feed a family... The job (waitress) is more important... It is better for the child to grow up outside the city (tiny little villages deep in Isaan are much better)...

[LuckyLew]

What a joke

But then again this is a banana republic

IMO the majority of companies will not grant this if they have the choice

Now they need to do something about maternity leave for women,

3 months is not enough

[jaltsc]

Seems to me that a lot of Thai Dads take leave as soon as they hear of the pregnancy.

I am sure you weren't assuming that they were working in the first place. There is a difference between "taking leave" and "skipping out".

[zakk9]

What a joke

But then again this is a banana republic

IMO the majority of companies will not grant this if they have the choice

Now they need to do something about maternity leave for women,

3 months is not enough

3 months is luxury in this country. A female friend of mine gave birth to her third child just over a month ago. She was back to her 280 baht per day, 10 hours 6 days per week job in a supermarket a couple of weeks ago already while an elderly aunt and a cousin are (more or less) taking care of the kids. And if I try to help, an assortment of relatives are knocking on the door for a free ride. For those with little or no resources in Thailand, there's little or no financial security and hardly any future for their children.

[Bagwan]

Why should Thais follow the customs of the Western world regarding the upbringing of children? In South Africa and maybe most countries of that dark continent it is common for children to be left in their villages while one or both parents trail off to the Big City to earn a crust. Even in Jo'burg parents saw little of their offspring since they had to travel from townships outside of the city and then return in the evening. Such journeys should not be compared with our concept of commuting, think more of the poor souls travelling from say Samut Prakan into BKK city centre in a ramshackle old bus, a journey that might take 2 hours.

Who is to say that living in an extended family is harmful to the development of children? My wife's younger sister takes care of her brother's two kids, her own daughter and my wife's granddaughter on a farm in Petchabun province. They seem very happy and content with each other, are never alone, each gives the others a helping hand and none go short of cuddles and attention.

Thai people have their own way of life, much of it sadly imposed by necessity, but it is theirs. Except in ases of child abuse and/or mistreatment, farangs should leave well alone.

I see no great need for maternity leave for Thai men. How many help out in the home anyway? If a young mother is experiencing difficulties in coping, particularly if suffering from post natal depression, then there is the great Thai spirit of family togetherness to fall back on.

[rkidlad]

Why should Thais follow the customs of the Western world regarding the upbringing of children? In South Africa and maybe most countries of that dark continent it is common for children to be left in their villages while one or both parents trail off to the Big City to earn a crust. Even in Jo'burg parents saw little of their offspring since they had to travel from townships outside of the city and then return in the evening. Such journeys should not be compared with our concept of commuting, think more of the poor souls travelling from say Samut Prakan into BKK city centre in a ramshackle old bus, a journey that might take 2 hours.

Who is to say that living in an extended family is harmful to the development of children? My wife's younger sister takes care of her brother's two kids, her own daughter and my wife's granddaughter on a farm in Petchabun province. They seem very happy and content with each other, are never alone, each gives the others a helping hand and none go short of cuddles and attention.

Thai people have their own way of life, much of it sadly imposed by necessity, but it is theirs. Except in ases of child abuse and/or mistreatment, farangs should leave well alone.

I see no great need for maternity leave for Thai men. How many help out in the home anyway? If a young mother is experiencing difficulties in coping, particularly if suffering from post natal depression, then there is the great Thai spirit of family togetherness to fall back on.

I think ideally a child should be raised by its parents. A mother should have a sufficient amount of time to bond with the child when it's first born. This practice is very important. A father should also be allowed something similar. This of course is a perfect world which we don't happen to live in but we can at least strive to have.

The most important thing in a child's life is not nice things and a fancy education, it's being truly loved by it's parents and the ones around him/her. I'm from a poor family but my mother and father raised me. If I had been raised by my aunt, etc, because my mother didn't have time and/or couldn't afford to take care of me, this somehow would have affected me later in life. Maybe not much, but in some way it would.

[HHBM]

I notice that the marriage had to be established ("legally married"). I wonder how many 'families' are thus excluded. Paternity, on the other hand, need not be established...

[12DrinkMore]

Why should Thais follow the customs of the Western world regarding the upbringing of children?

We're off down the socialist benefit path, where politicians start dishing out entitlements and benefits in order to get re-elected, without any thought about who should pay, or, indeed, if the promised future benefits like pensions can ever be paid. Look at the state the west is now in due to the generous promises made.

I personally do not think I should have to pay for other peoples brats. They all seem to want to socialise the costs and keep the benefits private. Not that I can see many benefits of having brats.

If somebody is given three months or six months off work on a paid basis, then some other nameless victim is having to collectively dig into their pockets to pay for it.

[KuhnPaen]

When I lived in Sisaket with my GF, some family member of hers "dumped" a wonderful little 3 year old with my GF's family. At first, she was asking "where's my mom?" in Isaan...after a few months, she was calling my GF her "Mom", then it was the aunts turn to take care of her and she became "mom", then some other person, and another and another. There was always a sadness to this little girl. She was loved by all of us, but she felt abandoned nonetheless. Children are resilient, and remarkable at finding happiness in the worst situations, but I could tell she was deeply saddened by her loss. When the real mother finally came back after a year, the child was deeply confused and cold towards her real mom who left again after only a week. As a parent myself, it broke my heart to see this girl being tossed around from person to person. Though she was well loved--it wasn't the same as a real mother's love.

The parents? Working for 3,000 baht/month in BKK in some factory and living with 4 other people in a one room apartment. Not hard to see why so many become dancers/bargirls and make that in an hour. At least I've seen some bargirls bring their babies to work with them. Always a comforting sight.

[hellodolly]

Should have read fathers get 15 day drunken spree.