Minister urges 15-day leave for new dads

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.