Press Release: Chiang Mai Social Security Office awarding benefits to descendants of migrant worker who died during medical treatment for 360,000 baht

23 June 2022

Press Release 

Chiang Mai Social Security Office awarding benefits to descendants

of migrant worker who died during medical treatment for 360,000 baht

 

On 17 May 2022, the Chiang Mai Social Security Office sent a letter to descendants of Ms. LWAN Zay, a migrant worker insured through Section 33 of the Social Security Act who died during the medical treatment to receive the benefits for 360,000 baht.

In this case, Ms. Lwan Zay, a migrant worker, had sought medical treatment for her stomachache exercising her right as an insured person pursuant to Section 33 from 27 May – 7 June 2021. She had died during the treatment, however. The Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF)’s Chiang Mai Office has helped her descendants to ensure their access to benefits including “initial financial support” pursuant to the Notification of the Medical Committee of the Social Security Act on the Criteria and Rate of Initial Financial Support for Insured Persons Suffering from Damage during the Receiving of Medical Services. After receiving the application for the benefit from the descendants, it took the SSO about one year to review and decide that they should have access to such benefits.

Pasuta Chuenkhachorn, lawyer of the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF), said that the Social Security Act B.E. 2533 is a law that offers social protection to insured employees in seven categories including injury or sickness benefits, disability benefits or death benefits unrelated to work, maternity benefits, child benefits, old age benefits and unemployment benefits. The law is very instrumental to enhancing the protection of quality of life of workers and their families. According to the SSO’s statistics, as of October 2021, 960,000 insured persons were migrant workers. Therefore, it is incumbent on the SSO to raise the awareness of insured persons about such available benefits and to investigate to ensure all workplaces with at least one employee get registered with the SSO to protect the benefits and social security of all employees.


For more detail, please contact: Pasuta Chuenkhachorn,

Coordinator of Migrant Justice Programme (MJP),

Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF),

phone 0815957578 Email [email protected]