Access to Health Services for Construction Workers and Their Children

Thailand’s construction sector relies heavily on migrant labor to deliver public infrastructure, commercial developments and private housing projects that collectively support the country’s growth. An estimated 700,000 migrant workers, mainly from Myanmar and Cambodia, form the backbone of this workforce.(1) Alongside them, around 60,000 children live with their parents in construction camps across the country.(2)

While these workers and families play a critical role in Thailand’s economic development, they continue to face significant barriers in accessing health information, prevention services and healthcare. These gaps are not only a public health concern, they also have direct implications for productivity, safety and overall performance in the construction sector.

Documented gaps and barriers

The findings reveal significant gaps in health literacy, including limited knowledge of medical rights, as well as barriers to accessing healthcare among migrant workers and their children living in construction camps. The surveys show that many workers experience difficulties in searching for health symptoms and understanding health information in Thai, while others are unsure when to seek medical care. For most workers, health information is accessed primarily through online and social media platforms rather than trusted health channels. In addition, a significant proportion of workers report having no health rights or insurance coverage. These constraints contribute to widespread self-medication and reliance on informal or traditional remedies, increasing the risk of delayed treatment and avoidable complications.

In addition, there is strong momentum and incentives for construction companies to bridge these gaps, supported by an enabling national environment that advances Business and Human Rights principles and ESG reporting. Strengthened ESG reporting obligations for listed companies, anticipated legislation on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (mHREDD), and the Bank of Thailand’s launch of Thailand Taxonomy Phase II, which incorporates social safeguards into environmental investment frameworks, further demonstrate more ambitious expectations of companies.

The model, which relies on volunteer-trained community focal points, is built around four complementary dimensions. It strengthens service delivery by improving access to, and referral toward, existing public health services. It promotes communicable disease prevention through early detection and preventive behaviours, and enhances health promotion by building health literacy through trusted community members. Finally, the model supports safer and more informed health-related choices among community members by strengthening their knowledge of their rights.

Several factors have been critical to the success of the model. Training materials were developed in a culturally contextualized way, with and for migrant workers, allowing HFPs to reuse them directly within their camps. The model aligns closely with Thailand’s public health system, including the Ministry of Public Health’s Village Health Volunteer approach, and contributes directly to the Ministry’s mandate to ensure inclusive and equitable healthcare, avoiding duplication and enabling easier scale-up. It is also adapted to the operational realities of construction camps, taking into account workers’ time constraints, literacy levels, mobility and the capacity of companies to integrate the model into their camp management practices.