On November 30, 2022, the Labour Minister, Mr. Suchart Chomklin, assigned the Ministry of Labour’s Spokesperson (on Politics), Mrs. Thienrat Navamawat, to visit the area, to meet and encourage homeworker groups. Khun Isada Chombuakham, the group’s president and members, welcomed the visiting committee at the Isada Cloth Bag Group’s office, house No. 35, Moo 2, On Tai Subdistrict, San Kamphaeng District, Chiang Mai Province.
Mrs. Thienrat said that the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister and Minister of Defense General Prayuth Chan-ocha and Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, who oversees the Ministry of Labour, has focused on accelerating the promotion of occupations for people in various areas to support employment, and for people to have skills, careers and a stable income. Therefore, today, the Labour Minister, Mr. Suchart Chomklin, assigned her to visit the area to support the Isada Cloth Bag Group in San Kamphaeng, Chiang Mai Province. From her meeting with the group’s president, the group was registered as a work-at-home group with the Department of Employment on September 25, 2018. There are currently ten members. Members work in the group; some will be distributed to members to bring cloth bags to produce at their homes and deliver to the group office. In the past, the group worked on sewing bags for NaRaYa, King Power, and other brands. Currently, the group sews shirts, trousers, bags, key chains, and embroidery for both Thai and foreign employers. They also produce products for educational institutions, establishments, and various government agencies. The members earn an income of around 50,000 to 300,000 Baht per person per month. Most of the income comes from accepting work and producing and selling by themselves, selling in front of the group office, at booths in public and private exhibitions, and through online markets via the store’s page, Isada Cotton Clothes and Cloth Bags, Chiang Mai, and the Facebook page, which belongs to the president named Isada Chombuakham. Most customers are Thai and foreign tourists, including the general public.
Mrs. Thienrat continued that the Ministry of Labour’s Provincial Employment Office in Chiang Mai has promoted and supported the integration of group members to work at home and provided training for further development. Their initiatives also aim to add value to products, such as making bags from scraps of cloth and cotton and making keychains, cloth masks, trousers, and shirt embroidery to increase product value. It has also offered training and study visits to exchange knowledge between working groups in Chiang Mai, training to promote home workers and the push for the Homeworkers Protection Act, introduction to marketing channels, and being a career demonstration speaker at the Chiang Mai Provincial Employment Office.
