Women's rights advocates repeated the message given at International Women's Day two years ago when they called on the government yesterday to provide better maternity protection and state-run nurseries.
On March 8, 2017, the government was urged to listen to the voices of female workers on a day that the United Nations wants people to "reflect on progress made".
Yesterday, labour activists and accompanying workers who marched from Democracy Monument to Government House preferred seeing a brighter present and future to their not-so-happy past when many of them still struggled to make ends meet and raise their children due to low daily wages.
Nilaimon Montreekan, president of the Women Workers' Unity Group, heard the sound of her calls made in 2017 resonate again yesterday.
However, she now wants the government to take concrete action.
Centres to help parents take care of their children while they are at work are needed. Moreover, authorities must also ratify Convention No.183, or C183.
Known as the Maternity Protection Convention, the pact has been initiated by the International Labour Organisation and supported by ILO member states to ensure healthier lives of mothers and their babies.
"Mothers need time to nurture their young so that they will grow up strong," labour rights advocate Araya Kaeopradap said.
C183, which promotes 14 weeks of maternity leave and cash benefits, is behind successful family bonds, she said.
Thailand, which is facing a decline in birthrates, desperately requires a new generation of children who are physically and mentally healthy.
"This," Ms Araya said, "will match the current situation with the country entering into an ageing society."
Families need time to live together and have only moderate, if not zero, financial stress.
However, according to Ms Nilaimon, many workers, males and females alike, have been forced to work overtime because their daily wages are too low, adding that they give up spending time with their children because of long hours in the workplace.
