Thailand entered this transformative stage when state regulation for working conditions, social security and employment policies were much less developed than in western nations such as Australia, or they only applied to defined segments of the population such as civil servants. Most Thai workers are still in the informal economy – where work is contingent and conditions are largely outside regulation. Concurrently, unionization rates are low and few workers are aware of their rights. The speed of Thailand’s work transition created a ‘modern’ sector in services and knowledge industries, alongside a sizeable proportion of agricultural and factory workers. Western nations experienced a more sequential shift from one dominant sector through to the next, across several centuries. The coexistence in Thailand of modern and traditional sectors with disparate hazards, pay and conditions is affecting its’ health transition, as the 2 sectors experience diverse exposures to work-related risk.