Solidarity in precarity: food delivery riders in Thailand’s gig economy

A summary of our recent research, originally published on newmandada.org.
On-demand food delivery apps are booming in Thailand, where consumption patterns offer a readily fertile market. In pre-COVID Thailand, approximately a third of all household expenses went towards food and beverage. Of these expenses, households spent almost half on ready-made food (cooked meals consumed at home). Expenditure on ready-made food is particular high in urban regions and major cities such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chonburi and Pattaya. Given that Thai households already spend substantially on takeaway food, the appeal of on-demand food delivery apps is obvious. Apps such as LINE, Grab, Food Panda and Get offer users a unified platform to order food from a variety of restaurants ranging from large global franchises to street-side stalls. Taxi-turned-delivery service Grab reported that its app facilitated 3 million meal deliveries across 16 provinces in January 2019 alone. Each of these deliveries was made by a contractless rider (most deliver orders by motorbike) who accepts the job or “gig” via the same app and is paid per trip. Movement restrictions during the pandemic have likely only boosted demand for food delivery.