The social reality of precarity: sex work, gender and migrant labour in Thailand and Malaysia

Purpose This article examines how state regulation, migration governance and informal labour markets intersect to produce precarious labour in Thailand and Malaysia, with focused attention on gendered and migrant dimensions, especially sex work. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual article draws on peer-reviewed academic literature, policy documents and international organisation reports. The conceptual framework is developed through synthesis of these sources, applying Richard Quinney's (1970) six-proposition theory of the social reality of crime to examine the mechanisms through which labour precarity is produced and reproduced. Findings Precarious labour is produced through six interconnected mechanisms that parallel Quinney's propositions. The analysis reveals that formal labour protections coexist with, and are systemically undermined by, enforcement gaps, corruption, deliberate production of illegality and media-driven stigmatisation. Migrant workers, sex workers and transgender individuals experience extreme precariousness where these mechanisms intersect. Research limitations/implications As a conceptual article, the findings require empirical testing through further research with precarious workers themselves. Practical implications Meaningful policy responses must address all six precarity-producing mechanisms comprehensively, including migration reform and challenging stigmatising discourses. Social implications The article reframes precarious labour as a socially produced phenomenon rather than an economic inevitability, exposing how legal exclusion, enforcement practices and stigmatising discourses systematically marginalise vulnerable workers. It calls for societal recognition that these patterns are sustained by design and neglect, requiring a shift in how labour vulnerability is understood and addressed across Thailand and Malaysia. Originality/value The article extends Quinney's six-proposition criminological framework to labour precarity, developing the social reality of precarity model that proposes precarity is actively produced through governance rather than existing merely as an economic condition. This article illustrates how governance mechanisms operate interdependently to generate, sustain and reproduce labour vulnerability across distinct national contexts.