When you bring your chicken thighs home from the store, try to remember to remove them from the Styrofoam and throw out the moisture pad from underneath.
Preparing for the Freezer
With the thighs still in your ziptop bag or in its original packaging, remove them from the freezer and put them on a big dinner plate or food storage container and into the fridge.
Defrost in the Fridge
To defrost thighs in cold water, they need to be in a securely sealed ziptop bag, whether the meat is still in the original packaging or not.
Defrost in Cold Water
The microwave method does take monitoring, but it can get you working on dinner in about 15 minutes even if you just took the meat out of the freezer.
Defrost in the Microwave