Junta insists: No roundups against foreign workers
No, there will be no hard raids against foreign workers. The only thing the military authority has set itself is the 're-regulation' of the foreign working population.
According to the law, employers must register their foreign personnel, says Co-leader Prayuth Chan-ocha. Both employers and staff will benefit because it improves the working and living conditions of migrants.
According to figures from the Employment Department, 2,2 million legal foreign workers currently work in Thailand: 1,7 million are from Myanmar, 95.888 from Laos and 395.356 from Cambodia. Of the total, 1,8 million previously entered Thailand illegally. They have now gone through the verification process and are in possession of a (temporary) work permit. [Another report puts the number of illegal workers at 1 million.]
Sirichai Disthakul, chairman of the NCPO subcommittee on transnational labor, visited employers and foreign workers in Samut Sakhon, a province with the most migrants, mainly from Myanmar, yesterday. The visit was apparently intended to mitigate the problems faced by employers due to the exodus of both legal and illegal migrants. The junta (NCPO) plans to conduct a pilot in that province and Ranong to develop policy on foreign workers.
NCPO spokesman Winthai Suvaree points out that Thailand has been struggling with the problem for more than a decade. The most pressing issues are child labour, human trafficking and corruption by some officials and intermediaries who profit from illegal practices. Sirichai warns "influential figures" who make money from these practices that they must stop doing so, otherwise they will be dealt with harshly.
Samut Sakhon's Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Thai Industries and several other organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding yesterday in which they pledge not to hire children or illegal workers.
According to an official in the border province of Sa Kaeo, the exodus of Cambodians was triggered by phone calls from Cambodia that Thai soldiers had captured and killed Cambodians. He points out that the reports of the NCPO's plans for 're-regulation' have not led to an exodus of other nationalities. And that is at least something to think about.
(Source: Bangkok Post, June 17, 2014)
Photos: Cambodians at Aranyaprathet station, on their way back to their homeland.
See also:
Cambodians are fleeing Thailand in large numbers
Businesses fear labor shortages due to exodus of Cambodians
If there were strong unions in this country, a not insignificant part of the work in Thailand would have long since been declared infected. There would also have been strikes in the past 20 years that may have been bigger than all the red, yellow, white and masked demonstrations combined. It's actually kind of crazy that no (LEGAL, democratically elected) government has really done anything about the problem of illegal workers so far. Oh yes, I know. There is a small raid every month in the African quarter in Sukhumvit 3-5. The big boys are warned by the police (perhaps for an appropriate compensation in cash or in kind) and the little boys (the shamils with an expired visa) are arrested and - in the nicest case - deported from the country.
I'm glad something is actually happening now. After all, it is not just about illegal work, it is about evading the labor law, the social security law and large-scale tax evasion. The culprits are not the red shirts but the old, mostly yellow elite who enrich themselves with these practices. They hardly know what the minimum wage is, but they do know how many days of illegal work of Cambodians and Burmese you need to buy a new Benz or a new condo in London.
My wife employs Cambodians and Burmese who pay them at least minimum wage, their work permits and visas; and they are all insured against health and accidents. None of them have returned home in recent weeks. And there is still enough profit to drive a Toyota Vios.
Moderator: please don't chat.
When I see how Cambodian people are deported, the way reminds me strongly of the deportation of the Jews by the Nazis, I come from Mechelen [Belgium] and lived 200 meters from the Dosin barracks. It ends badly in Thailand, just wait off.
Junta said that they were not responsible for the internet failure so ……….. I wonder how things will go with the refugees and I hope for these people that they can return soon, especially that that is also good for Thailand itself.
I have a dream!
Where there is smoke there is fire, at least that is often said, is that also the case in the case of the Cambodian exodus? To be honest, I don't know, registering foreign employees does not seem wrong to me, it can also be in the interest of the employee in many cases.
With this you can at least reduce human trafficking, take the slave laborers in the shrimp trade as an example, but it must also be monitored very strictly.
The army must somehow regain the trust of these poor people, how I don't know, the Cambodians have had so many bad experiences in their own country and still, when it comes to an army, these are so wary that with the slightest spark there will be an exodus as is the case now, so yes it is true where there is smoke there is fire.
If it is up to me, the army may, if necessary, within a longer period of 15 months, tackle all abuses such as child labour, corruption, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, sex with children, slavery once and for all, without referring to red or yellow as the guilty, this will not get you any further, the people in Thailand must be able to go through one door with each other again, because do not forget that a lot has been destroyed in the private life of the Thai in the battle between red and yellow.
Going into conclave with each other again, burying the weapons, also in the south of Thailand where hundreds of people have already been killed, because the country (Thailand) in itself is already a paradise on earth, but now that humanity is still crossing the line (and also the farang), so that everyone in Thailand can wear any color again without fear of retaliation, no battle between rich and poor, no, just ensure that there is no longer a gap and everyone gets what they deserve, in financial respect, how beautiful it would be to turn paradise into Heaven on earth!
I HAVE A DREAM
Jan good that you have a dream, but don't think that the army can do anything about the abuses you described. Namely, the army is now lying and cheating and thinks it can appease the Thai with presents. No deportation “foreigners” don't make me laugh!
This is mainly because the army is not exactly objective . Mr. Suthep - here we are again - the man who caused Thailand billions of baht damage is still on the loose - That says enough! A democratically elected government and a coalition government might help . But at least let the people be the people!
When I watched BVN last night – After the liberation – I thought strongly about what is happening now with the foreigners.
There are quite a few videos circulating on the internet that hurt me as a Thailand enthusiast to see those images and comments.
Degrading appalling conditions in which the Cambodians find themselves, so that it can be assumed that even the most passionate Thailand enthusiasts (who otherwise immediately jump into the curtains when anything wrong is said about Thailand), have the same painful feelings about the country to which the name of this blog is taken from.
Please do not tar every Thai company with the same brush. And especially not if you have no affinity with the facts. And especially don't rely on TV images etc. that can be manipulated oh so easily. The so-called Exodus images can also be recorded at songkran, when ALL Kambodschaner, for example, go home by train for a week.
I myself was in Aranya yesterday, to see personally at the station. To put it mildly, the TV images I saw there do not match those of the TV.
do you really think that the images are from songkran ! then you are very naive. i have brought friends to poipet and i have never seen such an exodus . I don't know where you have been - perhaps you mean aranjapraytet, perhaps it was night or also songkran!
Two 'real life' examples.
1. The elder brother of the Cambodian worker in my condo building was killed two weeks ago on a construction project in Thailand. He worked illegally, like his sister. The company that 'employed' him was 'kind enough' to pay 30.000 baht for the transport of the coffin with the remains to the Cambodian side of the border. All further costs were borne by the family.
2. 6 months ago, a legally working Cambodian died on a construction site in Bangkok. The insurance company arranged and paid for the transport of the coffin to his parental home in Cambodia. In addition, the family received 500.000 baht as stated in the insurance conditions.
This accident insurance costs 300 baht per employee per year. Of which act.