Thread: Thai PM warns businesses not to hire illegal migrant workers or face closure

All employers in Thailand have been sternly warned not to hire illegal migrant workers, or face closure, by the country’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha today (Monday).


He also urged members of the public to alert officials if they encounter illegal migrant workers and provincial officials are to conduct random health screenings of migrant workers in their respective provinces.


He said that the new COVID-19 outbreak indicates that there are loopholes in the enforcement of regulations and health safety guidelines, allowing illegal migrants to enter Thailand and obtain work.


The prime minister said that he will assess the situation for another seven days before deciding on the next move, but he asked people not to panic and to trust country’s health system, assuring that the situation will improve soon.


Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, meanwhile, said the current outbreak, especially in Samut Sakhon, has not yet reached epidemic proportions, noting that most infections are confined to a limited area.


He disclosed that a 100 bed field hospital has been set up in a community of Myanmar migrant workers in Samut Sakhon, adding that there are sufficient medical supplies and face masks to meet the demand.


He expressed confidence that the outbreak is under control.


Thai PM warns businesses not to hire illegal migrant workers or face closure | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world

"He expressed confidence that the outbreak is under control." Doesn't he mean Outa, not Under???

As I understand it from other reports Thai businesses controlling the fresh seafood markets were paying 10,000 baht per illegal worker who were clearly trafficked for the purpose of employment in what is a lucrative trade.

Clearly, others facilitated this illegal traffic for it to work in such large numbers.

That no-one has been named in this disgraceful trade threatening public safety suggests they are persons of influence in erstwhile public roles and otherwise.

Given the gravity of the threat, a pandemic resurgence, this is really beyond contempt even for Thai standards. Take a selfie with a bloody fish underwater and you are pilloried globally, earning imprisonment and deportation but spreading a lethal epidemic........

All employers who hire illegal workers will be harshly dealt with............ unless connected to the establishment.

s.a.

As I understand it from other reports Thai businesses controlling the fresh seafood markets were paying 10,000 baht per illegal worker who were clearly trafficked for the purpose of employment in what is a lucrative trade.

Plastic company in Samut Sakhon abandons Myanmar workers on outskirts of Bangkok

Erich Parpart
December 23, 2020


A plastic making company in Samut Sakhon abandoned 14 migrant workers from Myanmar on the outskirts of Bangkok, local officials confirmed on Wednesday.

A police officer at Bangkaew Police Station, who asked for anonymity, confirmed to Thai Enquirer on the phone that they have found 14 migrant workers from Myanmar with luggage in front of Green Lake Village in Bang Phli district on Tuesday night.

Only six of them have passports and work permits. The remaining eight do not.

The workers told the police that they were employees of STI Precision at a plastic making factory in Samut Sakhon.

The company refused to answer questions by phone and hung up after Thai Enquirer requested more information.

The workers said that following the coronavirus outbreak amongst migrant workers at Talad Klang Kung, the company told them that they will be let go and they can no longer stay at the factory because the police are coming for inspection.

The company told the group, which initially consisted of 23 migrant workers, that they will be transported in a van to Rayong.

The workers were told that they will be dropped off in a forest to hide from authorities in Rayong.

The migrants refused and nine of them have left the van before the remaining 14 asked to be dropped off at a factory near the Green Lake Village in Bang Phli.

The 14 migrant workers said that they tried to contact their friends and families but they were unable to get inside the factory as the owner refused to take them in because they came from Samut Sakhon.

The police and health officials were then informed of their location in front of the village.

The authorities later found out that none of the migrant workers have been tested for the coronavirus.

The police officer who talked to Thai Enquirer on Wednesday morning said that all 14 migrant workers are still in their custody but he refused to say where they are exactly.

“They are being quarantine right now…and we are tracking down their employer,” the police officer said.

Plastic company in Samut Sakhon abandons Myanmar workers on outskirts of Bangkok - Thai Enquirer