Dec 13, 2021, Mr. Suchart Chomklin, Minister of Labour presided over the ceremony to deploy 123 inspectors who will conduct the screening of workplaces and migrant workers around the country. The group of inspectors included 90 officers from the Department of Employment (DE), 13 from Anti-Human Trafficking in Person Taskforce, 10 from the Immigration Bureau, and 10 from the Department of the Anti-Human Trafficking in Person of the Royal Thai Police.
Minister Suchart emphasized that successful COVID-19 prevention measures within the labor employment system required inter-agency coordination. Ministry of Labour is determined to work closely with the Immigration Bureau, Department of Anti-Human Trafficking in Person, and all parties concerned to ensure the legal employment and to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by the illegal workers.
The Minister also instructed all inspectors to uphold the principles of honesty, fairness, non-discrimination, and refrain from corruption, with the national interests at heart.
According to Mr. Somchai Morakotsriwan, Deputy Director-General of DE, prior to this deployment, the Department has conducted the 30 day-inspection during November 1 – 30, 2021 to provide counsel on public health measures for the employers and foreign workers without legal status and given the employers 7-day window to process the documentation to register their workers legally.
However, DE found that after the deadline, there still remained 64,472 workers unregistered, accounted for 18.22% of the total 353,776 inspected workers. This group was, therefore, immediately considered illegal migrant workers and has become the first target group for the upcoming inspection/investigation.
The employers who hire migrant workers without legal work permits shall be fined from 10,000-100,000 baht per worker. Those who repeat the offense will be imprisoned and barred from hiring migrant workers for 3 years. The illegal migrant workers shall be fined from 5,000-50,000 baht, deported, and will not be able to re-apply for a work permit for 2 years.
