3 arrested for hiring Thais to work illegally in S Korea

[webfact]

3 arrested for hiring Thais to work illegally in S Korea

By SURIYA PATATHAYO 
THE NATION

 

 

TWO THAI women and a Korean man were arrested for allegedly recruiting Thais to work illegally in South Korea, Immigration Police chief Maj-General Surachet Hakpal told the press at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Sunday.

 

The suspects – identified as Krongkaew Khamtha, 32; Chotika Kerdkilian, 32; and Korean national Kisik Eum, 49 – were arrested on Friday and have reportedly confessed to having lured at least 30 Thais to work illegally in South Korea over the past five months, Surachate said.

 

They were charged with illegally supplying Thai workers to work in another country without permission (punishable with three to 10 years in jail and fines of between Bt60,000 and Bt200,000), public fraud and violating the Computer Crimes Act (providing false information to the public).

 

 

Surachate said Krongkaew’s job was to post vacancies on social media, collect airfare from prospective employees and get them “trained” in Pattaya, after which the Korean man would test the prospects to see if they could work in South Korea.

 

Once the quota of wanted workers was filled, Chotika would issue plain tickets and have them board their flight at Suvaranabhumi. On the other side, the workers would be collected by South Korean accomplices and put to work. The workers’ initial priority was to cover the Bt55,000 recruitment fees. 

 

In a separate case, Surachate also announced the arrest of Theerapat Sothong, 23, who was nabbed on Saturday as per an arrest warrant issued by Chon Buri Court for allegedly duping three individuals out of nearly Bt200,000 by offering jobs in South Korea via posts on Facebook. 

 

One of the victims was a woman, who was lured to meet the man at a resort on November 19 to pay Bt10,000 for the job application. However, the suspect allegedly raped the woman and locked her up in a toilet before fleeing with the money. 

 

Theerapat was initially charged for violating the Computer Crimes Act, public fraud, rape and illegal detention, Surachate said. 

 

Jobs in South Korea have long-been popular among Thais, prompting some profit-seekers to open online recruiting agencies. Apart from this, some community pages also offer information about jobs available in South Korea – where the minimum wage is a lot higher than in Thailand – and even tips on how to avoid arrest. 

 

Many Thais have been heading to South Korea with the hope of getting jobs and becoming undocumented workers, known as phee noi or “little ghosts”.

 

Some 188,000 Thais are believed to be working in South Korea, but only 66,011 hold proper work-permits. The rest have either overstayed their tourist visa or are working illegally, Labour Minister Pol General Adul Sangsingkeo said. In early October, he called on illegal Thai workers to come forward voluntarily and return by March 31 in order to avoid being blacklisted by South Korean authorities. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30359267

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-11-26

 

[jerojero]

Caps, sunglasses, masks....why are they afraid to show themselves?

[ezzra]

Well, i sure hope that the BBC will do an  exposé and a big article about the this story as they did with the Thai workers in Israel recently...

[fforest1]

I bet they were recruiting from walking street... 

The dirty criminals..... We need Thai women on Walking Street to keep working here.....

Edited November 25, 2018 by fforest1

[YetAnother]

is there any more blatant example about the Land Of Show than these worse-then-useless police photo ops ?

[BigT73]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Chotika would issue plain tickets and have them board their flight at Suvaranabhumi.

Thats where the problem was the white bits of paper.

Edited November 25, 2018 by BigT73

[AhFarangJa]

It looks like old BJ is giving them a right roasting.......

[metisdead]

An off topic post and a reply has been removed. 

[rowan1981]

If it wasn't for all these dam foreigners taking all the jobs from Thai people, then this would never have happened in the first place!!! 

[Lupatria]

I guess someone in high position will soon be bugged by his exaggerated media presence. Then we are two already????. 

[boonrawdcnx]

188.000 Thais but only 66.011 have the proper work permits.
Are consecutive Thai governments really unable to handle this government to government with the Koreans?
Obviously these workers are needed in S. Korea and if the Thai government can not provide properly payed jobs for their citizens they should at least find a legal way with S. Korea to hire them without the need of these “middle man” who take advantage and profit from the misery of already poor people!


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[stanleycoin]

Happy endings will always find a way. 

i'm sure there are loads more agents out there. 

[dotpoom]

4 hours ago, jerojero said:

Caps, sunglasses, masks....why are they afraid to show themselves?

I suppose like in other countries...they are innocent until proven guilty?

[thaiguzzi]

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

Well, i sure hope that the BBC will do an  exposé and a big article about the this story as they did with the Thai workers in Israel recently...

Get that pro Israel comment in hey!

Can't stop yourself.

The BBC were having a go at the ISRAELI employers.

I see no story here about South KOREAN employers mistreating their employees.

Jeez.......

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, rowan1981 said:

If it wasn't for all these dam foreigners taking all the jobs from Thai people, then this would never have happened in the first place!!! 

Some 188,000 Thais are believed to be working in South Korea, that's a huge number of people...

Guess all the northern rice planter girls moved south only to find out there wasn't enough bars to go around & provide full employment.. hence South Korea here we go !!!

Do they really need that much training to do a massage or lay on their backs??

[bristolgeoff]

find that strange too a farang lucky to have a cap when photo,s taken by the police.here they have the lot to cover themselves.

[micmichd]

2 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I suppose like in other countries...they are innocent until proven guilty?

Probably like in the UK: 

Plead guilty to the offence you're charged with, or stay in custody and wait for trial. Bail out if you don't want either.

[Cereal]

I met Thai girls in Korea when I worked there. They worked in massage parlours and had legal visa. Still, they were treated like slaves. The Korean owner took their passports and would only give them 1 day a month off. My wife and I saw a group in a Tesco Lotus store and started talking to them.

[spidermike007]

I have a couple of friends, who have worked in South Korea. At legitimate massage shops. No specials. Some of the guys try to lure the gals out for dates. They made 100,000 baht a month. So, one can understand the motivation for them to do the work. I believe they went over on a tourist visa, as they were only able to work 90 days at a time, then they had to come back to Thailand again, before returning. They said the work was pleasant, but the men did not tip much. LOL. 

 

Not sure what this "arrest" was all about. Did they accomplish anything, other than deny alot of Thai opportunities to work, and make a living wage? If only the police and immigration engaged in real, honest work here. 

[MaxLee]

Big Joke, just loves to be in the spotlight...... 

[ThaiFelix]

Who is that policeman on the poster?  I think I may have seen him somewhere before?

[jessebkk1]

 The guy who raped and extorted the that poor woman in pattaya deserves a good long vacation in jail.

 

 Now  Big Joke, you seem to be very good at closing loopholes that thai families are using to feed themselves and escape extreme poverty.

 

- You are making it very difficult for thai families with foreign husbands to stay here, leaving many families without their breadwinner.

 

- The current government that you represent has chased away tens of thousands of foreign businesses in Bangkok by strangulating visa renewal processes and by so doing removing a good amount of the spending residents in the city.

 

- The current government has refused thais from selling on street sides in Bangkok removing tens of thousands thais from employment and leaving many homes with no income source and no alternative.

 

- You are now arresting agents who help very poor thais to gain employment in SK to feed their families. (For the record, this employment of thais in labour jobs in SK has been going on for years with the South Korean government being tolerant of it, but your all out war on foreigners in Thailand is bringing attention of your fellow thais illegally in SK, hence the quagmire )

 

- With due respect sir, what is this government doing to create alternative income source for all the ones that are being closed?

 

[Kasane]

I know a Thai friend of a friend who works in SK as a laborer on farms. He moves from farm to farm wherever work is available. SK police evasion is his daily routine. Sometimes he sleeps in forest with other Thais when they get wind of SK police raid. And dealing farm owners who steal some of his wages. He sends money home every month to build his bank account so that when inevitably he gets deported he has some money to live off. Enterprising, hard working, risk taker. A better deal for workers like him will be for the gov of the two countries to have a migrant work permit policy so that the constant exploitation of these Thais from various shady agencies and employers, and police harassment that goes on now is avoided. 

[randy723]

I am still waiting for big joke to arrest Boss red bull's grandson for killing a fellow police officer. I was a police officer for 28 years and if some one killed a police officer we as police officers did not sleep until his killer was behind bars of killed.

[nahkit]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Some 188,000 Thais are believed to be working in South Korea, that's a huge number of people...

Guess all the northern rice planter girls moved south only to find out there wasn't enough bars to go around & provide full employment.. hence South Korea here we go !!!

Do they really need that much training to do a massage or lay on their backs??

I have a Thai relative working in S, Korea with his wife, neither of them do massage or work on their backs, they both do 12 hours a day in a ceramics factory.

 

Comments like yours are pathetic.

[kevin612]

188000 is a huge number, there must be corruption among South Korea government officials.

[wvavin]

What did we see? Nothing at all because their faces are covered!

[Scottjouro]

3 hours ago, jessebkk1 said:

 The guy who raped and extorted the that poor woman in pattaya deserves a good long vacation in jail.

 

 Now  Big Joke, you seem to be very good at closing loopholes that thai families are using to feed themselves and escape extreme poverty.

 

- You are making it very difficult for thai families with foreign husbands to stay here, leaving many families without their breadwinner.

 

- The current government that you represent has chased away tens of thousands of foreign businesses in Bangkok by strangulating visa renewal processes and by so doing removing a good amount of the spending residents in the city.

 

- The current government has refused thais from selling on street sides in Bangkok removing tens of thousands thais from employment and leaving many homes with no income source and no alternative.

 

- You are now arresting agents who help very poor thais to gain employment in SK to feed their families. (For the record, this employment of thais in labour jobs in SK has been going on for years with the South Korean government being tolerant of it, but your all out war on foreigners in Thailand is bringing attention of your fellow thais illegally in SK, hence the quagmire )

 

- With due respect sir, what is this government doing to create alternative income source for all the ones that are being closed?

 

- how is BJ making is harder for Thai familes with foreign husbands to stay here ?..

 

i am a foreign husband and have not seen any difference ? What laws have been changed...please be specific with your references 

 

- please state verfiable sources and references to your remarks that the current government has chased away tens of thousands by strangulating the visa renewal process ? Again what laws have been changed to stangle anyone..? 

 

As someone who is a foreign husband, who lives and works legally in Thailand i have seen nothing of what you are talking about

 

[Scottjouro]

2 hours ago, kevin612 said:

188000 is a huge number, there must be corruption among South Korea government officials.

The South Koreans are  far more corrupt than their Thai counterparts...

 

South Korean court raises ex-president Park's jail term to 25 years

 

SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean appeals court sentenced former President Park Geun-hye to 25 years in jail on Friday in a case arising from a far-reaching corruption scandal that toppled her from power in 2017.

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-politics-park/south-korean-court-raises-ex-president-parks-jail-term-to-25-years-id

[upu2]

TV do you want lessons in English or is it just that youo cant use the F7 key? Just what is this? " issue plain tickets???