Govt sets conditions to protect Thai labourers going abroad from Covid-19

[webfact]

Govt sets conditions to protect Thai labourers going abroad from Covid-19

By THE NATION

 

Suchat Pornchaiwiseskul

 

Measures will be in place to protect Thai labourers who travel for work to Sweden and Finland from Covid-19, the Department of Employment (DOE) said.

 

Department director-general Suchat Pornchaiwiseskul said that Finnish and Swedish employers needed more labour from Thailand for wild fruit collection. Also, numerous Thais were interested in this work overseas.

 

To protect the people from being infected, the department has enjoined the foreign and domestic agencies and employers, to arrange health insurance for the labourers  covering Covid-19 treatment in case of infection.

 

Moreover, both foreign and domestic agencies must bear the 14-day-quarantine expense when the labourers return to their home country.

 

The department also requires that the related agencies must prepare charter buses to pick the labourers up from airports to their camps. A room should be limited to a maximum of four labourers and sanitisers and face masks must be provided.

 

These and other measures have already been proposed to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

 

The director-general added that the CCSA required labourers to be checked for Covid-19 before and after their arrival. Some officials will be sent to Finland and Sweden to take care of the labourers and collaborate with public health officials in Thailand.

 

In addition, the CCSA has specified that Finnish and Swedish agencies place bank guarantees for the travel service they will provide the labourers.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30391960

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-07-27

 

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[ukrules]

A classic example of discouraging something they don't want by introducing all sorts of hurdles, roadblocks and expenses.

 

At some point it would be much less hassle and expense to just hire people from some other country a little nearer.

 

There probably won't be any seasonal work for these people this year due to these measures.

Edited July 26, 2020 by ukrules

[englishoak]

And what pray makes Thai workers unique for picking fruit etc ? anyone can do that work and many nations will for less money, and thats before the plandemic. If i were the business in Sweden or Finland id be getting workers from a different place, no 

 

I hear the sound of a door being slammed shut on another group of poor rural Thais just trying to make a living...

[Matzzon]

Yes, when it comes to Thai people going abroad, then the foreign government has to pay for both quarantine and insurance as well as many other things. When a foreign husband or a father want´s to connect with family in Thailand, they have to pay for insurance and quarantine.

 

The funny thing is also that the husband or father is coming to spend their money in Thailand and support family. The Thais that go to Sweden or Finland only goes to make money and remove them from the country.

Yep, that´s how it is to believe You are the most important people and country in the world.

Edited July 26, 2020 by Matzzon

[rabang]

There were always obstacles and permissions required from the government for these seasonal workers to be able to leave even before this year. There were also some reports of labour abuse and broken contracts in the past, though. These kind of workers are very susceptible to that everywhere as we know. Still, would you like the idea of needing a permission from your own government to go work abroad?

Edited July 26, 2020 by rabang

[mrfill]

1 hour ago, Matzzon said:

Yes, when it comes to Thai people going abroad, then the foreign government has to pay for both quarantine and insurance as well as many other things. When a foreign husband or a father want´s to connect with family in Thailand, they have to pay for insurance and quarantine.

 

The funny thing is also that the husband or father is coming to spend their money in Thailand and support family. The Thais that go to Sweden or Finland only goes to make money and remove them from the country.

Yep, that´s how it is to believe You are the most important people and country in the world.

Read again. Its the employers who are expected to pay for the quarantine and insurance, not any government.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Govt sets conditions to protect Thai labourers going abroad from Covid-19

So Thailand wants to dictate to another country how to take care of it's labourers when the enter the country!!!!

Lol

 

[PatOngo]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

numerous Thais were interested in this work overseas.

......yet 90% of Thai's in a survey did not want foreigners returning to their country? Go figure!

[Matzzon]

1 hour ago, mrfill said:

Read again. Its the employers who are expected to pay for the quarantine and insurance, not any government.

Yep, you´re right.

[RichardColeman]

Still cannot see that flying in Thai labour and NOW HAVING to pay all the quarantine and extra fees makes it more cheaper than EU migrant labour

[sammieuk1]

Government bolton's to extract as much as possible by the look of it ???? 

[thaitero]

Quote

companies will have to set up contingency accounts to cover pickers' health care costs in case they fall ill with Covid-19, and ensure that harvesters are paid at least 3,000 euros each after expenses.

Pickers will have to undergo coronavirus tests on departure and return, and will have to quarantine for 14 days on return.

https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/thailand_lets_berry_pickers_head_to_finland_in_mid-season/11465689

 

I also read somewhere that Thailand will send some medical persons also to ensure they are safe.. I wonder who pay their salaries??

[Justgrazing]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Some officials will be sent to Finland and Sweden to take care of the labourers and collaborate with public health officials in Thailand.

Good Ikea .. 

[Albert Zweistein]

18 hours ago, englishoak said:

And what pray makes Thai workers unique for picking fruit etc ? anyone can do that work and many nations will for less money, and thats before the plandemic. If i were the business in Sweden or Finland id be getting workers from a different place, no 

 

I hear the sound of a door being slammed shut on another group of poor rural Thais just trying to make a living...

What make them so unique ? It is hard work,the fruit (wild berries) are picked with a dented scoop staying bend over and they start early in the morning until evening. They are paid by the kilo, you can't find nobody in Europe to do this kind of work for so little money.

[Heppinger]

13 minutes ago, Albert Zweistein said:

you can't find nobody in Europe to do this kind of work for so little money.

True, even after they imported millions of young immigrant men, i guess they will just have to import millions more until the welfare system collapses.

[DrTuner]

19 hours ago, englishoak said:

And what pray makes Thai workers unique for picking fruit etc ?

They work very long hours in nasty conditions (wet, cold, in the middle of nowhere), the reason Finns or Swedes don't so it themselves is that it's hard work for little money. Basically one step up from slaves. Thais have had plenty of practice of that at the rice fields, that makes them suitable.

 

I'm not sure if the Finnish or Swedish embassies are granting visas at this time.

 

EDIT: Seems so, at least in Finland:

Quote

The Finnish government decided on 8 July that wild berry harvesters would be allowed into the country if invited by a domestic firm.

 

Situation seems pretty normal there, reading the news it's warnings of 2-3-4-5-etc wave but my friends tell me it's currently near the same as it was pre-covid.

Edited July 27, 2020 by DrTuner

[englishoak]

23 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

They work very long hours in nasty conditions (wet, cold, in the middle of nowhere), the reason Finns or Swedes don't so it themselves is that it's hard work for little money. Basically one step up from slaves. Thais have had plenty of practice of that at the rice fields, that makes them suitable.

 

 

I get why Fins etc dont want to, just dont see how Thais are more qualified than say Cambodian or Indian, Viet or Malay or even Romanian, Bulgarian and we do in the UK for seasonal pickers etc etc, probably a treaty thing. I thought the EU had minimum wage laws, immigrants from outside the EU included tbh. 

 

Ahh well they wont be this year i guess. 

[englishoak]

57 minutes ago, Albert Zweistein said:

What make them so unique ? It is hard work,the fruit (wild berries) are picked with a dented scoop staying bend over and they start early in the morning until evening. They are paid by the kilo, you can't find nobody in Europe to do this kind of work for so little money.

 

Cant get Thais to work in the rice fields in Thailand, the UK uses Romanians, Bulgarians etc for picking, its not like berries in Finland is harder work than many other farm gigs. My Experience of rural Thais working for ridiculous low wages just isnt a thing, thats why Cambodians and Burmese are used all over Thailand therefore i conclude the wages cant be that bad at all vs the exchange rates. As for working hard in cold climates... mmm  Friend tried in the North of England from Thailand and surrounding Asian countries for 2 years in the early 2000s, gave up in the end and went back to Europeans. ahh well its probably a gov to gov help scheme thing or something, its not because Thais are hard workers .. no way

Edited July 27, 2020 by englishoak

[DrTuner]

11 hours ago, englishoak said:

I get why Fins etc dont want to, just dont see how Thais are more qualified than say Cambodian or Indian, Viet or Malay or even Romanian, Bulgarian and we do in the UK for seasonal pickers etc etc, probably a treaty thing. I thought the EU had minimum wage laws, immigrants from outside the EU included tbh. 

The berry companies have connections to Thailand through Thai agents. The reason for that is likely that the Thais came originally to Finland trough the usual marriage way, ie. thanks to tourism. That's why not Cambo, Viet or Malay. East Europeans are not regarded as reliable so nobody wants to hire them. Too many beggars on the streets of Helsinki gave them a reputation.

[DrTuner]

11 hours ago, englishoak said:

its not like berries in Finland is harder work than many other farm gigs. 

You should try it out. Going around in soggy marsh while being eaten alive by horse sized mosquitoes isn't exactly picking oranges in sunny southern Spain.

[rabang]

5 hours ago, DrTuner said:

The berry companies have connections to Thailand through Thai agents. The reason for that is likely that the Thais came originally to Finland trough the usual marriage way, ie. thanks to tourism. That's why not Cambo, Viet or Malay. East Europeans are not regarded as reliable so nobody wants to hire them. Too many beggars on the streets of Helsinki gave them a reputation.

Ukrainians pick strawberries though but it is farm work and a step up from picking wild berries in a forest.

[englishoak]

12 hours ago, DrTuner said:

You should try it out. Going around in soggy marsh while being eaten alive by horse sized mosquitoes isn't exactly picking oranges in sunny southern Spain.

 

Ill pass, so im curious what kind of berries are these ? im assuming wild and free growing is nothing like organised farmed berries other places do then without the flying nightmares  ??

[rabang]

 

14 hours ago, englishoak said:

 

Ill pass, so im curious what kind of berries are these ? im assuming wild and free growing is nothing like organised farmed berries other places do then without the flying nightmares  ??

Very different indeed. There were cases of Thai pickers not earning enough during the season and returning back home even more indebted due to a bad year and lack of berries. But normally they can earn the same amount in a few months as back home in one year. This year the Thai government set a condition that the companies must pay the Thai labourers at least 3000 euros. If you can take 100k baht back home to Issaan it is good money but doesn't come easily.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW7U9zS-c0M

 

 

 

 

[DrTuner]

15 hours ago, englishoak said:

 

Ill pass, so im curious what kind of berries are these ? im assuming wild and free growing is nothing like organised farmed berries other places do then without the flying nightmares  ??

Wild blueberries, lingon berries and the most profitable, mostly from Lapland swamps, cloudberries. I've never seen an organized farm. Finland is full of forests and they are full of berries, each year a large part (probably majority) of the berries will just rot there.

Edited July 29, 2020 by DrTuner

[SpanishExpat]

lol..someone should tell that guy that he and his department are NOT in the position to set conditions!

Someone should tell him that the agencies/ employers don`t pick Thai workers because they are the only one who can pick fruits/ are the most hard-working ones. IT`S BECAUSE THEY ARE CHEAP LABOUR!!!

 

If they had some brain, they should be happy that some Thai people get this chance and not care about the quarantine payment. (which by the way shows that they have 0 exit strategies....just keep on with the quarantine until there is a vaccine. If there`s not...mai bpen rai...quarantine forever!) They get housing/food and obviously appropriate payment to support their families back in Thailand. Things that this useless government surely doesn`t care enough!

 

Edited July 29, 2020 by SpanishExpat