YLE revealed that on 1 June 2023, not a single Thai worker had been confirmed to come to the country for the upcoming picking season, following changes in visa procedures.

 

“We felt that we have to re-examine our procedures. The police investigations came to light last summer, (referring to the criminal prosecutions and human trafficking suspicions that happened in 2022) and this is the first picking season since that,” Katja Luopajärvi, the deputy head of the visa unit at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

 

The updated visa measure is that Thai workers must have both a Schengen visa and a so-called exit visa that enables them to leave Thailand, according to Helsinki Times.

 

by Kanlayakorn Pengrattana 

 

Full story: https://scandasia.com/no-thai-arrives-in-finland-for-berry-picking/

 

-- © Copyright ScandAsia 2023-06-08

 

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Ridiculous laws and regulations which end up tearing themselves apart.

 

Reminds me of a story from a couple of days ago about a couple of countries which won't accept their own currency back from filthy foreign countries as it must be tainted by laundering.

They reap what they sow

Does Thailand even still have such an animal as an "exit visa"?

 

I think there was once some form of "all taxes paid" paperwork but that was long, long ago. 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

Reminds me of a story from a couple of days ago about a couple of countries which won't accept their own currency back from filthy foreign countries as it must be tainted by laundering

Sri Lanka would not let me use their own currency in their capital city's airport.  So got ripped off by money changers on my 1st/last ever visit there.

After my horrendous Finnair trips last year, I'm not surprised Thais won't travel there; I won't ever again.

I think there was an organized effort to recruit, hire, transport, house, abuse Thai workers, which obviously had Finnish "contractors" who hired legal trafficking specialists. Without that concerted effort individual Thais aren't going to be obtaining Finnish/EU visas, and heading to Suomi for the summer season.

 

 

Plenty of picking jobs for the Finns

And no one will show up for that slave labor work (bogus self-employment).

When I worked in Finland there were many Somalian refugees, they probably can do the work.

Was talking to my caddy yesterday who said she used to go to Norway to pick apples and berries. 

 

Why finns hire thai labor if they got plenty of refugees and massive supply from neighboring baltic states? 

Friend was training thais to work at a factory in Israel and he said it was a nightmare to keep them at work at least few months. Their performance is very low, not worth to import.

About that "exit visa" - I think it is nor correct. Never heard about such thing.

Back in the day in the Canadian Niagara fruit belt they would import plane loads of Jamaicans every harvest time to pick the fruit.

The lads figured out that if they found a Canadian gf and they fathered a child they could stay in Canada and marry her.

Welfare for life...No more fruit picking. The larger female species of locals were lining for a ebony bf... 

My country (ex) "The true north strong and free" (ex)

6 hours ago, mikebell said:

Sri Lanka would not let me use their own currency in their capital city's airport.  So got ripped off by money changers on my 1st/last ever visit there.

After my horrendous Finnair trips last year, I'm not surprised Thais won't travel there; I won't ever again.

Same happened to me at the Sri Lanka duty free shop.

9 hours ago, webfact said:

“We felt that we have to re-examine our procedures. The police investigations came to light last summer, (referring to the criminal prosecutions and human trafficking suspicions that happened in 2022) and this is the first picking season since that,

Screwed themselves last year... 

8 hours ago, Crossy said:

Does Thailand even still have such an animal as an "exit visa"?

 

I think there was once some form of "all taxes paid" paperwork but that was long, long ago. 

 

 

 

The closest thing i can remember is the "Tax Clearance Certificate".

It had to be shown upon departure from Thailand or you weren't allowed to leave.

During Anand Panyarachun's administration (1991-2) it was abolished.

Getting it at a gov't revenue office was a formality that was usually quick unless there were a lot of people ahead of you.

Nevertheless, we were glad to see it go.

Anand, Thailand's best PM by a country mile.

7 minutes ago, CMHomeboy78 said:

The closest thing i can remember is the "Tax Clearance Certificate".

It had to be shown upon departure from Thailand or you weren't allowed to leave.

During Anand Panyarachun's administration (1991-2) it was abolished.

Getting it at a gov't revenue office was a formality that was usually quick unless there were a lot of people ahead of you.

Nevertheless, we were glad to see it go.

Anand, Thailand's best PM by a country mile.

 

Yeah, that's what I remember, long, long ago.

 

11 hours ago, Crossy said:

Does Thailand even still have such an animal as an "exit visa"?

 

I think there was once some form of "all taxes paid" paperwork but that was long, long ago. 

 

 

 

I did a METV and with that, I had to sign a form telling me to leave the country every 3 months and I was aware of that.

2 hours ago, CMHomeboy78 said:

The closest thing i can remember is the "Tax Clearance Certificate".

It had to be shown upon departure from Thailand or you weren't allowed to leave.

During Anand Panyarachun's administration (1991-2) it was abolished.

Getting it at a gov't revenue office was a formality that was usually quick unless there were a lot of people ahead of you.

Nevertheless, we were glad to see it go.

Anand, Thailand's best PM by a country mile.

Thanks for the memories.

Yes, kudos to Anand for eliminating that aggravation.

As a first-time visitor returning to the US in 1979 I had checked in my bags at Don Muang and with boarding pass in hand proceeded to Immigration where I was asked for my "Tax Clearance"... what Tax Clearance?  Nobody had mentioned it in the five months that I had been here.

So it was out to the tarmac to retrieve my bags and back into the Bangkok hood where my girlfriend's family helped me sort things out little by little over the next week. Visa extension; new airline ticket; Tax Clearance Certificate; etc., etc.

A nightmare experience only redeemed by the good-heartedness of the working-class Thais whom I had been living among.

After being a sugar-daddy for several months I returned almost flat broke and in trouble.

They helped me out and I've never forgotten it. For me. no other people or country comes anywhere close to Thailand when you're in a fix.

Jim Thompson was also stopped at DM Immigration for lack of a Tax Clearance Certificate on his last trip to Malaysia.

He was travelling with Connie Mangskau who was very well connected so she was able to do what had to be done to depart.

Ironically, if he had been prevented from leaving he could have avoided his fate - at least for a while.

Never dull here in the Land of Smiles.

The Schengen work visa does not exist. You can get a Schengen visa for other purposes, as tourism, visiting family and friends, business, medical purposes etc. However, you cannot get a Schengen visa to work in Europe. You are not permitted to work while holding a Schengen visa for other purposes, as well.

Still, you can work in the Schengen Area if you hold a National (D) Visa for employment purposes issued by one of the 27 European countries part of the Schengen Zone.

 

Each of the Schengen member countries has its own visa policies, which policies differ from one country to the other. The employment visa programs in the European countries have been established to cover the labor needs of the respective countries and fill job shortages.

 

Finland doesnt want pickers, as you are not allowed to work on a Schengen visa. 

They are violating Schengen rules then.

 

However what you do need !

 

What are the requirements for a European Work Visa?

The standard requirements for a European employment visa are as following:

-Application Form. Fully completed and printed twice. Do not forget to sign both copies at the end!

-Two identical photos. These photos should be taken within the last three months, according to the common Schengen visa photography criteria.

-Valid passport. Your passport should be no older than ten years and valid for at least three more months, on the date you plan to exit the Schengen territory. Make sure it has at least two blank pages for the visa sticker.

-Roundtrip flight reservation. This should indicate the dates and flight numbers of entry and exit from the Schengen area. Here you can learn more about how to book a flight reservation for EU visa application!

-Travel medical insurance. Covering any medical emergency with hospital care and travel back to one’s native country due to medical emergencies, up to 30,000 euros. Insurance must be valid in all Schengen countries and purchased before picking up the visa.

-Proof of Accommodation. A document that shows where you will be residing in the Schengen Area, i.e. rent agreement.

-Employment contract. An employment contract signed between you and your future employer, residing in the Schengen territory.

-Proof of Academic Qualifications. As diplomas, certificates, grades’ transcript etc.

-Proof of language knowledge. Most countries want you to fit in even if you are planning to work there only per one year. That is why many of them will ask you to meet a specific level of knowledge of their official language.

 

So why Thai pickers dont go to Finland?

I think this one

-Proof of Academic Qualifications. As diplomas, certificates, grades’ transcript etc.

You sure need that for picking berries!

10 hours ago, mikebell said:

Sri Lanka would not let me use their own currency in their capital city's airport.  So got ripped off by money changers on my 1st/last ever visit there.

After my horrendous Finnair trips last year, I'm not surprised Thais won't travel there; I won't ever again.

haha been there done that
it seems crazy no ruppees accepted in the airport
however, you are only allowed to enter/exit
with a massive 5000 LKR in cash (not including forgein currency)
so they don't expect anyone to be carrying any LKR

Edited June 8, 20233 yr by patman30

52 minutes ago, xtrnuno41 said:

Your passport should be no older than ten years

Passports over 10 years old are expired

10 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

...Thais aren't going to be obtaining Finnish/EU visas...

Is there really such a yhing as an EU (European Union) visa?

It's a workers market with every country trying to get external laborers. Who wants to jump through these hoops?  Seem more like obstacles,.

 

Another reason perhaps?

 

 

 

19 hours ago, webfact said:

a so-called exit visa that enables them to leave Thailand

Do they really need a visa to leave the country?!?!

It has been a few years since I have taken the missus on an overseas trip and can't remember her never needing an exit visa. 

Where is this coming from? 

14 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

I think there was an organized effort to recruit, hire, transport, house, abuse Thai workers, which obviously had Finnish "contractors" who hired legal trafficking specialists. Without that concerted effort individual Thais aren't going to be obtaining Finnish/EU visas, and heading to Suomi for the summer season.

 

 

Have never heard of this. Link please. 

13 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

slave labor

? 

Bet you don't say that when sitting down to a nice bowl of berries bought from the store, berries you didn't have to hand pick yourself. 

We all want the berries, but nobody wants to do the picking. 

Same in all farming sectors. All want milk, cheese, veggies, meat, fruit, etc., but nobody wants to plant / harvest the crops, get up in the middle of the night to check on livestock, take the losses when the weather turns bad, etc. 

 

If my memory serves me correctly, there have been stories here reporting just how happy some of these people were at having had an opportunity to earn MORE money abroad. 

 

 

6 hours ago, patman30 said:

haha been there done that
it seems crazy no ruppees accepted in the airport
however, you are only allowed to enter/exit
with a massive 5000 LKR in cash (not including forgein currency)
so they don't expect anyone to be carrying any LKR

Been a long time since I've been there, but yeah, it was called Sri Lanka then, about 12 years after they changed the name.  But the money still said Ceylon.  Maybe the airport vendors were confused. ????

India does some weird things with its money, like voiding all notes of a certain size.  That is just too damn weird!

There's a few documentaries on the net about Thai pickers in Scandinavia, from what I recall the Thai job brokers make out like bandits.  But with all this grief and hand-wringing about Middle East refugees in Eurozone, aren't they able to hire them to do the picking?

 

 

Edited June 8, 20233 yr by bendejo

Are you saying berry picking for Thais is Finnished?

On 6/8/2023 at 7:58 PM, djayz said:

? 

Bet you don't say that when sitting down to a nice bowl of berries bought from the store, berries you didn't have to hand pick yourself. 

We all want the berries, but nobody wants to do the picking. 

Same in all farming sectors. All want milk, cheese, veggies, meat, fruit, etc., but nobody wants to plant / harvest the crops, get up in the middle of the night to check on livestock, take the losses when the weather turns bad, etc. 

 

If my memory serves me correctly, there have been stories here reporting just how happy some of these people were at having had an opportunity to earn MORE money abroad. 

 

 

Pay enough money and you will get people to work in agriculture. Oh, you don't want to pay too much for food? Do you prefer to throw away massive amounts of food, as is common almost everywhere nowadays?

 

The problem with Thai pickers was they were not guaranteed a pay to cover their expenses so many went into debt for travel and visa costs etc. On a good year they could make more than an annual salary in the Thai countryside.

Edited June 9, 20233 yr by rabang

13 hours ago, rabang said:

Pay enough money and you will get people to work in agriculture. Oh, you don't want to pay too much for food? Do you prefer to throw away massive amounts of food, as is common almost everywhere nowadays?

I assume this is rhetorical. 

^Not directed at you personally.