Bangkok Weaving Mill Ordered To Pay Bt3.69m In Compensation

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OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD

Weaving mill ordered to pay Bt3.69m in compensation

By Kesinee Taengkiew

The Nation

Court judges in favour of workers suffering from ‘brown lung disease’

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s ruling requiring that an employer pay Bt3.69 million in compensation to ailing former workers.

The ruling is based on the fact that Bangkok Weaving Mills failed to honour its legal obligations to provide a safe workplace.

On May 9, 1995, Somboon Seekhamdokkhae and 37 of her colleagues lodged a complaint against the company for violating the National Environmental Quality Act BE 2537, which prescribes the legal obligation. The plaintiffs said that because they were not provided with standard protective gear, they had come down with byssinosis, or “brown lung disease”.

Byssinosis, which is also known as “Monday fever”, is an occupational lung disease caused by exposure to cotton dust in inadequately ventilated environments.

On September 30, 2003, the Central Labour Court ruled that the company should pay Bt110,000 to Somboon and Bt60,000 each to 36 of the other plaintiffs, dropping one worker out of the case. The total compensation amounts to Bt3.69 million and it would be subject to annual interest of 7.5 per cent until it is completely paid.

Bangkok Weaving Mills appealed against the ruling, arguing that not all plaintiffs suffered from byssinosis. The company also argued that the workers had been provided with face masks.

However, the Supreme Court ruled that the company as an employer and the polluter should compensate its workers.

Upon hearing the verdict, Somboon said she was happy. “I would like to thank the court for giving us justice,” she said.

Somboon now works as an adviser to factory workers who have suffered occupation-related health problems.

“I am more fortunate than my former colleagues,” she said. Her health problems are not as serious as those of the other workers at the mill, who have been struggling with lung disease, gout and enlarged heart.

The youngest plaintiff is 44 and the oldest one is 71 years old.

Many of the plaintiffs have returned to their home provinces and need to take on odd jobs to survive.

-- The Nation 2010-11-09

[kuffki]

Good to see company has been punished, however compensation is hardly to gloat about. 60 000 baht will only last for 1 week in a decent hospital and i am afraid with lung disease those people will be spending little more time in the hospital then a week

[chainarong]

Good to see something is being done , all companies have a duty of care to the wellfare of an employee, a pity it isn't done in the wages area.

[rreddin]

Good to see company has been punished, however compensation is hardly to gloat about. 60 000 baht will only last for 1 week in a decent hospital and i am afraid with lung disease those people will be spending little more time in the hospital then a week

It is a shame that it took 15 years to finally get the justice they deserved. In this respect, Thailand is no different from the UK or USA. I hope they have been paid all they are due, including interest.

[Deez]

Nice to see the decision but the amount awarded is a disgrace. As mentioned many have long term health problems as a result and this wont even cover a fraction of that. Whatever ancient method they are using to determine compensation needs to be looked at.

[Canada]

yup....2000 dollars is pretty pathetic. tough to call it justice. I would call it a fee for "shut up and go away".

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

8 years for a verdict and 7 years for an appeal. That's a disgrace!

Moreover, the award is in 2003 baht. They should have compounded that amount daily with interest from 2003 to the date of payment, instead of running interest from the date of the appellate decision until the date it is paid.

Not to minimize the disease that these workers now suffer from, but mortality is rare, and the disease is more like bronchitis or asthma, with constriction of respiratory organs. So, the treatment isn't too expensive and the workers are not disabled from work. However, they can no longer work with untreated cotton fibers.

I just wish there was a lot more enforcement of work safety rules in Thailand. Without the equivalent of OSHA, the Thai courts need to swiftly and judiciously handle work injury claims. The judicial system clearly failed here.

[contemplating]

What does "Gout" have to do with the working conditions? It is caused by diet, not the air you breath.

[kuffki]

8 years for a verdict and 7 years for an appeal. That's a disgrace!

Moreover, the award is in 2003 baht. They should have compounded that amount daily with interest from 2003 to the date of payment, instead of running interest from the date of the appellate decision until the date it is paid.

Not to minimize the disease that these workers now suffer from, but mortality is rare, and the disease is more like bronchitis or asthma, with constriction of respiratory organs. So, the treatment isn't too expensive and the workers are not disabled from work. However, they can no longer work with untreated cotton fibers.

I just wish there was a lot more enforcement of work safety rules in Thailand. Without the equivalent of OSHA, the Thai courts need to swiftly and judiciously handle work injury claims. The judicial system clearly failed here.

If you take into account that in many cases disease is not going to go away for example astma, astma puffer is 300baht and lasts for a week(just bought one the other day)

So without any further complication, and just the puffer with no doctor visits its 15600 baht per year. The award will last person 4 years, what happens after that?

Something that is not too expansive will be expansive when one needs to use it all the time for a long period of time.

In my humble opinion(not that it counts) but fair compensation should of been 60 000 baht plus medical for the rest of victims life.

As you say the sad part is, this is not the first or last case and there is hardly any work safety rules in place.