Bangkok Court Orders Immigration To Free Foreign Worker From Hospital Cell

[webfact]

Court orders worker to be freed from hospital cell

By Jim Pollard

The Nation

The Southern Bangkok Criminal Court yesterday ordered the Immigration Bureau to immediately release and pay a small sum of damages to an injured Burmese worker held in a locked cell at the Bangkok Police Hospital.

Chalee Diyoo, 33, had been locked in a room in the hospital for more than two weeks, during which time he has had operations to repair a ruptured intestine and a fractured thigh - injuries he sustained in a work accident.

Chalee's problem was having a Thai employer who absconded and refused to pay his hospital bills after the Burmese was hurt at his worksite. Chalee was unable to pay for three weeks' treatment at Pathum Thani Hospital and ended up being sent to the Police Hospital, where he was chained to the bed, as he was unable to show ID papers or his work permit and was classed an "illegal".

The chains were removed four days later, after the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) protested to the Royal Thai Police.

The Lawyers' Council then took up his case, arguing in court that Chalee was a legally registered migrant and should not be held in a locked cell.

After two days of hearings at the court, it ruled yesterday the worker should be immediately released from custody - transferred out of the lockup ward - and the Immigration Department ordered to pay Bt3,000 in damages to him.

Immigration and police witnesses reportedly admitted to the court under questioning they had failed to check the Burmese worker's status before or after he was arrested.

Vasant Panich, chair of the Lawyer's Council of Thailand's human rights committee and lead lawyer on the case, said: "Chalee's case highlights how law enforcement officials in Thailand continue to systematically abuse powers of arrest and detention, particularly with migrant workers.

"Personal liberty is sacred, and both police and immigration officials must learn that before they arrest and detain anyone, Thai or nonThai, their duty is to conduct proper investigations alongside all related government departments and officials to ensure the detention is lawful."

Labour officials confirmed in court that Chalee had a work permit valid until February 28 this year, but that had not stopped him from being arrested by Pathum Thani police pending deportation to Burma (Myanmar) on January 31.

With his employer having fled, migrant health insurance and the Workers' Compensation Fund (WCF) failed to protect or help him.

Somchai Homlaor, secretarygeneral of HRDF, said after the court decision: "Chalee's case exposed systemic failures in Thailand's systems of migration management and in particular systems for ensuring protection, treatment and compensation of migrant work accident victims.

"Migrant work accident victims continue to be unprotected, falling outside work accident protection systems created by the government for all workers in Thailand. The government continues to refuse migrants access to the WCF despite protests by the ILO, United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Migrants and Discrimination and the Thai National Human Rights Commission."

The Council of Work and Environment Related Patient's Network of Thailand (WEPT) has started a fund to pay the Bt70,000 medical fees incurred by Chalee following his accident. WEPT president Somboon Srikamdoke said: "The fund is required as the Ministry of Public Health's migrant health insurance, the Ministry of Labour's WCF and Chalee's employer have refused to cover these costs. We, also victims of work accidents, must therefore respond ourselves to assist Chalee in his time of need."

A spokesperson for the Immigration Department was unable to be contacted yesterday, but it is understood they are considering an appeal against the ruling.

Somchai said yesterday's ruling was rare: "Chalee's case is the first time ever that a judge has relied on the Thai Constitution to order government officials to compensate a victim of unlawful detention."

-- The Nation 2011-02-16

[laurentbkk]

who said slavery doesnt exist in Thailand ?

[colinthailand20005]

There will be an appeal, and the ruling will get overturned!

The immigration department will not want to lose face over this.

[Bakseedaa]

There will be an appeal, and the ruling will get overturned!

The immigration department will not want to lose face over this.

If you want to be so negative, go home.... lets hope this is the start of something good .. someone somewhere did their their job and maybe now people will start to be recognised as people...

[whybother]

Why isn't there an arrest warrant out for the employer?

[random]

There will be an appeal, and the ruling will get overturned!

The immigration department will not want to lose face over this.

If you want to be so negative, go home.... lets hope this is the start of something good .. someone somewhere did their their job and maybe now people will start to be recognised as people...

wow, only the 4th post until the 'if you don't like it go home' brigade enter the thread.

The fact is that there will be an appeal, and the chances are it will be overturned, the burmese guy will be told to not make a fuss, nothing will happen to the employer and as always after a short while all will be forgotten again, if you don't like this, then go home

[Credo]

This is good news for all workers in Thailand.

There are seldom any repercussions for employers.

[Thaddeus]

Why isn't there an arrest warrant out for the employer?

Because he is Thai, and therefore blameless.

(but you knew that already)

[NanLaew]

If you want to be so negative, go home.... lets hope this is the start of something good .. someone somewhere did their their job and maybe now people will start to be recognised as people...

...as opposed to being treated like the dogsh!t on the Thai shoe which is the prevailing attitude today?

Don't hold your breath.

[sydneyjed]

How can they appeal and expect to win???He has immigration documents (e.g. visa)that entitles him to legally work and live in Thailand...What grounds of appeal can the immigration department expect to win on??This is a lose,lose case for them and they know it!!!

[colinthailand20005]

There will be an appeal, and the ruling will get overturned!

The immigration department will not want to lose face over this.

If you want to be so negative, go home.... lets hope this is the start of something good .. someone somewhere did their their job and maybe now people will start to be recognised as people...

Hey I am just stating what will prob happen, I'm not saying I like it, but this is Thailand and people will never be recognised as people in Thailand, it will never change in our lifetimes!

[Pria]

"A spokesperson for the Immigration Department was unable to be contacted yesterday, but it is understood they are considering an appeal against the ruling."

More crap from The Nation. If a spokesperson was unavailable for comment how do they know that an appeal is being considered? If they know it as fact, they should state so. Just more fluff from The Nation.

Similar to most people already replying to this thread I am in no way surprised that a legal migrant worker was treated in this manner and that the employer is kicking back in a beer bar somewhere laughing at how he has gotten out of having to pay for the injuries this person sustained.

And if this comment is accurate: "Somchai said yesterday's ruling was rare: "Chalee's case is the first time ever that a judge has relied on the Thai Constitution to order government officials to compensate a victim of unlawful detention." it is a very sad indictment on Thailand, Thais and the Thai legal system and I wish the Cambodians all the very best in relocating their capital to Bangkok.

As for Bakseedaa and the, "if you don't like it, go home" comment. Unless you are a Thai national it's not your place to make statements such as this.

If you are a Thai national then you should be embarrassed and hang your head in shame at the way your country treats non-Thais, but wait, that would require some level of humility and compassion and recognizing the fact that people are people irrespective of where they were born, something that contradicts with the normal Thai level of arrogance and hardheartedness.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Pria

[KLL]

is there a way to collect money for that

Council of Work and Environment Related Patient's Network of Thailand (WEPT)

organisation via this forum??

[stepenwolf1958]

How can they appeal and expect to win???He has immigration documents (e.g. visa)that entitles him to legally work and live in Thailand...What grounds of appeal can the immigration department expect to win on??This is a lose,lose case for them and they know it!!!

No, he has not ANY legal paper and it is 99% certain. Nothing new, here are thousands of illegal workers from Burma or Laos, even Cambodia. Until the boss is paying to the policeman in his area, all will be ok. But, cases as this one give a light about human trafficking in Thailand so reaction of the court was quick, or was at all. No one want publicity about those things now after USA (H.Clinton initiated) put Thailand on watching list about human trafficking.

[whybother]

No, he has not ANY legal paper and it is 99% certain. Nothing new, here are thousands of illegal workers from Burma or Laos, even Cambodia. Until the boss is paying to the policeman in his area, all will be ok. But, cases as this one give a light about human trafficking in Thailand so reaction of the court was quick, or was at all. No one want publicity about those things now after USA (H.Clinton initiated) put Thailand on watching list about human trafficking.

Only 99% certain? Here's the 1% for you.

Labour officials confirmed in court that Chalee had a work permit valid until February 28 this year

Edited February 16, 2011 by whybother

[stepenwolf1958]

"A spokesperson for the Immigration Department was unable to be contacted yesterday, but it is understood they are considering an appeal against the ruling."

More crap from The Nation. If a spokesperson was unavailable for comment how do they know that an appeal is being considered? If they know it as fact, they should state so. Just more fluff from The Nation.

Similar to most people already replying to this thread I am in no way surprised that a legal migrant worker was treated in this manner and that the employer is kicking back in a beer bar somewhere laughing at how he has gotten out of having to pay for the injuries this person sustained.

And if this comment is accurate: "Somchai said yesterday's ruling was rare: "Chalee's case is the first time ever that a judge has relied on the Thai Constitution to order government officials to compensate a victim of unlawful detention." it is a very sad indictment on Thailand, Thais and the Thai legal system and I wish the Cambodians all the very best in relocating their capital to Bangkok.

As for Bakseedaa and the, "if you don't like it, go home" comment. Unless you are a Thai national it's not your place to make statements such as this.

If you are a Thai national then you should be embarrassed and hang your head in shame at the way your country treats non-Thais, but wait, that would require some level of humility and compassion and recognizing the fact that people are people irrespective of where they were born, something that contradicts with the normal Thai level of arrogance and hardheartedness.

Will be no appeal at all as that could bring much more publicity than this case now. I can bet on any sum they don't dare to appeal. If they appeal it is for sure that man will open mouth then, say for his cousins and friends there, as he is in that company just one of dozen who work illegally but they were not injured so"no one knows" for illegal workers.

[stepenwolf1958]

No, he has not ANY legal paper and it is 99% certain. Nothing new, here are thousands of illegal workers from Burma or Laos, even Cambodia. Until the boss is paying to the policeman in his area, all will be ok. But, cases as this one give a light about human trafficking in Thailand so reaction of the court was quick, or was at all. No one want publicity about those things now after USA (H.Clinton initiated) put Thailand on watching list about human trafficking.

Only 99% certain? Here's the 1% for you.

Labour officials confirmed in court that Chalee had a work permit valid until February 28 this year

Hahaha, IRRELEVANT is that HE has WP...great...Do you want that way to oppose to my statement that here IS human trafficking and thousand of illegal workers. If so, please ask ANY Thai around you about it so you will see what THEY will tell you.

Next, yes just believe to them(officials in this case) anything they say now. Did you expect they will say NO HE HAS NOT ANY LEGAL DOCUMENT. Are you so much naive man???

e is that 1%(ONE) what i said. To inform you-in my FAMILY, i have a brother in law and right now he discovered that he was working all this years without any legal paper, just and only health insurance. In my town, i know for 2 places where are Burmese at illegal work and they were arrested 2-3 times but they get back again to the same employer(how come, what do you think?) and Thais explained to me whole situation., I saw those people by myself. :jap:

[harleyclarkey]

Nice to see all is well in happy Thailand. Did I happen to see posters all over Bkk last December about informing on human trafficking??? What a load of C**P from a totally dysfunctional society. Treat a dog like this human being was treated anywhere in the west (includes Oz) and you'll end up in the clink for a long time.

Chained? In a hospital? When injured on a Thai site? For sure the value of life in Thailand is cheap and the authorities have a warped, sadistic view on anyone they feel is vulnerable. The Thai value on this medieval abuse? A paltry, laughable insulting 3,000 baht, or 75 euro. Disgusting inhumane people.

[harleyclarkey]

If you are a Thai national then you should be embarrassed and hang your head in shame at the way your country treats non-Thais, but wait, that would require some level of humility and compassion and recognizing the fact that people are people irrespective of where they were born, something that contradicts with the normal Thai level of arrogance and hardheartedness.

Absolutely agree. This is barbaric treatment by the authorities which is all too common in Thailand. Have they taken the police/immigration to court for barbaric and inhumane treatment? Blow my a**. The public face they put on for the world is so very different from the reality in the country for any foreigner.

On other postings....it doesn't matter a toss if his papers exist or not or if they are in order. This is NOT the way for any civilised society (sorry, I forgot I was talking about Thailand) to treat him.

Edited February 16, 2011 by harleyclarkey

[whybother]

No, he has not ANY legal paper and it is 99% certain. Nothing new, here are thousands of illegal workers from Burma or Laos, even Cambodia. Until the boss is paying to the policeman in his area, all will be ok. But, cases as this one give a light about human trafficking in Thailand so reaction of the court was quick, or was at all. No one want publicity about those things now after USA (H.Clinton initiated) put Thailand on watching list about human trafficking.

Only 99% certain? Here's the 1% for you.

Labour officials confirmed in court that Chalee had a work permit valid until February 28 this year

Hahaha, IRRELEVANT is that HE has WP...great...Do you want that way to oppose to my statement that here IS human trafficking and thousand of illegal workers. If so, please ask ANY Thai around you about it so you will see what THEY will tell you.

Next, yes just believe to them(officials in this case) anything they say now. Did you expect they will say NO HE HAS NOT ANY LEGAL DOCUMENT. Are you so much naive man???

e is that 1%(ONE) what i said. To inform you-in my FAMILY, i have a brother in law and right now he discovered that he was working all this years without any legal paper, just and only health insurance. In my town, i know for 2 places where are Burmese at illegal work and they were arrested 2-3 times but they get back again to the same employer(how come, what do you think?) and Thais explained to me whole situation., I saw those people by myself. :jap:

Was I opposing your statement that there is human trafficking and illegal workers? NO.

Was I opposing your statement that he doesn't have any legal paper? YES.

It is very relevant to him whether he has a work permit. Why would the officials lie in this case? To get the police in trouble? Why would the officials care if he had a work permit or not? If he didn't have one, they wouldn't get in trouble. He would. And his employer would.

Are you suggesting that there are NO legal Burmese workers in Thailand?

Stop making things up to suit your ranting.

[stepenwolf1958]

Was I opposing your statement that there is human trafficking and illegal workers? NO.

Was I opposing your statement that he doesn't have any legal paper? YES.

It is very relevant to him whether he has a work permit. Why would the officials lie in this case? To get the police in trouble? Why would the officials care if he had a work permit or not? If he didn't have one, they wouldn't get in trouble. He would. And his employer would.

Are you suggesting that there are NO legal Burmese workers in Thailand?

Stop making things up to suit your ranting.

Officials might have a reason, to lie( a big one) and i told what is it.

Police is already in trouble.

But i am telling you, this case is one and only one that Burmese worker have valid WP. That can not change anything. It is also irrelevant for this man but i will not be so much about this guy any longer. The point is something else and i said where. So, don't be so fussy about this one as it is irrelevant for my point.

Let me ask you something. Kindly. Try to avoid to qualify my thoughts here in way you did. Try to avoid word"ranting" any possible way as i dislike it. Kindly asking you to be civilized here and to respect even oppinions which differ than yours. Can you do that?

[TheLaughingMan]

No, he has not ANY legal paper and it is 99% certain. Nothing new, here are thousands of illegal workers from Burma or Laos, even Cambodia. Until the boss is paying to the policeman in his area, all will be ok. But, cases as this one give a light about human trafficking in Thailand so reaction of the court was quick, or was at all. No one want publicity about those things now after USA (H.Clinton initiated) put Thailand on watching list about human trafficking.

Only 99% certain? Here's the 1% for you.

Labour officials confirmed in court that Chalee had a work permit valid until February 28 this year

Hahaha, IRRELEVANT is that HE has WP...great...Do you want that way to oppose to my statement that here IS human trafficking and thousand of illegal workers. If so, please ask ANY Thai around you about it so you will see what THEY will tell you.

Next, yes just believe to them(officials in this case) anything they say now. Did you expect they will say NO HE HAS NOT ANY LEGAL DOCUMENT. Are you so much naive man???

e is that 1%(ONE) what i said. To inform you-in my FAMILY, i have a brother in law and right now he discovered that he was working all this years without any legal paper, just and only health insurance. In my town, i know for 2 places where are Burmese at illegal work and they were arrested 2-3 times but they get back again to the same employer(how come, what do you think?) and Thais explained to me whole situation., I saw those people by myself. :jap:

All he was doing was pointing out your terrible reading fail when you tried to spread misinformation that he didn't have a work permit. Nobody was denying that human traficking and illegal workers are rampant in Thailand, just that you suck at reading, but instead of admitting your mistake you go on a rant about people not believing you. Good comeback, are you Thai?

[Bobr]

There will be an appeal, and the ruling will get overturned!

The immigration department will not want to lose face over this.

If you want to be so negative, go home.... lets hope this is the start of something good .. someone somewhere did their their job and maybe now people will start to be recognised as people...

Absolutely, it's nice to see the right thing done, and why would someone who is so cynical about Thailand want to stay here?

[stepenwolf1958]

All he was doing was pointing out your terrible reading fail when you tried to spread misinformation that he didn't have a work permit. Nobody was denying that human traficking and illegal workers are rampant in Thailand, just that you suck at reading, but instead of admitting your mistake you go on a rant about people not believing you. Good comeback, are you Thai?

Nope, it was not my misreading at all. I saw what they say but by my statement i wanted to say i disagree with what they(officials) said, that he has WP. Just that.

[stepenwolf1958]

All he was doing was pointing out your terrible reading fail when you tried to spread misinformation that he didn't have a work permit. Nobody was denying that human traficking and illegal workers are rampant in Thailand, just that you suck at reading, but instead of admitting your mistake you go on a rant about people not believing you. Good comeback, are you Thai?

I am sorry, but i am not sure i get your point with this question am i Thai? Sounds very discriminative. What if i am?

[thaimancnx]

QUOTE

Somchai said yesterday's ruling was rare: "Chalee's case is the first time ever that a judge has relied on the Thai Constitution to order government officials to compensate a victim of unlawful detention."

Perhaps this could be the beginning of Thai government held responsible for abiding by the Thai Constitution.

[Scott]

I think it's best to read the article and use the information supplied by the OP. This person, according to the article, has a valid work permit. Many aliens apparently do not have work permits. Someone assumed, maybe, that because he was Burmese, he was illegal.

This was not the case.

Let's not belabor the point and end up with posts deleted and warnings issued.

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[MaiChai]

So this had to go to court because the police and immigration did not do their job properly. Shameful.

Furthermore immigration want to appeal? Wow.

Be time the Thais started respecting cheap foreign labour; Thailand would not be as competitive if they did not have access to this labour. Anyway, how come Burmese can do these jobs; I though these types of jobs were protected for Thais only?

[jayjay0]

"A spokesperson for the Immigration Department was unable to be contacted yesterday, but it is understood they are considering an appeal against the ruling."

More crap from The Nation. If a spokesperson was unavailable for comment how do they know that an appeal is being considered? If they know it as fact, they should state so. Just more fluff from The Nation.

Similar to most people already replying to this thread I am in no way surprised that a legal migrant worker was treated in this manner and that the employer is kicking back in a beer bar somewhere laughing at how he has gotten out of having to pay for the injuries this person sustained.

And if this comment is accurate: "Somchai said yesterday's ruling was rare: "Chalee's case is the first time ever that a judge has relied on the Thai Constitution to order government officials to compensate a victim of unlawful detention." it is a very sad indictment on Thailand, Thais and the Thai legal system and I wish the Cambodians all the very best in relocating their capital to Bangkok.

As for Bakseedaa and the, "if you don't like it, go home" comment. Unless you are a Thai national it's not your place to make statements such as this.

If you are a Thai national then you should be embarrassed and hang your head in shame at the way your country treats non-Thais, but wait, that would require some level of humility and compassion and recognizing the fact that people are people irrespective of where they were born, something that contradicts with the normal Thai level of arrogance and hardheartedness.

Will be no appeal at all as that could bring much more publicity than this case now. I can bet on any sum they don't dare to appeal. If they appeal it is for sure that man will open mouth then, say for his cousins and friends there, as he is in that company just one of dozen who work illegally but they were not injured so"no one knows" for illegal workers.

For three thousand baht they are not willing to get the feed back a appeal would get them.

As it sits now I would not be one bit surprised if it is not even in the Thai news. Immigration will be happy to pay the money and let it die as far as the Thai's are concerned. The English speaking people for the most part don't have any say in the matter any how. We just talk about it because we are board.