1,000 Thais Missing In Libya

[elcent]

Some good suggestions there guy's, but joking aside, any still inside Libya is going through hell and the longer there still in Libya, the worse it's going to get. I have been working in Libya for the last two years; it was just luck that I was on leave when all this kicked off. I had my flight, but thought better to stay and see what develops, (one of my smarter moves)

I have had sporadic contact with work colleges and friends there, and got some harrowing accounts of things going on, weapons leveled at them when they tried to get out of the desert and then relived of everything they owned, others crossing the border, via wire fences, we are not just talking grizzly old oil and gas workers, lots women, kids and babies as well.

I feel very lucky to have been in Thailand when this all went down, there but for the grace of God go I! I hope all foreign national citizens are out of there soon. I believe most European and American's are out now, but it's one big country, and work sites are very spread out. Thailand like some other smaller less well-disposed countries needs to stop mincing about and ask for help from other nations to get there people out. Somehow I don't think the Thais stuck in Libya are getting much "face saving time" like there politicians.

I worked on the Great Man Made River Project for 6 years from 2004 until July last year, 3 positions below Gaddafi. I declined to extend my contract because I knew that the uprising was going to happen after Gaddafi refused to step down in September 2009. Also there was a pitched battle in Kufra between the local people and the Government forces. My bosses already fled to Egypt in 2009 to join other dissadents.

We had 2,500 Thais on our project. I believe the total figure is 23,000 Thais who were working in Libya on various infrastructure projects. According to the Libyans who control the Project labour force, only 54 Thais wanted to leave (this figure is only the same as the normal weekly shipment of Thais going home on vacation leave. Therefore you can say that the GMRP, which is Gaddafi's own Project, are not allowing the Thais to leave.

The projects consist of several 450-650km long pipelines, with pumping stations, from the sahara desert to the coastal areas. The construction camps near to the populated areas have been entered by locals who have looted the camps and removed vehicles, buses, cars, pickups, TVs, Laptops, and money and personal belongings of the workers including the Thais.

It is possible that the Thai workers in the desert may have chosen to stay as there are no people around, only lizards, scorpions and the odd camel. However, I doubt whtehr Gaddafi will be able to pay the workers due to the freezing of foreign bank accounts.

Only today has my friend who is one of the recruitment agents, been contacted by the Thai Ministry and Embassy to order his Agency to get all the thai workers out. I assume these are the so called missing 1,000 workers.

Estrada

In other words they are hostages there now. How could they leave when there are no vehicles? Were those looting from the pro Gaddafi camp? - it seems so.

It says a lot when only today people were asked by the govt to leave.

The German and British airforce, working together, got people out from remote areas and their mission is accomplished. Nobody there said they wanted to stay and continue working. As one of the commanders described it: "The people stormed the planes and fortunately we didnt have to leave anyone behind".

I think there are more then 1000 people left when the figure of 23000 is right.

Edited March 5, 2011 by elcent

[elcent]

hundreds of thousand are in serious danger according to UNHCR (second half of the clip)

Edited March 5, 2011 by elcent

[elcent]

17:58 BBC The al-Jazeera correspondent also says there are reports that a rift has emerged in Sirte between the al-Firjan tribe and the al-Qadhdhafa tribe, to which Col Gaddafi belongs. Twenty soldiers from the al-Firjan were tied up and shot dead by members of an internal security brigade in Ras Lanuf when they refused to open fire on the rebels, the reports say.

[elcent]

About 130 foreign journalists have gathered in Tripoli as guests of the Qaddafi government.

... any Thai? This could help a lot in a situation like this. Or at least have some from the others have the Thai issue put on the table. ...

[moe666]

As long as they are out before the Idi Amin style ethnic cleansing begins.... Oh... Has is already started?

The State Department and the White House are so nervous at this moment. however, no one knows and I am waiting for Wall Street journal on Saturday. I urge everyone to watch ABC News on Sunday. You also can watch from Internet if you can get it. The American already has the battle ship and Stealth Bomber nearby. Senator Mccain and several Army chiefs are trying to propost for No fly zone. Everyone in the world is waiting and hoping ethnic cleansing will not happen.

Sorry, no more battleships in the US Navy. To expensive to operate and maintain.

[bitterbatter]

Maybe they thought it would be safer there than coming back here before songkron with all the weapons missing in the last post....

No, I believe that they are saying that Thai workers aren't being sent back to thailand but these camps. I guess they figure it will be cheaper and more convenient then bringing them back.

I just started to read this thread and I bet someone else has already said this.

[KKK]

Send a Royal Thai Navy extraction force to Libiya to get these people out.

Your joking of course. That action would only increase the number of Thais missing in Libya.

Now if they were enlist the services of the Israeli Military you would be looking at a more successful outcome.

Do you really want to start WW3??

[Estrada]

Maybe they thought it would be safer there than coming back here before songkron with all the weapons missing in the last post....

No, I believe that they are saying that Thai workers aren't being sent back to thailand but these camps. I guess they figure it will be cheaper and more convenient then bringing them back.

I just started to read this thread and I bet someone else has already said this.

This is not true we are bringing them back by order of the Thai Government. The Al Nahr workers (The Company I was working for in Libya) have been located in Tunisia by a friend who has brought his Thai workers who were working for Ranhill Malaysia to Tunisia. They are due to Fly back Today (Sunday or Monday via Doha.

Geoff

Edited March 6, 2011 by Estrada

[Estrada]

12:29pm

As many as 40,000 Bangladeshi citizens have crossed the borders with Tunisia and Egypt, with others waiting on the borders, Waliur Rahman, a former Bangladeshi Foreign Affairs Secretary tells Al Jazeera

12:20pm

Chinese state TV has said it has completed the evacuation of its nationals from Libya. The final batch of 300 - of an estimated 30,000 - touched down in a military transport plane in Guangzhou in the douth of the country.

What about the real figure of Thai workers in Libya? First it started with 23 000 and now there were only less than half of the number.

Me thinks the Thai should have made contingency plans to extricate THEMSELVES when the problem first started , they are there of their own volition so should also return to Thailand the same way , many TV posters talk of being thankful of leaving their ' Nanny states" but are now condemning Thai officials for not doing more to help these hapless citizens . You cannot have it both ways ,

sorry dumball, but this is big nonsense. Those people pay a lot of money for getting the jobs. They guarantee with their little land and houses they have and this is probably targeted by job-placement agencies. It would be interesting of what was and is being told to them. Most don't even know the Thai Emabassy or even have a phone number. And remember those job-placement agencies are under the umbrella of the govt.

Try to hire 50 people with guaranteed 50000 Baht salery/month and you wont get them, guaranteed, unless you use the channels of the half govt and half private agencies where they're going to milk the workers first before they will be sent to any destination.

It is also a kind of force majeure which releases the workers from any further payment to those agencies. Lawyers will need to find out the details.

This is not true I worked with the Thais in Libya for 6 years. They all have regular contact with the Representatives in Libya. The nearest Thai Embassy is in Egypt but the consol visits regularly. The recuitment agency representatives also visit the Company's Thai workers. No one in Libya can work there without a visa and the Libyan Immigration and Companies know exactly where they are.

The workers only have to cover the cost of their airfares and commission as the Libyan Companies do not accept to pay the airfares or fees for lower paid workers. In this way the Libyans can get undertable money for each worker. The problem is that some workers lie about their skills and that the do not have any disease such as HIV or TB and the Company does not want to pay until they have passed the medical and proven their skills.

The truth is that the Thais earn more money than they get at home and that is why many extended their contracts. The Thai workers are the best workers and well liked by the Company. Every year the Thai Community gets together to celebrate the Kings Birthday.

The Country that really rips off their workers, is Bangladesh the Banglas pay is peanuts and it takes them 1 year to repay the loan they took from the recruitment Company to pay the fees and airfare. Nevertheless, many of the Banglas have been able to build houses back home and are considered wealthy by most Banglas who live in abject poverty.

Geoff

[Robby nz]

Great we are now getting some good information on this thread from people who know what they are talking about.

As I said on another thread; these workers are people who have left their homes and families to try to better themselves and improve life for their families.

They are now in a situation not of their making and really need halp to get out.

Cant be easy to get them all out when they are spread all over a country the size of Libya and half a world away.

Just hope they all get out safely with something to make their efforts worthwhile.

[Gers1873]

Send a Royal Thai Navy extraction force to Libiya to get these people out.

The government already discussed this idea. However it had to be put on hold as all Thai navy boats are apparently "missing".

[fma]

About 130 foreign journalists have gathered in Tripoli as guests of the Qaddafi government.

... any Thai? This could help a lot in a situation like this. Or at least have some from the others have the Thai issue put on the table. ...

What? That sounds like investigative reporting - not sure any Thai journalists qualify.

[SantiSuk]

Send a Royal Thai Navy extraction force to Libiya to get these people out.

Your joking of course. That action would only increase the number of Thais missing in Libya.

Now if they were enlist the services of the Israeli Military you would be looking at a more successful outcome.

Thaksin famously sent a rescue military plane to Cambodia within hours of the outbreak of hostilities against the Thai embassy in Cambodia a few years back and evacuated all the staff. I am no aologist for Thaksin but in that instance apparently he was widely feted in Thailand for decisive and prompt action. Democratic Governments usually take several days or weeks rather than several hours.

[oldsailor35]

Send a Royal Thai Navy extraction force to Libiya to get these people out.

Sadly the RN is no longer the hard nosed, efficient fighting force it once was - for centuries.

C'mon Bagwan, you cannot mention the Royal Thai Navy in the same class as the ROYAL NAVY !

[oldsailor35]

Perhaps the Libyan navy put them in a boat and towed them out to sea, like the Royal Thai Navy did to those Rohigans from Myanmar !

[oldsailor35]

Send a Royal Thai Navy extraction force to Libiya to get these people out.

The government already discussed this idea. However it had to be put on hold as all Thai navy boats are apparently "missing".

Its ok now, apparently the boats have been handed in but a Chief Petty Officer was seen escaping on one of those Phuket jet skies, only hope he does'nt scratch it as it will cost him more than the Thai Navy boats are worth.

[elcent]

12:29pm

As many as 40,000 Bangladeshi citizens have crossed the borders with Tunisia and Egypt, with others waiting on the borders, Waliur Rahman, a former Bangladeshi Foreign Affairs Secretary tells Al Jazeera

12:20pm

Chinese state TV has said it has completed the evacuation of its nationals from Libya. The final batch of 300 - of an estimated 30,000 - touched down in a military transport plane in Guangzhou in the douth of the country.

What about the real figure of Thai workers in Libya? First it started with 23 000 and now there were only less than half of the number.

Me thinks the Thai should have made contingency plans to extricate THEMSELVES when the problem first started , they are there of their own volition so should also return to Thailand the same way , many TV posters talk of being thankful of leaving their ' Nanny states" but are now condemning Thai officials for not doing more to help these hapless citizens . You cannot have it both ways ,

sorry dumball, but this is big nonsense. Those people pay a lot of money for getting the jobs. They guarantee with their little land and houses they have and this is probably targeted by job-placement agencies. It would be interesting of what was and is being told to them. Most don't even know the Thai Emabassy or even have a phone number. And remember those job-placement agencies are under the umbrella of the govt.

Try to hire 50 people with guaranteed 50000 Baht salery/month and you wont get them, guaranteed, unless you use the channels of the half govt and half private agencies where they're going to milk the workers first before they will be sent to any destination.

It is also a kind of force majeure which releases the workers from any further payment to those agencies. Lawyers will need to find out the details.

This is not true I worked with the Thais in Libya for 6 years. They all have regular contact with the Representatives in Libya. The nearest Thai Embassy is in Egypt but the consol visits regularly. The recuitment agency representatives also visit the Company's Thai workers. No one in Libya can work there without a visa and the Libyan Immigration and Companies know exactly where they are.

The workers only have to cover the cost of their airfares and commission as the Libyan Companies do not accept to pay the airfares or fees for lower paid workers. In this way the Libyans can get undertable money for each worker. The problem is that some workers lie about their skills and that the do not have any disease such as HIV or TB and the Company does not want to pay until they have passed the medical and proven their skills.

The truth is that the Thais earn more money than they get at home and that is why many extended their contracts. The Thai workers are the best workers and well liked by the Company. Every year the Thai Community gets together to celebrate the Kings Birthday.

The Country that really rips off their workers, is Bangladesh the Banglas pay is peanuts and it takes them 1 year to repay the loan they took from the recruitment Company to pay the fees and airfare. Nevertheless, many of the Banglas have been able to build houses back home and are considered wealthy by most Banglas who live in abject poverty.

Geoff

Geoff, workers who returned told differently. Of course the recruitment agency representatives visit them regulary and I'm sure the Consul didn't visit 23000 workers personally, it's just not possible. And I'm almost certain that there're different kinds of recruitment agencies active. Every year we get headlines of agencies acting like criminal. I'm also sure about the good quality of the workers.

Anyway, the most important thing is to get them ALL out ASAP.

In this kind of situation you can't trust either side, - the pro Gaddafi or the anti Gaddafi side. People will just become tools in a power game and this was obvious from the very beginning of the unrest there. The reaction to get them out was to slow.

In times like this with all the communication tools nothing can be hidden. It doesn't work like ten twenty years ago where people just announce something to mislead the population. As you said too, the 54 people which were announced as evacuated were just the regular number on leave. It made me laugh out loud when I read that last week.

Good luck to all the workers there and may they get home safe and sound.

[elcent]

Send a Royal Thai Navy extraction force to Libiya to get these people out.

Your joking of course. That action would only increase the number of Thais missing in Libya.

Now if they were enlist the services of the Israeli Military you would be looking at a more successful outcome.

Thaksin famously sent a rescue military plane to Cambodia within hours of the outbreak of hostilities against the Thai embassy in Cambodia a few years back and evacuated all the staff. I am no aologist for Thaksin but in that instance apparently he was widely feted in Thailand for decisive and prompt action. Democratic Governments usually take several days or weeks rather than several hours.

So you are saying that Thaksin is not democratic. Lol, that made me .

Germany, UK, USA , France were the first to get their people out fast.

Can you tell us more about their dictators?

[samuiwonder]

and so everyone is, again, waiting for the Americans, who have already bankrupted themselves funding their military-industrial Middle eastern adventures. to come in and save the day. What about the expensive, European military of France, Italy, and other European countries, whose economies will be more quickly and drastically affected, in the short term?   They are closer. <br> <br>

[gemini81]

As long as they are out before the Idi Amin style ethnic cleansing begins.... Oh... Has is already started?

The State Department and the White House are so nervous at this moment. however, no one knows and I am waiting for Wall Street journal on Saturday. I urge everyone to watch ABC News on Sunday. You also can watch from Internet if you can get it. The American already has the battle ship and Stealth Bomber nearby. Senator Mccain and several Army chiefs are trying to propost for No fly zone. Everyone in the world is waiting and hoping ethnic cleansing will not happen.

Sorry, no more battleships in the US Navy. To expensive to operate and maintain.

not for decades! "Oh ancient one!"

[gemini81]

and so everyone is, again, waiting for the Americans, who have already bankrupted themselves funding their military-industrial Middle eastern adventures. to come in and save the day. What about the expensive, European military of France, Italy, and other European countries, whose economies will be more quickly and drastically affected, in the short term?   They are closer. <br> <br>

US can't win, 'cause when the US does come in, everyone will just bitch about world police etc. funny how that works, until one's time of need?

Edited March 6, 2011 by gemini81

[elcent]

and so everyone is, again, waiting for the Americans, who have already bankrupted themselves funding their military-industrial Middle eastern adventures. to come in and save the day. What about the expensive, European military of France, Italy, and other European countries, whose economies will be more quickly and drastically affected, in the short term?   They are closer. <br> <br>

I always thought China, Russia and India should chip in.

[samuiwonder]

The Americans have already spent enough on the Middle East, and policing the rest of the world. Time for other countries to put some of their military, and money up on the table. Their oil prices,especially Italy's will be severely affected first.

Get ready for a doubling of gas prices. If Saudi Arabia explodes (50 year dictatorship) then electric cars and motorbikes will suddenly look affordable. Wouldn't that be nice to have those on Samui?

I already filling my tank up daily.

[samuiwonder]

and so everyone is, again, waiting for the Americans, who have already bankrupted themselves funding their military-industrial Middle eastern adventures. to come in and save the day. What about the expensive, European military of France, Italy, and other European countries, whose economies will be more quickly and drastically affected, in the short term?   They are closer. <br> <br>

I always thought China, Russia and India should chip in.

Bingo!

[bangon04]

Send a Royal Thai Navy extraction force to Libiya to get these people out.

The government already discussed this idea. However it had to be put on hold as all Thai navy boats are apparently "missing".

The aircraft carrier was missing, but now it seems it was jst an inventory error. However the aircraft needed to define this boat as an aircraft carrier are permanently missing, unless they are practising the (crash) landing of the new Daab fighters on the deck.

[vicio]

If someone of them can cook thai food, I suggest to jump to Sicily to open a thai restaurant.

In Italy there aren't good thai restaurant, and Italians have a big passion for "thai" food and not only food...

Sicilian expat

A Thai restaurant with 'full body massage service" for Silicon Mafiosos?

Even Italians running a restaurant in Europe have to pay for 'protection'. But they're the ones who'll destroy it, when they don't pay. Ciao.....:jap:

"Protection" is active everywhere in the world, in Sicily, in italy, in Bangkok too. But places where is more expensive are where there more money: New York, Milan, London, Paris, Shanghai....sometimes Sicilian, sometimes Chinese, sometimes Arab, sometime Policemen (in Thailand example)...

I think it's a global phenomenon connecting us to 'animal' nature of the 'stronger one win'.

If you want to speak seriously of Mafia, let me know. I'm very interested and I studied a lot on. Otherwise that' all folk!

For the massage shop, I think that cannot work in Sicily 'cos sicilian wives are too much jealous, and don't let husband and boyfriend go around easily. Good and bad of the 'Family concept'.

Ciao

[elcent]

Where are the reports of evacuated Thais from Libya.today is the 16th and the govt said all would be evacuated by 15th.

[Panhandler007]

Sure hope they are alright!