Australia Wants Thai Workers To Work In Its Construction Industry

Time Traveller · May 3, 2012

Have the Australians even looked at the standard of roads and buildings in this country? They going to be in for a shock. Or maybe the article meant to say Unskilled labor?

samran · May 3, 2012

I think it would be a huge culture shock.

As some have already said English language skills to communicate, OH&S requirements in the Australian workforce. Add the fact that a lot of the jobs are in remote places with no Thai soap operas on TV, and few Thai food options.

Australia, for some reason, has a 60 year track record doing a pretty good job in bringing in non-English speaking migrants from Europe and later Asia and utliising them effectively.

Centrum · May 3, 2012

On a serioous note, the Aussies must be desperate, there are NO standards in this country. Thousands will die in Australia from collapsing buildings, bad electrical installation etc.

The amount of racism and hatred on this forum is staggering. You would think think a forum about Thailand, based IN Thailand, would bring together people who either live here or appreciate what Thailand has to offer.

Instead it's a forum full of haters.

Mostly bitter, old men, I presume.

saroq · May 3, 2012

Hope they have to do 90 day reporting in Aussie.

On a serioous note, the Aussies must be desperate, there are NO standards in this country. Thousands will die in Australia from collapsing buildings, bad electrical installation etc.

and bamboo scaffolding...

But in reality, there would be much better countries to import labour from that do have basic english skills already......like New Zealand.

I think that Thai workers will find it quite a shock to have to actually work a full day and I suspect that they'll struggle to meet the standard of work required but I guess it's better to invite Buddhists than the alternative. At least they're fun and enjoy life.

necronx99 · May 3, 2012

crikey..

Bloody heck, yes, crikey indeed.

I wouldn;t hold my breath though. The blithering idiots in the NT are renowned for silly policy cracks.

Their last effort in this area led to slave labour camps in the NT's special economic zone.

Didn't work out well needless to say.

xen · May 3, 2012

I have had Thai Tradies working for our business in Sydney and they range from utterly hopeless (only a few) to excellent. To say that Thai workers are no good shows that you have yet to find the good ones and they do exist. The biggest problem is that most of them don't do apprenticeships or proper training/education in the Trades in Thailand and they will reflect the quality of who employed them and their quality of work .

So when these Tradies go back to Thailand they will have certianly picked up extra skills including OH&S and transport this back to Thailand . A plus for Thailand.

jackr · May 3, 2012

after watching my house being built i wouldnt employ any workers from this coutry even though they call themselves technichines , never saw anything technical in anything they did but as a farang coulndt say a word about it to them and only got thats how thai do from my wife when complaining to her to try and get things done properly.

Don't make the mistake of tarring them all with the same brush. I've worked with skilled Thai engineers/sparkies/labourers offshore and also sparkies/labourers in Brunei and they just do not compare with the typical bricky/labourer working on your house here. Hard-pushed to find that work ethic without all the obligatory chops you get from us lot.

simple1 · May 4, 2012

Assuming most of the available skilled work would be in remote locations you would expect the wages to be in the region of A$120k plus p.a. as employers are required to pay the same wages and conditions as Australians enjoy. 457 visa holders can apply for permanent residency after four years with exactly the same rights as Australian citizens. With regard to OH&S I suggest employers would also need to invest in their local staff as unfortunately their is still a racist undercurrent in Australia. e.g. my Thai wife use to commute to work by train (in a major city) with a Thai friend and converse in Thai. It was not unusal for some friendly Australian to let them to stop talking in Thai and speak English as they are in Australia. Unbelievably I know some Australian guys with Thai wifes who complain about Asian immigration to Australia & yes they are tradesmen.

bedrock · May 4, 2012

Almost all of the above posts are somewhat cynical ...........but unfortunately real.

As for finding 20,000 workers , yeah right good luck thats really funny.

Just let me know when the tenders come up for safety boots.........sum num nah

"She'll be right mate " the Thais will pick up pretty quickly , thats for certain .

Anyway when they are informed that you cant smoke weed and drink Lao Kow on the job , that Hammocks are not supplied , no one does sticky rice , and 8 hours a day straight , sorry not in my lifetime.

Daewoo · May 4, 2012

In Australia there is a massive need for construction workers in the arid/hot/inhospitable north of the country (Northern Territory, WA, Qld), because all the skilled workers have headed off to the mines… lots of Aussies do a few year stint, flying in fly out, at great expense to the companies until the lifestyle becomes unbearable… basically they earn a very good wage for working ½ a year total…

This has left massive holes in the construction industry, because all the workers are in the mines where they earn double or triple the money on a FIFO contract, Sydney and Melbourne are suffering, but nowhere near as badly as Brisbane, Perth, and Darwin where double or triple the money is only a couple of hours away…

These companies want reliable labour who will work 6 days a week, 48 weeks/year, for a decent pay and conditions… The companies will train them on site in local practices and expectations…

At the moment, the big problem is the Chinese workers on construction sites… lots of Chinese companies undercutting local prices to win contracts, 100% Chinese staff on dodgy visas, dodgy qualifications, dodgy pay… no English skills at all, not necessary because the entire crew is Chinese… but unable to work with other trades/contractors because they can’t communicate… there is such low Unionism in Australia, that they are virtually powerless now, and it will only get worse because no one new will join a union, because they are powerless…

Of course, all of this is driven by ripping up Australia, and shipping it to China as cheaply and quickly as we can, so that we can sell as much as we can before the China bubble bursts, at which time, Australia is f^cked… All the ‘cashed up bogans’ will go back to earning a realistic wage for their skills, the property market with implode, and there will be lots of immigrants with Permanent Residency and no jobs…

The true meaning of “The Lucky Country” from Donald Horne’s poem, which most Australian’s use a positive, will come home to roost… “Australia is a lucky country, run by second-rate people who share its luck.”

Better the Thai’s than more Chinese IMHO…

Edited May 4, 2012 by Daewoo

Traxster · May 4, 2012

Will they be paid Thai rates or Aussie rates ?

There's a world of difference and once the Thai workers find out how much money they

can earn, they may not want to come home.

Edited May 4, 2012 by metisdead
Default forum font is Arial size 14, black, use it when posting.

KeyserSoze01 · May 4, 2012

I want the Som Tum franchise for where ever they put 20K Thai workers. That and the Lao Khao concession.

I agree with most that finding 20K workers with good English skills is a non-starter. Perhaps this was just a token offer to show good faith and allow the Thais to gain face, all the while knowing that meeting the English requirements could not be met.

necronx99 · May 4, 2012

Will they be paid Thai rates or Aussie rates ?

There's a world of difference and once the Thai workers find out how much money they

can earn, they may not want to come home.

They will be paid the same as the Australian workers.

w11guy · May 4, 2012

after watching my house being built i wouldnt employ any workers from this coutry even though they call themselves technichines , never saw anything technical in anything they did but as a farang coulndt say a word about it to them and only got thats how thai do from my wife when complaining to her to try and get things done properly.

It's your own fault for employing unskilled workers. There are good and bad in all countries. I have had some hopeless builders in London and also some great ones. There are definitely skilled construction workers in Thailand, but you didn't make the effort to find them. Or perhaps you got what you paid for.

Also, you need to stand up for yourself. Why couldn't you say anything? Someone does a bad job and you don't say anything. What do you expect. I am not surprised at the outcome. Man up.

allan michaud · May 4, 2012

after watching my house being built i wouldnt employ any workers from this coutry even though they call themselves technichines , never saw anything technical in anything they did but as a farang coulndt say a word about it to them and only got thats how thai do from my wife when complaining to her to try and get things done properly.

This is part of the reason why I said what I posted in post #4

I am sure this country does have some highly skilled labour, however I have never witnessed it among the 3 different sets of workers we have employed at times. None had the first idea what they were doing. It is very apparent that all you need in Thailand to be a builder is a hammer and a screw driver (and no idea what a spirit level is)... and as for English language skills

thaihome · May 4, 2012

Almost all of the above posts are somewhat cynical ...........but unfortunately real.

As for finding 20,000 workers , yeah right good luck thats really funny.

Just let me know when the tenders come up for safety boots.........sum num nah

"She'll be right mate " the Thais will pick up pretty quickly , thats for certain .

Anyway when they are informed that you cant smoke weed and drink Lao Kow on the job , that Hammocks are not supplied , no one does sticky rice , and 8 hours a day straight , sorry not in my lifetime.

And you base this on your vast experience in the Industrial Construction business in Thailand? In fact most of the post here, as said by others, are racist stereotypes that shows more about the members and who they associate with than their actual knowledge of Thai construction.

A few facts, There are currently 100,000’s of skilled Thai tradesmen and Engineers working on major refineries, petro-chemical, offshore fabrication, and industrial building construction on the Eastern Seaboard. These workers over the past 30 years have built literally hundreds of world class plants, facilities, and buildings.

The reason that today, there are far more Pilipino workers overseas than Thai is not about their ability, but the fact that there has been so much work in Thailand there is little reason for skilled Thai person to work overseas. In 1990’s you were more likely to have Thai workers on an overseas project than Pilipino, but as Thailand went through a long construction boom, their numbers dwindled considerably.

I should also note that the state of the overseas labor recruiting business in Thailand is, in the most part, disgraceful (but then it is in the Philippines as well). In the Philippines, we have setup our own recruiting business and refuse to deal with the myriad of unethical agents that flourish there. I believe that is one reason many Thais construction workers do not try to work overseas, they can work here and do not have to deal with these low life scum that are only intent on stealing from the workers they recruit.

Australia, and particularly Queensland, has huge labor shortage right now, and it is going to get worse over the next 2 years. The Australians and even the unions (reluctantly) realize this and they continue to make it easier to import labor, both tradesmen and professionals.

I do agree that it will be difficult to recruit 20,000 Thai workers to go Australia, but that has nothing to do with their ability or skills, it is because for a skilled Thai worker, they do not have to work overseas to make very good money.

Our company is already setting up programs to try and recruit Thai tradesmen already working for us here in Thailand to work on our projects in Queensland. As the craft manpower estimates for just our 8 or so Queensland and Western Australia projects is close to 100,000 and Australians cannot fill even 50% of that, we will need to import some serious numbers and Philippines cannot supply them all. We do not deal with Bangladeshi or Pakistani labor brokers at all as it is impossible to find an ethical recruiter and they do not allow foreign companies to recruit on their own.

This thread is again, nothing more than an opportunity for the usual suspects to bash Thailand based on their experience of having a house built in Nakorn Nowhere or remodeling the bar next door to their usual hangout in lower Sukhumivt or Pattaya.

They are completely ignorant of the fact there is a hierarchy in the construction business everywhere in the world, and the workers they see are at the bottom of it. Any worker with any intelligence, initiative, and skill does not do small residential or commercial work. They move on to the big time, where a certified welder or electrician can make 30-40k THB a month and foremen and supervisors even more.

So, go ahead, have your fun, but what is said here does not in any way resemble reality.

TH

w11guy · May 4, 2012

On a serioous note, the Aussies must be desperate, there are NO standards in this country. Thousands will die in Australia from collapsing buildings, bad electrical installation etc.

The amount of racism and hatred on this forum is staggering. You would think think a forum about Thailand, based IN Thailand, would bring together people who either live here or appreciate what Thailand has to offer.

Instead it's a forum full of haters.

Mostly bitter, old men, I presume.

Too true. Many posters on thaivisa should be deported. Racists like these shouldn't be allowed to live in Thailand.I'm surprised that thaivisa allows such racist comments.

canman · May 4, 2012

Almost all of the above posts are somewhat cynical ...........but unfortunately real.

As for finding 20,000 workers , yeah right good luck thats really funny.

Just let me know when the tenders come up for safety boots.........sum num nah

"She'll be right mate " the Thais will pick up pretty quickly , thats for certain .

Anyway when they are informed that you cant smoke weed and drink Lao Kow on the job , that Hammocks are not supplied , no one does sticky rice , and 8 hours a day straight , sorry not in my lifetime.

And you base this on your vast experience in the Industrial Construction business in Thailand? In fact most of the post here, as said by others, are racist stereotypes that shows more about the members and who they associate with than their actual knowledge of Thai construction.

A few facts, There are currently 100,000’s of skilled Thai tradesmen and Engineers working on major refineries, petro-chemical, offshore fabrication, and industrial building construction on the Eastern Seaboard. These workers over the past 30 years have built literally hundreds of world class plants, facilities, and buildings.

The reason that today, there are far more Pilipino workers overseas than Thai is not about their ability, but the fact that there has been so much work in Thailand there is little reason for skilled Thai person to work overseas. In 1990’s you were more likely to have Thai workers on an overseas project than Pilipino, but as Thailand went through a long construction boom, their numbers dwindled considerably.

I should also note that the state of the overseas labor recruiting business in Thailand is, in the most part, disgraceful (but then it is in the Philippines as well). In the Philippines, we have setup our own recruiting business and refuse to deal with the myriad of unethical agents that flourish there. I believe that is one reason many Thais construction workers do not try to work overseas, they can work here and do not have to deal with these low life scum that are only intent on stealing from the workers they recruit.

Australia, and particularly Queensland, has huge labor shortage right now, and it is going to get worse over the next 2 years. The Australians and even the unions (reluctantly) realize this and they continue to make it easier to import labor, both tradesmen and professionals.

I do agree that it will be difficult to recruit 20,000 Thai workers to go Australia, but that has nothing to do with their ability or skills, it is because for a skilled Thai worker, they do not have to work overseas to make very good money.

Our company is already setting up programs to try and recruit Thai tradesmen already working for us here in Thailand to work on our projects in Queensland. As the craft manpower estimates for just our 8 or so Queensland and Western Australia projects is close to 100,000 and Australians cannot fill even 50% of that, we will need to import some serious numbers and Philippines cannot supply them all. We do not deal with Bangladeshi or Pakistani labor brokers at all as it is impossible to find an ethical recruiter and they do not allow foreign companies to recruit on their own.

This thread is again, nothing more than an opportunity for the usual suspects to bash Thailand based on their experience of having a house built in Nakorn Nowhere or remodeling the bar next door to their usual hangout in lower Sukhumivt or Pattaya.

They are completely ignorant of the fact there is a hierarchy in the construction business everywhere in the world, and the workers they see are at the bottom of it. Any worker with any intelligence, initiative, and skill does not do small residential or commercial work. They move on to the big time, where a certified welder or electrician can make 30-40k THB a month and foremen and supervisors even more.

So, go ahead, have your fun, but what is said here does not in any way resemble reality.

TH

Agreed 100%. I worked offshore for 20 years and 5 years onshore in Thailand and know for a fact there are plenty of excellent skilled Thai engineers, steel workers & electricians. It is also unfortunately true that finding a skilled tradesman for domestic work can be hit and miss but you can say that about many countries. A good percentage of the undersea pipelines which bring oil and gas ashore in Asia have been welded together by highly skilled Thai welders. Guess what the welds don't fail!

HowardH · May 4, 2012

On a serioous note, the Aussies must be desperate, there are NO standards in this country. Thousands will die in Australia from collapsing buildings, bad electrical installation etc.

The amount of racism and hatred on this forum is staggering. You would think think a forum about Thailand, based IN Thailand, would bring together people who either live here or appreciate what Thailand has to offer.

Instead it's a forum full of haters.

Mostly bitter, old men, I presume.

Too true. Many posters on thaivisa should be deported. Racists like these shouldn't be allowed to live in Thailand.I'm surprised that thaivisa allows such racist comments.

I wouldn't know if they are good tradesman or not, but the people here are just having their fun and not picking on any individuals in particular, they are not attacking the Thai, they are making light-hearted humorous comments is all.

If most of them didn't love the Thai they WOULD leave the country.

As for Thaivisa, it is a forum of free speech that allows people to be themselves as long as they don't abuse those rights.

Edited May 4, 2012 by HowardH

OLDAUSSIE · May 4, 2012

Settle down lads this will NEVER happen.

How many Thais do you know that can speak AUSTRALIAN......

MILT · May 4, 2012

crikey..

They gotta be out of their blinking minds

belg · May 4, 2012

thais that express toughts and feelings, in words ? and in english... wow...

and government to government... so at 300 baht per day and the rest is pocketed in by state officials ?

not enough unemployed DOWN THERE ?

JRinger · May 4, 2012

and of course they'll need a meeting place similar to 'Golden Mile' in Singapore where they can get somtum and other isaan favorite foods and throw all their garbage on the grounds.....Golden Mile is the filthiest place in Singapore and the Thai workers don't speak English either.

JRinger · May 4, 2012

Settle down lads this will NEVER happen.

How many Thais do you know that can speak AUSTRALIAN......

Did the Lebanese & Syrians speak English/Australian when they entered the country? Seems like Australia will let anyone and everyone into the country and then give them money to live on; not unlike the U.S.

Edited May 4, 2012 by JRinger

HowardH · May 4, 2012

Settle down lads this will NEVER happen.

How many Thais do you know that can speak AUSTRALIAN......

Did the Lebanese & Syrians speak English/Australian when they entered the country? Seems like Australia will let anyone and everyone into the country and then give them money to live on; not unlike the U.S.

Yeah, we have many thousands living on the streets because they have no housing and /or cannot pay the impossibly high rents, and yet they constantly find billions of dollars to fund such important projects like super-stadiums etc.

Australia has become a cruel joke.

necronx99 · May 4, 2012

Settle down lads this will NEVER happen.

How many Thais do you know that can speak AUSTRALIAN......

Did the Lebanese & Syrians speak English/Australian when they entered the country? Seems like Australia will let anyone and everyone into the country and then give them money to live on; not unlike the U.S.

Yeah, we have many thousands living on the streets because they have no housing and /or cannot pay the impossibly high rents, and yet they constantly find billions of dollars to fund such important projects like super-stadiums etc.

Australia has become a cruel joke.

That's because all the good cheap housing is taken up by centrelink funded disfunctional child creation units.

samran · May 4, 2012

Almost all of the above posts are somewhat cynical ...........but unfortunately real.

As for finding 20,000 workers , yeah right good luck thats really funny.

Just let me know when the tenders come up for safety boots.........sum num nah

"She'll be right mate " the Thais will pick up pretty quickly , thats for certain .

Anyway when they are informed that you cant smoke weed and drink Lao Kow on the job , that Hammocks are not supplied , no one does sticky rice , and 8 hours a day straight , sorry not in my lifetime.

And you base this on your vast experience in the Industrial Construction business in Thailand? In fact most of the post here, as said by others, are racist stereotypes that shows more about the members and who they associate with than their actual knowledge of Thai construction.

A few facts, There are currently 100,000’s of skilled Thai tradesmen and Engineers working on major refineries, petro-chemical, offshore fabrication, and industrial building construction on the Eastern Seaboard. These workers over the past 30 years have built literally hundreds of world class plants, facilities, and buildings.

The reason that today, there are far more Pilipino workers overseas than Thai is not about their ability, but the fact that there has been so much work in Thailand there is little reason for skilled Thai person to work overseas. In 1990’s you were more likely to have Thai workers on an overseas project than Pilipino, but as Thailand went through a long construction boom, their numbers dwindled considerably.

I should also note that the state of the overseas labor recruiting business in Thailand is, in the most part, disgraceful (but then it is in the Philippines as well). In the Philippines, we have setup our own recruiting business and refuse to deal with the myriad of unethical agents that flourish there. I believe that is one reason many Thais construction workers do not try to work overseas, they can work here and do not have to deal with these low life scum that are only intent on stealing from the workers they recruit.

Australia, and particularly Queensland, has huge labor shortage right now, and it is going to get worse over the next 2 years. The Australians and even the unions (reluctantly) realize this and they continue to make it easier to import labor, both tradesmen and professionals.

I do agree that it will be difficult to recruit 20,000 Thai workers to go Australia, but that has nothing to do with their ability or skills, it is because for a skilled Thai worker, they do not have to work overseas to make very good money.

Our company is already setting up programs to try and recruit Thai tradesmen already working for us here in Thailand to work on our projects in Queensland. As the craft manpower estimates for just our 8 or so Queensland and Western Australia projects is close to 100,000 and Australians cannot fill even 50% of that, we will need to import some serious numbers and Philippines cannot supply them all. We do not deal with Bangladeshi or Pakistani labor brokers at all as it is impossible to find an ethical recruiter and they do not allow foreign companies to recruit on their own.

This thread is again, nothing more than an opportunity for the usual suspects to bash Thailand based on their experience of having a house built in Nakorn Nowhere or remodeling the bar next door to their usual hangout in lower Sukhumivt or Pattaya.

They are completely ignorant of the fact there is a hierarchy in the construction business everywhere in the world, and the workers they see are at the bottom of it. Any worker with any intelligence, initiative, and skill does not do small residential or commercial work. They move on to the big time, where a certified welder or electrician can make 30-40k THB a month and foremen and supervisors even more.

So, go ahead, have your fun, but what is said here does not in any way resemble reality.

TH

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