Australia Wants Thai Workers To Work In Its Construction Industry

[OzMick]

This could be great opportunity for Thai workers who are skilled to a high degree, some are though most aren't but all receive a comparative pittance to what they could earn in Farangland.

But you have to ask why?

No you don't, it's bleeding obvious. They want to do a bit of union busting while paying under award wages.

[OzMick]

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.

A cynic is a liberal with experience.

[Pseudolus]

Interesting. I assume they have an over supply of pick up trucks that as of yet do not have a couple of lads sat in the back smoking all day drinking cans of cheap beer only stopping briefly to do a half arsed job on something,.

[OzMick]

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.

The food would not be a problem if they all learn to like lamb.

At Australian prices, I doubt any Thai worker is going to be eating much lamb, and he'll have a heart attack when he sees the price for prawns.

[OzMick]

Interesting. I assume they have an over supply of pick up trucks that as of yet do not have a couple of lads sat in the back smoking all day drinking cans of cheap beer only stopping briefly to do a half arsed job on something,.

The familiarisation course would take a while. I can imagine their faces in Pick-up 101:

The driver has to have a licence

seatbelts for everone

no-one rides in the tray

.05

no open booze bottles

use first gear

hand-brake hill starts

trailer towing

[darhut]

Maybe they should also consider testing how good their Aboriginal language skills are, because if you know the NT government and what they will have planned for them they may well need these skills. And learn to eat grub.

[Jessi]

Be interesting to see what the unions in Australia say about this.

What can the unions say!! plenty of building work here on the darling downs,60,000 men under the age of 45 on the dole, but most of them not interested in work of any type, the gasfields here are screaming out for workers , great pay, but the agencies are having to bring in workers from england ,ireland and germany,

Well contact Centrelink and tell them to put the bludgers back to work. I notice from some of your post that your always complaining about Centrelink. Do something about it.

[Jessi]

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.

The food would not be a problem if they all learn to like lamb.

At Australian prices, I doubt any Thai worker is going to be eating much lamb, and he'll have a heart attack when he sees the price for prawns.

You will have to take out a personal loan with the Bank if you want a leg of lamb.

[kevjohn]

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.

The food would not be a problem if they all learn to like lamb.

At Australian prices, I doubt any Thai worker is going to be eating much lamb, and he'll have a heart attack when he sees the price for prawns.

You will have to take out a personal loan with the Bank if you want a leg of lamb.

Maybe, mince and snags, then.

[kevjohn]

I don't know the going price for emu, croc, kangaroo, snake, alligator or all the other foods that our

first settlers ate but maybe some of these might fit the menu.

Edited May 7, 2012 by kevjohn

[dazk]

We had a Thai carpenter do some work for us his standard of work was as good if not better than some chippys in uk also his site safety was pretty good, he usually works as a carpenter on film sets in bkk maybe that is where he learnt safety.

I also remember there was a international construction skills competition held in London last year the Thais won the tiling comp again there tiling skills are way above the average uk tiler.

i have 25 years experience in uk construction

Good trades are available here but they cost we paid 500 a day for the chippy and i believe that was neighbours rates.

[hellodolly]

Not sure why Australia want Thai construction workers. It must be part of a free trade deal or somthing. Honestly I am not convinced there are 20,000 skilled, experienced, construction workers in this country. Now add english skills, maybe 5, 20 at the very most.

Not sure what these OZ diplomats are thinking, but they might try the Philippino's or maybe India,

20,000 skilled construction workers, with English skills from Thailand, I pissed my pants twice laughing.

Well they might find skilled workers but will they find skilled workers willing to work for a whole shift day after day. From what I have witnessed Thai workers treat the job like a social event also.

[simple1]

This could be great opportunity for Thai workers who are skilled to a high degree, some are though most aren't but all receive a comparative pittance to what they could earn in Farangland.

But you have to ask why?

No you don't, it's bleeding obvious. They want to do a bit of union busting while paying under award wages.

Do your research & you will know you're misinformed regards T&C's for 457 visa workers

[Chainsaw]

Settle down lads this will NEVER happen.

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

How many Australians do you know that can speak ENGLISH?.....

[Old Croc]

Settle down lads this will NEVER happen.

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

How many Australians do you know that can speak ENGLISH?.....

WHO can speak English.

[osiboy]

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.

thousands of boys from the UK would be keen too no doubt , ............though the aussies would have to brush-up on their english skills !

[osiboy]

austalian govt should make it clear, ......... if phuket /thailand stop scamming farangs and clean up their act ,...........they can have 20,000 construction jobs available at 10x the average thai workers salary ,....... if not find them elswhere !

[lazyj]

Not sure why Australia want Thai construction workers. It must be part of a free trade deal or somthing. Honestly I am not convinced there are 20,000 skilled, experienced, construction workers in this country. Now add english skills, maybe 5, 20 at the very most.

Not sure what these OZ diplomats are thinking, but they might try the Philippino's or maybe India,

20,000 skilled construction workers, with English skills from Thailand, I pissed my pants twice laughing.

Well they might find skilled workers but will they find skilled workers willing to work for a whole shift day after day. From what I have witnessed Thai workers treat the job like a social event also.

i worked in sydney fish market for close to three years. the shops there hire staff from a range of countries - thai, indonesian, chinese, nepalese etc, as well as local aussie staff.

the thai staff where i worked would arrive first (around 4am) and leave last (after 6pm at busy times of the year). these guys worked 12-14 hour shifts for a pittance, and they were the hardest workers in the whole business.

can you guess which nationality spent most of their working day on coffee and smoke breaks?

[dickyknee]

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.

thousands of boys from the UK would be keen too no doubt , ............though the aussies would have to brush-up on their english skills !

Heaps ok kiwis already, though they just come for the easy bludge. Poms winge too much.

[dcutman]

Not sure why Australia want Thai construction workers. It must be part of a free trade deal or somthing. Honestly I am not convinced there are 20,000 skilled, experienced, construction workers in this country. Now add english skills, maybe 5, 20 at the very most.

Not sure what these OZ diplomats are thinking, but they might try the Philippino's or maybe India,

20,000 skilled construction workers, with English skills from Thailand, I pissed my pants twice laughing.

Ok. I would refer you to my earlier post, but simpler, . Awright? As to 'they're not being able to 'acclimatised'', they, wait for it .... even work in EUROPE! an' Norway. Where i's cold!

Christ I wonder just how thick certain posters on this forum could possibly get. Well done. You surpass yourselves.

Your post is an ignorant racist non observation.

I would have to say Sir, your post is a ignorant, non observation. If you would bother to read my post before replying to it. You might want to reply to what ever post it is you really wanted to flame on.

[dcutman]

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

TH

Do you really have any construction experience yourself? It sound like you are another low life employment agency trying to exploit Thai's. Dont get me wrong its just the way I read it.

You and others that are so quick to call other posters racists, you and the others should really read what they have to say, rather than just assume its a Thai bashing session with racial overtones.

I can tell you from experience it is from pure frustration try to find anybody in this country to do a job properly without having to stand over them every second, or maybe hire a laborer to do some things around the ranch and have them actually put in a full 8 hour day.

I have over 30 years of construction. All over the U.S. mostly high rise, hotel, casino's, in those 30 years I have met 2 Thai people on a construction site, one was a parking lot guard guy and the other fixed computers.

[dcutman]

Not sure why Australia want Thai construction workers. It must be part of a free trade deal or somthing. Honestly I am not convinced there are 20,000 skilled, experienced, construction workers in this country. Now add english skills, maybe 5, 20 at the very most.

Not sure what these OZ diplomats are thinking, but they might try the Philippino's or maybe India,

20,000 skilled construction workers, with English skills from Thailand, I pissed my pants twice laughing.

Well they might find skilled workers but will they find skilled workers willing to work for a whole shift day after day. From what I have witnessed Thai workers treat the job like a social event also.

You are right about the social event thing. very good way to put it.

[Time Traveller]

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

Why is your company trying recruit "skilled" tradesmen from a country with unemployment less than 1% and a severe shortage of skilled workers? If you're recruiting for Australia, then America and Europe all have English speaking skilled tradesmen without jobs so wouldn't it be easier to find workers for your company there? The fact that you mention Thailand, Phillipines, Bangladesh Pakistan, sounds suspiciously like you are not really after skilled workers at all, just cheap workers.

Also, there really are many, many poorly designed and built roads and hi-rise projects in Bangkok. It's not bashing Thailand, just a fact. I have seen skilled tradesmen here, but it's been limited to employees of Japanese factories. Typically such employees undertake extensive training from the Japanese firms to be up to high enough standards.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Time Traveller

[oldsailor35]

Yep ! i think the aussie building industry are looking for some good "high rise" scaffolders

[samran]

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

Why is your company trying recruit "skilled" tradesmen from a country with unemployment less than 1% and a severe shortage of skilled workers? If you're recruiting for Australia, then America and Europe all have English speaking skilled tradesmen without jobs so wouldn't it be easier to find workers for your company there? The fact that you mention Thailand, Phillipines, Bangladesh Pakistan, sounds suspiciously like you are not really after skilled workers at all, just cheap workers.

Also, there really are many, many poorly designed and built roads and hi-rise projects in Bangkok. It's not bashing Thailand, just a fact. I have seen skilled tradesmen here, but it's been limited to employees of Japanese factories. Typically such employees undertake extensive training from the Japanese firms to be up to high enough standards.

All Australian states are doing roadshows across Europe and the US. Plenty of Irish and British accents around in OZ these days.

They've just relaxed the rules so that qualifications for US tradespeople can be transferred to OZ with minimal fuss.

But they've still got to go further. Unskilled? Possibly. But as Thai Home pointed out, there are plenty of truely skilled Thai workers who could easily trade up to Australia. Two big Thai companies (PTTEP and Banpu) already have significant assets in Australia and while their employees might not come down in great numbers (for them), they have plenty of well skilled people on their books who could easily get jobs in OZ.

But they will have to be trained to Australian standards and paid Australian rates.

[thaihome]

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

TH

Do you really have any construction experience yourself? It sound like you are another low life employment agency trying to exploit Thai's. Dont get me wrong its just the way I read it.

You and others that are so quick to call other posters racists, you and the others should really read what they have to say, rather than just assume its a Thai bashing session with racial overtones.

I can tell you from experience it is from pure frustration try to find anybody in this country to do a job properly without having to stand over them every second, or maybe hire a laborer to do some things around the ranch and have them actually put in a full 8 hour day.

I have over 30 years of construction. All over the U.S. mostly high rise, hotel, casino's, in those 30 years I have met 2 Thai people on a construction site, one was a parking lot guard guy and the other fixed computers.

I guess you jumped to the conclusion that I’m “another low life employment agency trying to exploit Thai's” because I failed to mention that I have worked in construction as both a craft worker and non-manual for some 35 years. The past 15 (8 years in Thailand) has been on international petro-chemical and pipeline projects in 4 Asian countries for the largest US E&C company.

The project I’m working on now employs about 2,000 Thai craft and 200 Thai non-manuals. They work 6x10 shifts and nobody here complains about them missing work. In fact, the expat construction supervision, most of whom this is the first international project they have worked, are amazed at how hard and how much initiative the Thai workers display.

You obviously missed the point of my post as your point of reference for construction in Thailand appears to be “hire a laborer to do some things around the ranch and have them actually put in a full 8 hour day.” Perhaps you should try going to one of the many major industrial project being built on the Eastern Seaboard. Hiring people upcountry to do little jobs is hardly a good perspective for the Thai construction business.

Thai workers going to work in Australia will be paid the same as Australian workers. There is little chance to “exploit” them in Australia.

Though you have 30 years experience in construction, you appear to have zero experience in international work. You might want to listen and learn about it instead of making statements that have no bearing on reality.

TH

[chooka]

Be interesting to see what the unions in Australia say about this.

Quite true especially when there are a lot of tradies out of work and seeking employment. I was listening to Melbourne radio yesterday and the amount of carpenters, plumbers and electricians that were calling in desparately seeking work was amazing. House prices have fallen across the country and the building industry has slowed to crawl.

Just had a look at the SEEK employment site under construction and trades for the Northern Territory and this is the results;

11 Construction jobs containing trades in Northern Territories

out of these 11 positions 9 are for the likes of project managers, Health, safety and enviroment officer, Electrical inspector, Electrical Project Managers. check it yourself and see. I do not know where the 20,000 jobs are and there would be thousands of aussies lining up for the work as well and who should have priority?

[chooka]

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

Why is your company trying recruit "skilled" tradesmen from a country with unemployment less than 1% and a severe shortage of skilled workers? If you're recruiting for Australia, then America and Europe all have English speaking skilled tradesmen without jobs so wouldn't it be easier to find workers for your company there? The fact that you mention Thailand, Phillipines, Bangladesh Pakistan, sounds suspiciously like you are not really after skilled workers at all, just cheap workers.

Also, there really are many, many poorly designed and built roads and hi-rise projects in Bangkok. It's not bashing Thailand, just a fact. I have seen skilled tradesmen here, but it's been limited to employees of Japanese factories. Typically such employees undertake extensive training from the Japanese firms to be up to high enough standards.

You have the Irish

[rockderk]

I've no doubt the Oz embassies in Cambo, Burma and Laos are under instructions to try to recruit skilled workers just as they are in Thailand. First thing that springs to mind though is how much the wonderful 'labor recruitment agencies' in Thailand will try to fleece the workers for. Registration fee, language training fee, visa arrangement fee, transportation fee, accommodation fee... I'll bet they're drooling in anticipation. The only spanner in the works might be that pesky Australian Employment Act, banning things like slavery and indentured labor and promoting such nonsense as a fair go for workers.

Call me a sarcastic basterd if you wish, but I would say this is the best opportunity for Thailand to experience international standard practices in the workplace since Tesco came to town.

[softgeorge]

Does this mean that Thailand will return the favour and allow Aussies to freely work in Thailand without the strict visa requirements ie 90 day thing which is like reporting on bail to authorities. Is it a you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours agreement or is it a one way street. How is this going to reduce the unemployment rate in Australia which is the responsibilty of the government to create jobs for Australians.

With the unemployment rate in the Northern Terroritory at around 50% how is this going to help them? Would those 20,000 positions be used more wisely by reducing the current unemployment rate instead of raising taxes to cover the burden of welfare payments.