Thai pickers miss flights, still fight for pay in Finland

[pasak]

We don't have the facts but my guess is that these particular pickers were perhaps below average or targeted by their agency for some reason. In any case they probably did not commit some major misdemenour.

80 percent of berries in Finland are picked by Thais. The Finns employ Thais out of preference because they work hard and live happily in the camps. The Finns are desperate for more pickers to come but the Thai agencies eat up so much of the picker's profit that it is only the very strong picker who can make the exercise financially viable.

All fruit picking is hard work, harder than anyone who hasn't done it might imagine. A good blueberry picker will gather about 70-80 kgs plus per day, but it is erratic..A novice picker may only get 30-40 kgs.

The agencies' fees are such that if the picker gathers less than a certain amount, say 45 kgs per day, the picker simply cannot cover their agent's charge for flights, paperwork, the agent's profit margin etc.

So in this case we probably have a group of disgruntled under par pickers who feel cheated because all the hard work they have done has been eaten up in fees.

The bar is set too high for these poor sods. These 20 pickers will have picked a lot of berries between them but may still go home in debt.

Of course there is also pressure on the agents from the fruit buyers and in turn from the retailers.

As I see it these are the harsh realities.

pasak

[robblok]

Wonder why everyone is so anti Thai.. just because the Thai laws are against foreigners and such does not mean that these Thais here have been treated fairly. If they really were ripped off they have all the rights in the world to fight that. That is a totally different subject from how awful other Thais treat foreigners.

Hard to see the difference for some bitter people.

Good gawd Rob, even you arent that naive.

These Thais I would wager were ripped off in their own country by fellow Thai before ever setting foot at swampy to bia tiaw.

Where are the Thai laws to protect Thais from being ripped off by their fellow country men?

Thai rak Thai, yeah right.

Where ever they were ripped off they could fight for their wages. I have worked in the past with vietnamese in the Netherlands real long ago doing manual labor in our tulip industry. These people and i suspect those Thais are hard working and if they are exploited i feel they have every right to fight.

[robblok]

We don't have the facts but my guess is that these particular pickers were perhaps below average or targeted by their agency for some reason. In any case they probably did not commit some major misdemenour.

80 percent of berries in Finland are picked by Thais. The Finns employ Thais out of preference because they work hard and live happily in the camps. The Finns are desperate for more pickers to come but the Thai agencies eat up so much of the picker's profit that it is only the very strong picker who can make the exercise financially viable.

All fruit picking is hard work, harder than anyone who hasn't done it might imagine. A good blueberry picker will gather about 70-80 kgs plus per day, but it is erratic..A novice picker may only get 30-40 kgs.

The agencies' fees are such that if the picker gathers less than a certain amount, say 45 kgs per day, the picker simply cannot cover their agent's charge for flights, paperwork, the agent's profit margin etc.

So in this case we probably have a group of disgruntled under par pickers who feel cheated because all the hard work they have done has been eaten up in fees.

The bar is set too high for these poor sods. These 20 pickers will have picked a lot of berries between them but may still go home in debt.

Of course there is also pressure on the agents from the fruit buyers and in turn from the retailers.

As I see it these are the harsh realities.

pasak

That is what i mean.. fight .. but not sure who to fight if its the Thai agencies fight those.

[monkeycountry]

Can't they just block a road somewhere in Finland, and make the Finnish government pay?

[NoshowJones]

Wonder why everyone is so anti Thai.. just because the Thai laws are against foreigners and such does not mean that these Thais here have been treated fairly. If they really were ripped off they have all the rights in the world to fight that. That is a totally different subject from how awful other Thais treat foreigners.

Hard to see the difference for some bitter people.

I agree with every single thing you have said Robblok, but there is two sides to every story, whether it's Thai, Dutch or UK people, ie if a member of my family complains to me about being done wrong, I do not automatically side with them.

[NoshowJones]

Finland should do the same to the Thais that Thailand does to everyone else, Overstay 500 baht per day, arrest and deport....

If, and it is an if, Finland has done these Thais wrong, then the Thais have every right to protest, though I do see where you are coming from.

[NoshowJones]

Every year it's the same story. Agencies ripping off innocent Issarn workers. They are not represented and noone cares apart from, in this case, as few Finns.

Another good example of "Thai Chuay Thai".

Then why do they keep falling for the same thing?

If it is too good to be true ...............

Do you honestly think that if they had the education you do they would sign the contract.

You are in Thailand now. Have you not noticed the lack of education in the education system?

Yes, that is true, but there is still two sides to a story.

[NoshowJones]

We don't have the facts but my guess is that these particular pickers were perhaps below average or targeted by their agency for some reason. In any case they probably did not commit some major misdemenour.

80 percent of berries in Finland are picked by Thais. The Finns employ Thais out of preference because they work hard and live happily in the camps. The Finns are desperate for more pickers to come but the Thai agencies eat up so much of the picker's profit that it is only the very strong picker who can make the exercise financially viable.

All fruit picking is hard work, harder than anyone who hasn't done it might imagine. A good blueberry picker will gather about 70-80 kgs plus per day, but it is erratic..A novice picker may only get 30-40 kgs.

The agencies' fees are such that if the picker gathers less than a certain amount, say 45 kgs per day, the picker simply cannot cover their agent's charge for flights, paperwork, the agent's profit margin etc.

So in this case we probably have a group of disgruntled under par pickers who feel cheated because all the hard work they have done has been eaten up in fees.

The bar is set too high for these poor sods. These 20 pickers will have picked a lot of berries between them but may still go home in debt.

Of course there is also pressure on the agents from the fruit buyers and in turn from the retailers.

As I see it these are the harsh realities.

pasak

Definitely the best post in this thread, and very well put together. I think this is the most likely scenario. Just an opinion.

[robblok]

Wonder why everyone is so anti Thai.. just because the Thai laws are against foreigners and such does not mean that these Thais here have been treated fairly. If they really were ripped off they have all the rights in the world to fight that. That is a totally different subject from how awful other Thais treat foreigners.

Hard to see the difference for some bitter people.

I agree with every single thing you have said Robblok, but there is two sides to every story, whether it's Thai, Dutch or UK people, ie if a member of my family complains to me about being done wrong, I do not automatically side with them.

Of course not Id like to know both sides of the story and then make up my mind. But here people seemed so bitter they automatically assumed the Thais were at fault or were enjoying that they got a rough treatment because here in Thailand foreigners have it hard.

Two wrongs don't make a right in my opinion those Thais have little to do with how foreigners are treated here. For all we know they might like foreigners. Like i said usually people doing that kind of work are hard working and if a bad boss or agency is screwing them up they have every right to complain. Of course they should go after the party that screwed them be it Thai or foreigner.

[pasak]

The good pickers have been doing it for years. With experience they know where to find the fruit. They bring binoculars. They walk for miles every day to find the fruit. As novices they struggle to make any profit but year by year they improve, come back with their mates, live in camps, work in teams, come with their own cooks and mechanics. They bring dried meat and fish, rice from Thailand. The mechanics fix the old heaps during the day, the cooks prepare a big cauldron of tom yam for the picker's return in the evening.

A good picker may take THB150,000 back to Issarn at the end of the 3 month season. Their familes are depending on them. They are unselfish in their quest to do the best for their wives and children.

The agents take a huge chunk of the overheads, I'm guessing via calculation more per picker than a good picker can make over the whole season, probably THB150-200,000 per picker.

Stories go around the villages of how so-and so built a house from picking berries. Others try their hand (at great risk because they have to front up serious money). Many fail. You can be a strong guy but you might find fruit picking too hard. It is very tough. They get sick because they try to economize on their diet (food is expensive in Finland) and they do not consume enough calories. Some lose 15 pc of their body weight over the season because of under nourishment and fatigue.

I'm not surprised that there are disgruntled pickers when you consider the greed of the agents and the risk these people are taking.

[pasak]

Wonder why everyone is so anti Thai.. just because the Thai laws are against foreigners and such does not mean that these Thais here have been treated fairly. If they really were ripped off they have all the rights in the world to fight that. That is a totally different subject from how awful other Thais treat foreigners.

Hard to see the difference for some bitter people.

I agree with every single thing you have said Robblok, but there is two sides to every story, whether it's Thai, Dutch or UK people, ie if a member of my family complains to me about being done wrong, I do not automatically side with them.

Of course not Id like to know both sides of the story and then make up my mind. But here people seemed so bitter they automatically assumed the Thais were at fault or were enjoying that they got a rough treatment because here in Thailand foreigners have it hard.

Two wrongs don't make a right in my opinion those Thais have little to do with how foreigners are treated here. For all we know they might like foreigners. Like i said usually people doing that kind of work are hard working and if a bad boss or agency is screwing them up they have every right to complain. Of course they should go after the party that screwed them be it Thai or foreigner.

robblok,

"...in Thailand foreigners have it hard.." Really? In what way? I cannot think of any way in which life is hard for foreigners in Thailand.

pasak

[robblok]

Wonder why everyone is so anti Thai.. just because the Thai laws are against foreigners and such does not mean that these Thais here have been treated fairly. If they really were ripped off they have all the rights in the world to fight that. That is a totally different subject from how awful other Thais treat foreigners.

Hard to see the difference for some bitter people.

I agree with every single thing you have said Robblok, but there is two sides to every story, whether it's Thai, Dutch or UK people, ie if a member of my family complains to me about being done wrong, I do not automatically side with them.

Of course not Id like to know both sides of the story and then make up my mind. But here people seemed so bitter they automatically assumed the Thais were at fault or were enjoying that they got a rough treatment because here in Thailand foreigners have it hard.

Two wrongs don't make a right in my opinion those Thais have little to do with how foreigners are treated here. For all we know they might like foreigners. Like i said usually people doing that kind of work are hard working and if a bad boss or agency is screwing them up they have every right to complain. Of course they should go after the party that screwed them be it Thai or foreigner.

robblok,

"...in Thailand foreigners have it hard.." Really? In what way? I cannot think of any way in which life is hard for foreigners in Thailand.

pasak

First off remember white foreigners aren't the only ones living here. Just look at how Asians from countries like Cambodia and Myramar are treated here. Thais aren't that nice to them.

Further things like foreigners can't own land and the crazy workpermit requirements and share requirements at companies don't really favor foreigners in fact they are quite xenophobic. Ad to that that some Thais seem to have it out for foreigners (have met them unfortunately) though i don't think its a big majority. All those things do make people who live here longer and are past the honeymoon period with Thailand a bit more bitter at times. I still love it here but I don't close my eyes for its faults either. I don't like the real bitter people here but at some points they are right.

[pasak]

Fair enough robblock. I agree on all those points.

I used to work here but have long since retired so I don't come up against these issues any more.

I agree that there's a lot of racism about too. The Burmese get blamed for a lot of stuff when it's really the Thais who are the culprits. The Burmese value their jobs in Thailand too highly to misbehave.