Labour Dept Begins Work on Processing Huge Backlog of Foreigner Work Permits

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Labour Dept Begins Work on Processing Huge Backlog of Foreigner Work Permits

Work permits are no longer being processed at a Bangkok hotel as Labour

Department regains control of its Din Daeng offices.

BANGKOK:-- Thailand’s Labour Department, which had spent the last two weeks operating from the Princeton Hotel, returns to its offices in Din Daeng with a limited workforce to begin tackling a huge backlog of work permit applications.

As government offices in Bangkok continue to be besieged by scores of anti-government protesters, the full extent of the Bangkok Shutdown is being felt not only in the capital but right across Thailand.

The campaign by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee to cause major disruption to the heart of Bangkok’s central governmental infrastructure has meant that many business owners and foreign nationals have been unable to obtain the necessary licenses and permits needed to operate businesses and work legally in Thailand.

Some of the offices which been most affected by the Bangkok Shutdown campaign include the Board of Investment, Industrial Work Department and the Labour Ministry, which had been forced to rent the Princeton Hotel in order to provide a safe and suitable place for officials to work in.

The knock on effect of the temporary closure and disruption to the Labour Ministry has not only caused a huge backlog of work and delay in issuing work permits to foreigners in Bangkok, it has also resulted in significant disruption to Labour departments nationwide as it has been revealed that the Department’s national computer server is located in the offices which are currently occupied by PDRC supporters.

This has meant that local provincial Labour offices have been unable to access the Department’s national database of foreign workers in order to process new work permit applications or renew existing work permits, leaving the whole system at a complete standstill.

-- 2014-02-10

[tomyummer]

Kudos to the government for thinking of the foreigners especially during this crappy time.

Edited February 10, 2014 by tomyummer

[chatette]

Alarming that there's no redundancy in the event the server is damaged....

[Valentine]

I submitted my renewal last week in Phuket & was told it should be ready in one week but did advise to call first & now I understand why.

[DGIE]

It's good my work permit was renewed last September.

[yourauntbob]

serious kudos to the government for trying to get things done during this time.

i guess we all need to feel the effects of "shutting down" the government. too bad it hurts everyone and helps noone

[Richard Hall]

Since my work permit was due for renewal on February 15, I went to Ding Daeng this morning upon receiving the information that the Labor Department had re-opened there. Received my queue number at 9.17 h and all was done at 10.00 h clock with the one year extension stamp in the booklet.

The lady at counter 5 confirmed that they have just been back from temporary place at Bang Na and were quite happy about it. She worked indeed very efficient and I could barely keep visually up with her stamping speed while she told me that the work load was indeed very high. Nevertheless, she was very friendly and kept her smile.

Kudos to them and also to Immigration at temporary Suksawat office where I went last Friday. One year visa extension and 90 days reporting all done in 1 hour 45 minutes. Will pick up the final stamp on March 7 but still unsure whether this is going to be at Chaeng Wattana or still Suksawat. At least the officiers were hoping that all will be back to normal by then and I indeed keep my fingers crossed for them.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Richard Hall

[Suriya4]

Since my work permit was due for renewal on February 15, I went to Ding Daeng this morning upon receiving the information that the Labor Department had re-opened there. Received my queue number at 9.17 h and all was done at 10.00 h clock with the one year extension stamp in the booklet.

The lady at counter 5 confirmed that they have just been back from temporary place at Bang Na and were quite happy about it. She worked indeed very efficient and I could barely keep visually up with her stamping speed while she told me that the work load was indeed very high. Nevertheless, she was very friendly and kept her smile.

Kudos to them and also to Immigration at temporary Suksawat office where I went last Friday. One year visa extension and 90 days reporting all done in 1 hour 45 minutes. Will pick up the final stamp on March 7 but still unsure whether this is going to be at Chaeng Wattana or still Suksawat. At least the officiers were hoping that all will be back to normal by then and I indeed keep my fingers crossed for them.

Should I forward this to Suthep?

[Sydebolle]

Don't get me wrong but if I see what avalanche of paper, single copied, each and every page individually signed is "processed" then the procedure just might be creating backlogs and nothing else.
For a renewal the employer might just state "same as last year"; without organisation charts and other documents which those officers, even if qualified, would never have the time to screen and comprehend.
Look at other countries with a much higher percentage of "alien" worker compared to the population of the place, i.e. Singapore or Switzerland. 12% in Switzerland are foreign workers; work permit applications get screened once and if approved, the rest happens online, without signed photocopies etc.
Would make some officers redundant, maybe those who do not speak enough English could be put onto a language course for other governmental jobs readying them for AEC 2015.

[Richard Hall]

Since my work permit was due for renewal on February 15, I went to Ding Daeng this morning upon receiving the information that the Labor Department had re-opened there. Received my queue number at 9.17 h and all was done at 10.00 h clock with the one year extension stamp in the booklet.

The lady at counter 5 confirmed that they have just been back from temporary place at Bang Na and were quite happy about it. She worked indeed very efficient and I could barely keep visually up with her stamping speed while she told me that the work load was indeed very high. Nevertheless, she was very friendly and kept her smile.

Kudos to them and also to Immigration at temporary Suksawat office where I went last Friday. One year visa extension and 90 days reporting all done in 1 hour 45 minutes. Will pick up the final stamp on March 7 but still unsure whether this is going to be at Chaeng Wattana or still Suksawat. At least the officiers were hoping that all will be back to normal by then and I indeed keep my fingers crossed for them.

Should I forward this to Suthep?

Who is Suthep? Can't be anyone of importance 'coz I have never seen him in our area. Other than the street sweepers working their butts off from 5.00 h to 16.00 h to keep the area clean. But they use brooms and no whistles. There is clearly a difference between sense and sensibility. You may want to forward this to Khun Suthep.

[Richard Hall]

Would make some officers redundant, maybe those who do not speak enough English could be put onto a language course for other governmental jobs readying them for AEC 2015.

Well, methinks having a fundamental knowledge ot the Thai language as a foreigner when living in Thailand long term is rather the trick that can ease things quite a bit. At least as per my own experiences.

Take a look at the "Premium World". Don't expect any German officer in Germany to have a substantial command of the English language despite Germany is the leading force in the EU.

Edited February 11, 2014 by Richard Hall

[BlackJack]

I got mine in 1 week in Chonburi

thanks Thai888

[tullynagardy]

Operation shutdown is fast becoming operation fizzle out

Wont be long now until all areas of government are back fully functioning and Suthep is taken off for psychiatric care.