Two million foreign workers illegally work in Thailand

[wilcopops]

working legally in thailand burocraticly is a mess, it is also not adapted to the real situation, .. ...for example my self i'd like to have a work permit and pay taxes for the resort i build with my own money, but i can not afford the obligation to have a 50 000 baths wages every mounth plus the obligation to have 7 more unprofessional thai people to employ that i dont need anyway....who knowing the issan they come to work today and tomorrow they dont show up..... plus the obligation to have profit or my work permit will be cancelled......conclusion, it is symply not possible for me to have or apply for a work permit, because where i live it is a litle village of 300 people where we get 300 to 1000 baths a day when lucky.....very far from the 50 000 baths required.

also why such a discrimination with farang? the wages in ubon for thais i know are about 6000 to 15 000 for the lucky one per mounth (and around thailand too).so again why do we have the obligation to earn a money that only a very good business can give.

why the rules for chinese,asian or indians are diferent than for westerner ?

now the big question is ! because now they know who and where.

are they going to send 2 000 000 people back home ? normaly when the statistic give you a number like this , a lot more are not in the computer system.

but i'd like to see the results of such a politic....

You must all be very clean!

[Isaandon]

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The stats change every day. Anyone who has a fairly good understanding of the migrant worker situation knows that even these revised figures are low. The reason there are so many undocumented workers in Thailand is that these workers can be exploited most. They are a completely expendable commodity. The brokers and traffickers make lots of money while the workers are left in debt bondage or involuntary servitude.

+1 I wonder who is profiting from all these "illegal workers"? The totally "legal boss"? Sickening!!!

[elgordo38]

Hi Inutil

I was a "Postie" in Canada for 30 years what a great job. As most jobs it sucks now. Carrier service there will disappear

[Phuketboy]

The number does not supprise me- all the building sites are staffed with foreign workers, at least for the unskilled manual labor. I've also noticed many of the staff in Thai style restaurants are not Thai.

Same in the USA, when I was a kid, I cut grass for spending money. Now people hire lawn maintenance firms, staffed by Mexicans. I would wager that not one single "American" picks fruit or vegetables in the USA...

I think some would have to have some skill in construction. Being a qualified builder and looking at the quality of work, I don't believe there are qualified tradesmen here in Thailand. They basically look at it and think they can do it. Don't get me wrong, they give it a very good crack, but the quality of the finish product fails to demonstrate any qualification or experience.

[SanukJoeII]

GREED is the main culprit!

The focus should not only be on the illegal workers (although "illegal" says it all), but more attention should be made to the employers. They are the ones that pay workers less than the legally regulated wages and refuse to register the workers. They act against the law, and they are Thai companies,. So get them, force them to pay at least minimum wages or close the business. Only then there will be a flow of legal workers, who get decent wages for their work.

Of course it would raise the prices, so what? Have problems to pay a little more for fish or prawns? I don't. Houses and condos to a bit higher price? No buyer would be scared off. It just has to happen, no country can have such a number of illegal workers.

I think the general will reorganize the work flow. It's not that Thais don't want to work, here in Isan they work on the fields, in the bloody hot sun, for 300 baht per day. Many of them work and stay near Bangkok, to work in construction, so I guess they get paid more than the minimum wages.

[Emster23]

Cambodians get three times Thai pay? I highly doubt that! That is like saying Mexican illegal farm workers in US are paid more than dentists.

As far as slaves are concerned, they can be counted as "pets" and not have to leave.

[Mr Yim]

Cambodians get three times Thai pay? I highly doubt that! That is like saying Mexican illegal farm workers in US are paid more than dentists.

As far as slaves are concerned, they can be counted as "pets" and not have to leave.

No. Apparently they earn three times the going rate in Cambodia, which I guess is about 2 USD a day.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Mr Yim

[Travel2003]

I think the head line should read more like "Two million foreign workers illegally exploited in Thailand by Thai Employers"

Are you some sort of an ILO rep here?

Oh, you not even here, are you?

[belg]

what would thailand be without all these cheap labour workers , which make THAI BUSINESSES RICH ?

[empireboy]

Thailand ought to have almost 100% employment on the basis of these numbers and give the numbers of workers fleeing back home...

[arthurwait]

Some people on here have never tried to employ Thais it seems.

[max72]

If those 2 million jobs went to thai people, the country would spin in reverse. They should publish a press release saying thank you for getting the job done.

Which Thai people? Unemployment rate in Thailand is the lowest in the world, 1% or so.

Plus Thailand has just 1.7 children per woman, below the replacement level.

If Thailand hopes to have a growing economy, it badly needs inmigrants. This is mathematics.

Than, of course, it should try to have them legalized and under control and in the same time treat them fairly.

[DrTuner]

Unemployment rate in Thailand is the lowest in the world, 1% or so.

How do they get that figure ? Haven't heard of any place where you can declare yourself unemployed.