Nationality identification verification of migrant workers starts next Monday

[Lite Beer]

Nationality identification verification of migrant workers starts next Monday
By Digital Content

BANGKOK, Oct 11 -- A new round of nationality identification verification of migrant workers and their dependents in Thailand will start next Monday, said Sumet Mahosot, director-general of the Labour Ministry’s Employment Department.

Mr Sumet said more than 1.2 million Myanmar, Cambodian and Lao migrant workers and their dependents have officially registered with the department.

Discussions with Cambodian officials were held earlier and the Phnom Penh government indicated they would dispatch five teams of officials to assist Thai authorities in the nationality identification process, which would start in Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Chachoengsao and Chon Buri provinces, said Mr Sumet.

Under agreements made with the three neighboring countries, each migrant worker will have to pay Bt1,500 to the Thai government, he said.

The expenses include Bt500 for a visa stamp, Bt100 towards an employment certificate and Bt900 for a certificate allowing the worker to seek employment in Thailand for one year.

The Employment Department has, meanwhile, informed employment agencies nationwide to recruit would-be migrant workers with transparency while department officials are forbidden from providing any extra services to agencies.

Employment Department officials nationwide are scheduled to hold a meeting next Thursday at the headquarters in Bangkok. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2014-10-12

[BSJ]

That will be a nice little earner for the government! 1500 baht by 1.2 million = 1800000000 baht

[chainarong]

One wonders just how many have not registered and are in Thailand, this all should be done before arrival , in the country of origin, no one should be able to enter without proper visa's etc, I am not sure that this payment of money is all what it's made out to be, I would like to see how this is controlled and just how transparent is this system.

[Pib]

Wonder how many rounds the govt will need to do over the coming years to get say 95% registered...I've lost track of what round the fight is in now.

[NongKhaiKid]

One wonders just how many have not registered and are in Thailand, this all should be done before arrival , in the country of origin, no one should be able to enter without proper visa's etc, I am not sure that this payment of money is all what it's made out to be, I would like to see how this is controlled and just how transparent is this system.

Will their be a special category, even exemption, for Rohinga willing to act as interpreters for the BIB ?

NO experience or qualifications needed.

[jaltsc]

"A new round of nationality identification verification of migrant workers and their dependents in Thailand will start next Monday, said Sumet Mahosot, director-general of the Labour Ministry’s Employment Department...Mr Sumet said more than 1.2 million Myanmar, Cambodian and Lao migrant workers and their dependents have officially registered with the department.

I am wondering how this plays against the goals of the ASEAN community for 2015. Some of the goals and observations about ASEAN:

"The Asean Economic Community will lead to a freer flow of goods, services, investment and skilled labour across the region."

"At the same time Asean should also strengthen regional cooperation by implementing Asean commitments, including the Cebu declaration on migrant workers and the Bandar Seri Begawan declaration on strengthening social protection. It should also extend MRAs to medium skilled workers, ratify international labour standards to create a level playing field, strengthen labour market information and monitoring, as well as boost tripartite dialogue."

"...the report shows that Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV), who are often perceived as lagging behind are actually very well prepared, with Arjun Goswami from the Asian Development Bank saying “the CLMV are hungry, they are ready for this”.

Which country in that immediate region did he leave out in his assessment?

Obviously these nations are more hungry and ready than Thailand, which will probably continue to lag behind in training its workforce to develop the skills necessary to compete, If history is any indication, then Thailand is thinking that if it hinders better qualified workers from entering the country, they will protect themselves against competition. The only result they will see is that they will be the bottom rung of the ladder of economic success, as industry will move to the countries with better qualified work forces and better opportunities for economic success.

[JOC]

Makes it easier to find scapegoats??

[scorecard]

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Wonder how many rounds the govt will need to do over the coming years to get say 95% registered...I've lost track of what round the fight is in now.

Re posts 3 and 4. Surely this would be better to be all finalized before the migrant workers arrive.

There must be many instances where migrant workers want these documents, but they are already in employment in Thailand, they are separated from family, they cannot get time off work or they bribe their supervisor to let them disappear for a few hours, etc., etc., then some 'agency' pops up to get the documents for them, all in cahoots with gov't officials (or maybe the agents are actually moonlighting gov't officials). Transparency and legitimacy of the documents now all in question.

For these people there does need to be an 'incountry' method to get the documents. But should there be a deadline time, and after that deadline they have to get it all in place before they arrive.

Further, 1,500Baht is a lot of money for many of these people, surely it could be cheaper when it's done en masse.

[thaipod]

How many times has there been deadlines on migrant verification now ? . It's just another money revenue racket, it should only be a small fee 900 to allow them to look for a job is a bit over the top.

The only migrants that are being registered are factory / company and shop workers, where as the tens of thousands of maids employers don't bother .

[Robby nz]

There have already been processes put in place to register migrant workers as the enter the country, these are people who are in the country without papers.

After the scare that made many leave the ones who returned legally were registered before they entered the country.

There must be costs involved with this process so it seems fair that the migrant workers or their employers should pay these costs rather than the Thai tax payer. After all it is them who are going to benefit by being in the country, or in the case of the employer, having them in the country.

[Dogmatix]

In Koh Tao this process is unnecessary and has been replaced by a B500 a month fee paid to the local constabulary.