What is the truth about Thai workers' deaths in Israel?

[webfact]

What is the truth about Thai workers' deaths in Israel?
CHAOWARAT YONGJIRANON
NOW26

BANGKOK: -- A RECENT HUMAN Rights Watch (HRW) report has sparked a controversy as to whether Thai workers are being exploited in Israel and are dying from the mysterious "sudden nocturnal death syndrome".

Now@Noon, a programme on Now 26, a digital TV channel under the Nation Multimedia Group, explored the issue and found conflicting information from the HRW, and the governments of Thailand and Israel.

Between 2008 and 2013, a total of 122 Thai workers died in Israel, according to figures provided by Israeli Health Minister Yael German to Israeli daily Ha'aretz.

Out of the 122 dead, 43 died from "sudden nocturnal death syndrome", a mysterious death during the night while sleeping, according to an HRW report.

Such deaths, according to Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asian division of HRW, have never been investigated by Thai or Israeli governments. In an interview, Robertson said 173 Thai workers interviewed by non-governmental organisation Kav LaOved had complained of long hours, being paid below the minimum wage, and not receiving proper equipment to protect themselves from the use of pesticides.

This finding was combined with interviews from the Israeli Farm Federation, Israeli parliament and NGOs. Robertson admitted the laws and regulations were generally good in Israel, but he said there was a lack of proper enforcement. The Thai workers apparently did not even receive pay slips in Thai. Robertson demanded from Israeli ambassador Simon Roded, who refused to be on the same programme as Robertson, answers as to why the Israeli government had not been more active on these issues.

In response, the ambassador appeared on the channel on another day and said the HRW report was not based on proven methods of research and hence no response was needed. He said 15-minute interviews with a small group of Thais out of the total 23,000 working in Israel were not enough.

The envoy admitted though that out of 6,000 employers in Israel who hired Thai workers, there were cases of farmers not abiding by labour laws.

However, Roded said Israel had a hotline where 560 complaints filed by Thai workers had resulted in collection of up to Bt25 million from employers who had not followed the law.

A report in the Israeli Ha'aretz newspaper on September 18, 2014 detailed how the Israeli Health Ministry could not expand its Thai language hotline due to a "lack of appropriate budget".

Roded said each Thai worker was provided with Thai booklets informing them of the labour laws and that stories by HRW of Thais not receiving proper translated documents were "a farce".

Accusing the HRW of having a "hidden agenda", the ambassador pointed out that deaths caused by "sudden nocturnal death syndrome" were commonly found in the northeastern part of Thailand, home to most of the Thai workers who went to Israel.

To find out more from the Thai government about the Thai deaths, Sumet Mahosot, director-general of the Thai Employment Department, was interviewed for more clarification. He said there were "no deaths" except for a Thai worker killed in clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. Sumet said there was no truth to the HRW report and that Thailand had an office for migration in Israel and is in constant communication with the Israeli government.

More surprising was the fact that Sumet's comments contradicted those by Prasittiporn Wetprasit, deputy director-general of the Department of Consular Affairs. Prasittiporn admitted there had been deaths from the syndrome that could stem from the living and working environments of workers. However, he said the number of deaths reported was small -23 deaths in 2012, 16 in 2013, and 13 in 2014.

He said the Thai embassy in Israel did not take the situation lightly and was proposing a trip by Thai doctors and psychologists to visit the workers.

The only common ground found by all three sides was the improvement made by the Thailand-Israel Cooperation on the Placement of Workers. It had significantly lowered the cost for Thais wanting to work in Israel from Bt300,000 to around Bt70,000. Coordinating the agreement was the International Organisation for Migration, an inter-governmental NGO.

IOM had not been able to clarify how Thai workers were being treated in Israel. The fact that even the number of Thai workers in Israel was reported differently by each side (25,000 by HRW, 23,000 by the Israeli embassy in Thailand, and 27,000 by the Thai government) raises the question on who is telling the truth.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/What-is-the-truth-about-Thai-workers-deaths-in-Isr-30255334.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-05

[Seastallion]

Oh oh......if this "sudden nocturnal death syndrome" gets publicity, I think we'll be reading reports in the future of tourists suffering it, rather than bed bug spray or murder. It's such an ambiguous cause of death, the police will not be able to resist it.

But more specifically to the OP....if this SNDS is a "thing" that causes deaths in Israel and Issan, (and even the most conservative numbers in the OP are a significant number of deaths), why has it, the syndrome, not been investigated thoroughly?

[Somtamnication]

It is a case of "we don't care" from the Israelis. Apparently the ambassador knows about about this nocturnal death syndrome happening in Thailand than the Thais!!

[ToddinChonburi]

Wonderful how governments like to exploit workers just like they do to the illegal immigrants in America. cheap labor that is all they care about.

[ezzra]

Contributors here are commenting about something they know nothing off and on the merit

of one article, Thai workers in Israel are being respected, treated and provided with full worker's benefits

and entitlement as any other Israeli or Palestinian workers,

Thai workers have reeked havoc on the Israeli wild life by trapping and sneering small

and medium wild life for their own consumptions, Thai workers have been smuggling Ya Ba

and other drugs in to Israel for years as they were never searched or even looked at,

the laundry list is long, do not presume that this is ALL ISRAEL FAULTS.. learn the

subject well before irresponsibly commenting......

[Somtamnication]

Contributors here are commenting about something they know nothing off and on the merit

of one article, Thai workers in Israel are being respected, treated and provided with full worker's benefits

and entitlement as any other Israeli or Palestinian workers,

Thai workers have reeked havoc on the Israeli wild life by trapping and sneering small

and medium wild life for their own consumptions, Thai workers have been smuggling Ya Ba

and other drugs in to Israel for years as they were never searched or even looked at,

the laundry list is long, do not presume that this is ALL ISRAEL FAULTS.. learn the

subject well before irresponsibly commenting......

1001 apologies. The Israelis are a leader in respecting human rights and their investigative powers with regards to workers's rights and human rights is second to none!!!

[wangsuda]

How many Palestinians died during that time?

Who cares? This article is not about palestinians. It is about Thais.

[Strangebrew]

Oh the shoe is on other foot now I see so demand the truth? why not give the same here.

[LuckyLew]

Sounds more like exhaustion, over worked, under fed and living in slave like shanty huts made of aluminum siding ...

just like the way Thailand treats many of its migrant workers .... next

[Toknarok]

I want to hear moderator Nina's take on this one.

[Trentham]

Contributors here are commenting about something they know nothing off and on the merit

of one article, Thai workers in Israel are being respected, treated and provided with full worker's benefits

and entitlement as any other Israeli or Palestinian workers,

Thai workers have reeked havoc on the Israeli wild life by trapping and sneering small

and medium wild life for their own consumptions, Thai workers have been smuggling Ya Ba

and other drugs in to Israel for years as they were never searched or even looked at,

the laundry list is long, do not presume that this is ALL ISRAEL FAULTS.. learn the

subject well before irresponsibly commenting......

1001 apologies. The Israelis are a leader in respecting human rights and their investigative powers with regards to workers's rights and human rights is second to none!!!

I do hope you are simply being sarcastic and are not serious in your comments.

[toybits]

Brings to mind Koh Tao and Thais should be reassured that if the investigation is progressing as quickly as the Koh Tao case -should receive a result in about 2 to 3 years time.

[HungDonger]

My TGF worked in Israel for 12 months in 2012. She says that despite correct instruction on Health & Safety many Thais ignored instructions.For example....on flower farms where pesticides were used many Thai workers refused to use protective equipment and became sick.Suitable medical assistance was available but ignored.Basic accommodation included heating and cooling but was not used in many cases.

[Seastallion]

Contributors here are commenting about something they know nothing off and on the merit

of one article, Thai workers in Israel are being respected, treated and provided with full worker's benefits

and entitlement as any other Israeli or Palestinian workers,

Thai workers have reeked havoc on the Israeli wild life by trapping and sneering small

and medium wild life for their own consumptions, Thai workers have been smuggling Ya Ba

and other drugs in to Israel for years as they were never searched or even looked at,

the laundry list is long, do not presume that this is ALL ISRAEL FAULTS.. learn the

subject well before irresponsibly commenting......

1001 apologies. The Israelis are a leader in respecting human rights and their investigative powers with regards to workers's rights and human rights is second to none!!!

To be fair, he did say Israel treats Thai like they treat Palestinians...sounds about right, I guess.

[thedude82]

obviously they all committed suicide..."no Israeli could have done this" etc, etc.....

[Jai Dee]

One hateful and racist comment has been removed from this thread.

[Lee4Life]

That's typical of Jews.

They Don't like to pay only collect.

If your Jewish and I have offended you, blame your brothers.

People are quick to judge us Brits in anyway possible, we don't take offence though, neither should you.

Your second sentence could be said about business owners all over the world, not just Jews. As far as you being a Brit, I don't hold that against you. In fact I won't go so far as to judge the British (or anyone else) collectively like you do Jews, but on an individual basis.

If I have offended you then please blame some other bigot or racist.

[geriatrickid]

The report unfortunately leaves out some very important facts as an important contributor is what is called Lai Tai syndrome in Thailand.

1. Medical Background: Sudden Nightime death is more pronounced amongst the SE Asian population , particularly in Laos and Thailand,

Sudden unexpected death syndrome (SUDS) is a common cause of death in young healthy Thai men. It is estimated that its prevalence is 26–38 per 100 000 of the general population. It usually occurs at nighttime. Typically, the patients suddenly wake up having difficulty breathing, groaning, agonal respiration followed by cardiovascular collapse and death. However, some of them spontaneously recovered, and some reached the local hospital in time for medical assistance.

SUDS in Thailand is called ‘Lai Tai’. It has been named differently in southeast Asian.Most patients who experienced SUDS are young men with a male to female ratio of 20:1. It has been reported that 68% of SUDS deaths occur between 21:00 to 04:00. Death is usually preceded by choking or gasping respiration, unresponsive and difficult to arouse,and usually occurs within minutes. It has considerable socioeconomic impact since it strikes the young men who are the heads of the family. It has been reported that SUDS is hereditary but little is known how the syndrome is passed. Approximately one-third of SUDS victims had relatives who had the similar pattern of death.Nademanee et al. ^reported that 59% of patients with SUDS had RBBB and ST segment elevation similar to that described by Brugada et al.⁹SUDS survivors who had Brugada pattern ECG had worse prognosis than those without.

Source: Heart rate variability in patients with Brugada syndrome in Thailand, Rungroj Krittayaphong , Gumpanart Veerakul , Koonlawee Nademanee , Charuwan Kangkagate

Citations: 1. TungsangaK, Sriboonlue P. Sudden unexplained death syndrome in north-east Thailand. Int J Epidemiol. 1993;22:81–87.

2. A, Klungboonkrong V et al. Suddenand unexpected deaths in sleep (Lai Tai) of young men in rural northeastern Thailand. Int J Epidemiol. 1992;21:904–910.

There is a higher incidence amongst Thai males of Issan origin than other Thai males, currently estimated at 2-3X higher. (This is not an unusual estimate as the US NIH estimates that 50/100,000 SE Asians have the condition. )

Thai health authorities have yet to undertake the population testing. There is a strong resistance to doing so as it would identify an ethnic group as more susceptible to a hereditary illness, which at this time is untreatable.

2. Verified Morbidity and Mortality

Israel does track deaths that occur in Israel. The data and methodology has not been refuted by any scientific organization and it follows the reporting norms of other developed world countries.

There are 22,240 foreign agriculture workers in Israel, of which almost 20,000 are Thai. (19,000 males and 1000 females)

50% of Thai workers are between 29 and 38 years of age. Between 2004 and 2013, 154 foreign agriculture workers died, 86 of them suddenly at night, 24 from disease and 10 committed suicide (by hanging). 122 of those deaths were Thais who died in the past 5 years. Many of those deaths were classified as industrial accidents, such as blunt trauma injury, poisoning or other forms of accident.

The deaths are not all work related. As evidenced above, some were due to disease, while others were suicide.

There are two issues here;

One is the higher likelihood of sudden death amongst the Thai workers because they are recruited from a population pool with the condition and are in the high risk age group. Neither the Thai nor Israeli government physically screens the agricultural workers for ECG detectable conditions. This in itself is not unusual as no country undertakes such screening of its migrant agricultural workers.

The second issue is that agricultural work is dangerous. The workplace death rates are some of the highest of any occupation. For example, in Canada agricultural work place fatality rate is approx. 28/100,000, in the USA it is 23/100,000 with significantly higher rates for migrant agricultural workers. For example, foreign born Latino workers have 2X the fatality rate than do native born workers. (This is due in large part to the foreign workers performing more of the higher risk jobs.)

Yes, there is an issue with the fatalities amongst the Thai workers in Thailand. Unfortunately, the incidence is no worse than one sees with other migrant agricultural workers in the Canada or the USA. The Thais perform high risk jobs, working with farm machinery, chemicals etc. and so it is to be expected that their fatality rate will be higher. Where the issue lies and it is a known issue, is with proper training being given, and an enforcement of workplace safety rules. Thais are not very good when it comes to workplace safety rules. Israelis, are not very good at respecting their workplace safety rules, especially in the agricultural sector. There is no argument that the Israeli farms must do a better job at following the Israeli workplace safety rules. However, all of the other claims of abuse and mysterious deaths are not supported by the established facts. The unfortunate skewing of the fatalities by a manifestation of an underlying health syndrome in the Thai workers makes for a nice headline, but does not do anything to address the real issue of workplace safety.

Another issue is the resistance to autopsies. Many of the deaths have not been fully investigated. In the absence of a crime, there hasn't been much incentive to carry out an extensive autopsy. Jews have a religious bias against full autopsies and Thais have a similar bias. The Israelis aren't about to spend a large amount of money on time on an investigation if there is no indication of a crime and the Thais don't ask for it. Nor does anyone wish to draw attention to a serous genetic condition associated with Issan males because of the delicate ethical issues it would raise.

[VillageIdiot]

Weren't there hundreds of mysterious deaths among Thai construction workers in Singapore during the 1990s?

Was the cause ever found? If so, it might be relevant to this case.

[tif]

They could do worse than compare and contrast to the well known case of many young male Hmong mysteriously dying in their sleep after having been taken in by Minnesota after the US attack on Laos. Nothing to do with (specifically) Israel.

[geriatrickid]

Weren't there hundreds of mysterious deaths among Thai construction workers in Singapore during the 1990s?

Was the cause ever found? If so, it might be relevant to this case.

You are correct and the end result was a bit of a panic, resulting in the decrease in the recruiting of Thais. The initial study abstract is below. Additional research was done that indicated the Thais were carriers of b. pseudomallei. It was postulated that the Thais either had latent or chronic Meliodosis, an infectious disease which is endemic to Thailand. It is not in Thailand's best interests to bring attention to the possibility that Thais working around the world are carriers of an infectious disease. One need only look at the panic that arose in respect to the Ebola epidemic to appreciate why there is an incentive to keep the situation contained. Thai people may start asking why successive governments over the past 25+ years have done nothing.

Epidemiology of Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome among Thai Migrant Workers in Singapore

A total of 235 cases of sudden unexpected death syndrome (SUDS) among apparently healthy male Thai migrant workers in Singapore were reported between 1982 and 1990. Most of the deaths occurred during sleep and 13% were not sleep-related. The median age at the time of death was 33 years and the median interval between arrival and death was 8 months. These deaths occurred singly and sporadically throughout the year. Post-mortem examination revealed few abnormal findings except for haemorrhagic congestion or oedema of the lungs. There were moderate to severe intra-alveolar haemorrhages with some evidence of myocarditis or pneumonrtis. Preliminary findings of serial sections of the hearts indicate evidence of anomalies in the cardiac conduction system. Epidemiological investigations showed that a family history of similar deaths and serological evidence of current or recent infection with Pseudomonas pseudomallei were significantly associated with SUDS. Extensive biochemical and toxicological investigations were inconclusive. There was no evidence of chronic deficiency in thiamine or potassium among the healthy Thai workers living and working in the same conditions as the cases, and no significant abnormalities were detected on electro-cardiographic examination. As these migrant workers experienced various psychosocial problems which could stem from maladjustment to an urban environment, separation from the family, burden of debts and long hours of work, stress could be a precipitating factor for SUDS.

Citation: Int. J. Epidemiol. (1993) 22 (1): 88-95. doi: 10.1093/ije/22.1.88 K T GOH, T C CHAO, B H HENG^* C C KOO^† and S C POH

[Thai at Heart]

Indeed. That old wives tail about sudden nocturnal death syndrome

Only found in isaan apparently.. Load of twaddle.

[bogozy]

All foreigners in Israel are "goj" why do You demand from them to waste so much money for investigate the death of "gojs" ?

[HungDonger]

What's a Goj ?

[harryfrompattaya]

All foreigners in Israel are "goj" why do You demand from them to waste so much money for investigate the death of "gojs" ?

I do not understand why these workers from Thailand will go Israel to work?

How come out of 30 odd Mid East countries the pick Israel?

I even heard stranger stories that Palestinians want to take the Thai place on the famrers

Are the Palestinians Gojs?

[Chicog]

Contributors here are commenting about something they know nothing off and on the merit

of one article, Thai workers in Israel are being respected, treated and provided with full worker's benefits

and entitlement as any other Israeli or Palestinian workers,

Most amusing.

Now let's come back to Planet Earth for a moment....

LONDON, Jan 21 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Thai agricultural workers in Israel face serious labour rights abuses, including low pay, excessive hours and hazardous conditions, which may have contributed to a disturbing pattern of deaths among them, a report said on Wednesday.

Abusive conditions persist despite improvements in 2011 to the recruitment process for Thai workers, and Israeli laws that set a minimum wage, limit working hours, allow lawful strikes and define standards for housing, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

The report said various factors, including an ineffective inspection regime, poorly equipped enforcement units, and a failure to impose meaningful sanctions on employers who break the law, undermined this legal framework.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/21/israel-thailand-workers-idUSL6N0V027L20150121

As a result, workers often remained in the fields up to 17 hours per day without a break. Lack of protection equipment provided by employers for the use of pesticides has led to medical complications in workers such as persistent headaches, breathing problems and burning eyes. Many migrants are unable to afford medicine or medical cover, and so must rely on medical supplies sent by their families in Thailand.

The report describes how Thai migrant workers on one farm were forced to live in a cardboard structure, while others lived in warehouses and sheds with improvised kitchen and bath facilities. One man described his physical and mental condition: "I feel like dead meat." The ultimate price migrant workers pay for such squalid conditions is death – HRW indicated that during a five year period, 122 Thai workers lost their lives owing to these poor working conditions. This figure includes 43 workers who died from "sudden nocturnal death syndrome", an affliction that affects young and healthy Asian men, five from suicide, and 22 for unknown reasons.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2015/01/report-israel-abuses-thai-workers-2015121963855670.html

And don't get in a snit, because I'm not singling Israel out - the whole of the Middle East abuses cheap foreign labour (it would be nice to see Al Jazeera turn the spotlight on Qatar, but they won't of course!).

But by the same token let us not try and deceive people either.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Chicog

[Expat1]

This is not new. This happened decades ago in Singapore. It was a big medical mystery then and took a couple years of investigation before they got it. As to Israel, the Israelis are the same as every other Mid-East nation, they don't care about foreign workers one bit nor do they abide by the laws if they can profit more from not doing so. So no surprise there. In Singapore though the building construction workers were dying in similar ways. What they found was that the Thai workers had taken to cooking their meals in rigid PVC pipe. Yep, in PVC pipe. Well when one cooks in PVC toxic chemicals leach out into the food. It did not usually kill them immediately but over time and multiple ingestions it got some of them and made others sick. Anyway that was the medical mystery solved in Spore at the time for Nocturnal deaths syndrome.

[geriatrickid]

Indeed. That old wives tail about sudden nocturnal death syndrome

Only found in isaan apparently.. Load of twaddle.

No, it is not found only in Issan as it is a characteristic of SE Asian mortality. However, it is more common in Thailand and Laos, with the Thai region closest to Laos having a more pronounced frequency. I can cite several studies from reputable journals to support that finding. What can you cite to support that it is twaddle?

It is unfortunate that you interpret it as a slight against the Issan region. It isn't. The Singapore studies (and others) implicated a gram negative bacteria endemic to the region that makes males more susceptible to sudden death because the bacteria causes the infected person to have a latent or chronic illness. There is also a view that this is a genetic predisposition. Is this any different than regions of other countries where inhabitants are more susceptible to certain illnesses? For example, people from northern Europe are more likely to develop multiple sclerosis than other demographic groups and it is most likely to occur in the age 20-40 age group. In Thailand, southern people have their own disease characteristics.

Please do not misinterpret the manifestation of an illness and resort to denial. The assumption that it is a denigration of a particular ethnic group is wrong. Unfortunately, this is one the reasons why there has been a reluctance to do more extensive research in Thailand. The end result is that the syndrome has been neglected.

[geriatrickid]

And don't get in a snit, because I'm not singling Israel out - the whole of the Middle East abuses cheap foreign labour (it would be nice to see Al Jazeera turn the spotlight on Qatar, but they won't of course!).

But by the same token let us not try and deceive people either.

What is deceptive is that some of the allegations are false. The laws are in place in Israel to protect foreign workers and there is an effective health system. All of the Thai workers are given phone numbers to call in the event of suspected abuse. Those numbers include the Thai embassy, the Israeli government departments and NGOs. Have you taken the effort to read this; http://gov.il/FirstGov/TopNavEng/EngSituations/ESMigrantWorkersGuide/ESMWGRights/

There are dishonest people everywhere and if someone isn't respecting the law then it is up to the injured party to speak up.

However, I have not seen any other government list on its migrant workers rights pages the contact information for NGOs if they do not wish to contact the government. I suggest you go and read this section, and then come back and say that there is no concern for migrant workers in Israel.

http://gov.il/FirstGov/TopNavEng/EngSituations/ESMigrantWorkersGuide/ESMWGAssistance/

Agricultural jobs around the world are hard. They are often dirty and require working in the cold, heat, and rain. They are dangerous too. The sad reality is that while some Thais are exploited on Israeli worksites, other Thais are treated better than many migrant workers in the EU, and North America, This does not justify any abuse, and I expect that once the parliamentary inquiry is completed, there will be some changes. The Israeli NGOs and unions advocating on behalf of migrant workers have been quite vocal on this subject. I received my white paper a year ago when the physicians society voiced its concern.

[Wat dee]

Contributors here are commenting about something they know nothing off and on the merit

of one article, Thai workers in Israel are being respected, treated and provided with full worker's benefits

and entitlement as any other Israeli or Palestinian workers,

Thai workers have reeked havoc on the Israeli wild life by trapping and sneering small

and medium wild life for their own consumptions, Thai workers have been smuggling Ya Ba

and other drugs in to Israel for years as they were never searched or even looked at,

the laundry list is long, do not presume that this is ALL ISRAEL FAULTS.. learn the

subject well before irresponsibly commenting......

1001 apologies. The Israelis are a leader in respecting human rights and their investigative powers with regards to workers's rights and human rights is second to none!!!

Truly golden hearts too,trusting tired traveler with no searches on arrival.

All the guys wt Issan wifes/gfs, Off to insurance companies...odds are good!