More help for Lao workers

Talks on freeing up protected occupations

The Labour Ministry will open a centre to ensure the legal status of Lao workers who can prove their identity, while Lao authorities have promised to help illegal workers wanting to return home to acquire passports so they can be legally re-employed in Thailand.

Thai and Lao authorities discussed ways to solve the undocumented workforce problem early this week.

Employment Department directorgeneral, Waranan Pitiwan, said Laos had agreed to Thailand’s plan to set up the centre next month to upgrade the status of Lao workers currently holding pink cards.

At present, there are around 71,000 Lao workers with pink cards — a temporary identity document — in Thailand.

The government introduced the pink card for foreign workers without proper documentation as an interim measure to give them time to apply for the required documents including a work permit and visa as well as a passport after confirming their nationality with their country of origin.

Mr Waranan said Lao authorities also agreed to issue a certificate of identity (CI) to Lao workers for a fee of around 2,000 baht. The fee for a person accompanying the worker would be around 400 baht.

The Lao government will also issue temporary entry permits to allow workers to return home for five days to acquire a passport before heading back to be reemployed in Thailand. The joint effort is meant to fix the undocumented foreign worker problem in Thailand.

Meanwhile, ML Puntrik Smiti, the Labour Ministry permanent secretary, yesterday met Thai employers to sort out confusion regarding a list of 39 occupations in Thailand foreigners are not allowed work in. The list includes farming, dressmaking and bricklaying, which are popular among foreign workers.

ML Puntrik said foreign workers may be able to do some of these occupations. For instance, foreign workers may be able to work in garment production, but not in making hand-crafted traditional Thai costumes which the law interprets as cultural conservation and only open to Thais.

The ministry is taking a detailed look at the list of 39 protected occupations to make it clearer to employers as to what types of jobs foreigners are not allowed to do. Employers are also concerned about other requirements such as designated locations for each worker. Work permits tend to identify the province where a foreign worker is allowed to be employed, but foreign workers are often required to work in other provinces.

ML Puntrik said employers can get permission for foreign workers to work elsewhere. He said illegal foreign workers in general are often categorised into four groups.

The first are workers who change employment without proper notification. The second are workers with a passport but without a work permit. The third group consists of workers under the extended quota limit, while the last are workers with no documents. They form the largest group.

ML Puntrik said these workers are required to register with Thai authorities from July 24 to Aug 7 to prove their employment eligibility.

He said the Labour Ministry would discuss with the Public Health Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the police and immigration officers details of the prospective onestop service centre for foreign workers to receive a CI, apply for visa and work application and undergo a medical checkup.