159 stopped en route to illegal work

Last month, authorities stopped 159 Thai nationals from travelling on tourist visas due to suspicions they are intending to work illegally overseas, the Department of Employment revealed yesterday.

It said 116 of them, a fifty-fifty split between men and women, were stopped by immigration and labour authorities en route to South Korea — a country which has become a popular destination for illegal Thai migrant workers over the past few years.

Anurak Thosarat, director-general of the department, said the rest of those intercepted had intended to travel to Bahrain, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates and the Czech Republic.

Many were found to have used illegal work placement brokers who recruit mainly via social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Line, he said.

Some had been approached by other members of their communities. These middlemen had often had experience in working illegally overseas. They normally promised the newcomers that they would get highly-paid jobs with impressive benefits, said Mr Anurak.

Most of the work promised to them was said to be agriculture, industry, or in spas and other hospitality businesses, he said. On occasion, the jobs bore little resemblance to the roles that were originally promised, he added.

According to Mr Anurak, the jobs and working conditions often aren’t as described and workers are left with no recourse due to their illegal migrant worker status.

Earlier in January, a group of more than 30 men and women, aged between 35 and 50, were stopped from travelling to South Korea on tourist visas, he said.

Despite their claims that they were simply another group of tourists intending to visit South Korea to see the sights, the authority’s investigation found evidence they had communicated in a group chat in which they made clear that they were intending to work illegally in the Asian nation, he said.

The group admitted to having paid the recruitment travel agency between 20,000 baht and 40,000 baht each for their trips, he said.