Military to boost border security
The armed forces are preparing to heighten border security in a bid to block illegal entry by migrant workers, which is expected to rise when the country reopens on Nov 1, Defence Forces chief Gen Chalermpol Srisawat said yesterday.
Preparations for handing illegal migrants attempting to cross the border into Thailand were discussed at yesterday’s armed forces meeting, chaired by Gen Chalermpol.
The latest information supplied by the Labour Ministry showed that the illegal border crossing situation now remains at the same level as that of the past three to four months, he said.
Working together with local administrative authorities and police, the armed forces found its past border operations carried out in cooperation with Cambodian authorities were highly successful, he said.
The suppression of Myanmar migrants, however, is more complicated as migrants crossing the border from Myanmar belong to several ethnic minority groups, a number of which aren’t recognised as Myanmar citizens, which makes it difficult to verify as to who they are, he said.
The police have therefore developed a system to collect information about these Myanmar migrants for an identity database to be used as a reference when handing them again, he said.
Gen Chalermpol, however, said he was optimistic that more migrant workers from neighbouring countries would soon be allowed to enter Thailand legally.
After fleeing Thailand towards the end of last year, when the Covid-19 situation intensified, many migrant workers attempted to return while the border remained shut between April and May this year. This occurred after the cabinet had in February resolved to relax its migrant worker registration rules for workers who remained stuck in Thailand during the pandemic, he said.
About 600,000 such workers were registered at the time, he said.
The Transport Ministry, meanwhile, is preparing measures to facilitate the Nov 1 reopening when transport services operators will have to ensure, at the same time, both compliance to Covid-19 control measures and convenience for tourists, said Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob.
For inland transport, the ministry will aim to adopt a contactless approach when it comes to handling toll payments while requiring staff to strictly follow the Covid-19 control measures by the Ministry of Public Health.
Rail transport service staff, meanwhile, are required to ask foreign tourists for proof that they have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before they can purchase train tickets, he said.
All airport staff are required to undergo regular Covid-19 testing and have been told to strictly check the relevant vaccination documents of travellers when screening them for Covid-19 at the airport, he said.