Dept calls on illegal workers to register by end of month

Illegal migrant labourers who want to work as fishing boat crew members have been urged by the Department of Fisheries to register by the end of this month.

Department director-general Adisorn Promthep said his agency has launched the registration of Cambodian, Lao and Myanmar workers, aged 18 or older, who want to work as crew members on fishing trawlers. Registration will end on Oct 31, he said.

Registration, which kicked off on Sunday, can be carried out at the department’s designated locations in 22 coastal provinces.

The process will assist migrant workers to work temporarily in the country and tackle the shortage of labourers in the fishing industry, Mr Adisorn said.

As for legal migrant workers who want to work on fishing boats, they can contact authorities to obtain seamen’s books, which provide a record of a crew member’s service, after Oct 31.

For employers who want to hire migrant labourers to work on fishing boats, they can report to the department until Tuesday so the agency can establish a list of employers, Mr Adisorn said.

After contracts are signed between employers and their migrant labourers, the workers need to undergo a medical checkup and seek seamen’s books by Nov 15.

During the negotiations regarding work contracts, representatives from private development organisations and international labour agencies may be allowed to observe the process, he said.

“I want migrant labourers to be registered quickly so they will be able to work on the fishing boats legitimately,” said Mr Adisorn.

“As for operators who already have migrant labourers working on fishing boats, they need to tell their workers to report and obtain seamen’s books within the time frame. Missing the deadline would mean the employers who recruited unregistered migrant workers will be fined between 400,000 baht and 800,000 baht a worker,” the department’s director-general said.

The department’s registration push came after the Interior Ministry announced permission for certain groups of migrant labourers working in the fishery industry to stay in Thailand, which was published in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday.