Govt to open one-stop fishery centre

The Labour Ministry will open a special one-stop registration centres for fishery workers from neighbouring countries between Dec 3 and Jan 31.

The centres will also enable migrant workers who had previously registered but failed to renew their permits to re-register to legitimately work in the country, said Labour Minister Adul Sangsingkeo.

“Migrant workers who register through the centres will only be allowed to work in the fishery sector,” said Pol Gen Adul yesterday.

After registering their status with the centres, migrant workers would be granted permission to work for two years, but they would need to re-register every year.

The one-stop centres will also provide other services, such as medical checks, work contract examinations, retinal scanning, as well as the issuance of a temporary sea book, he added.

The Labour Ministry recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with its Lao, Cambodian and Myanmar counterparts to bring in additional workers.

This scheme is in response to a request by fishery operators, who have asked for the government’s permission to recruit and bring in 14,000 workers from the three countries.

Out of the 14,000 workers, 9,614 have sent their documents to their respective embassies for acknowledgement, while another 1,772 have been granted work permits.

These workers need to have valid passports or other similar documentation issued by their countries, according to Pol Gen Adul.

Any operators who want to recruit workers from the three countries can lodge their requests at provincial employment offices in the 22 coastal provinces between Nov 15 and Jan 31, he said.

In a related development, Pol Gen Adul said migrant workers whose permits expired on Sept 30 can have their permits renewed for another two years.

So far, 6,082 migrant workers have asked for permit extensions.

Most of them are Cambodian workers, numbering 4,565, followed by 1,397 Myanmar nationals and 120 Lao.

Most of them work in Rayong, Trat, Chon Buri, Pattani and Songkhla, he said.