With the aim of strengthening national security and economy, Minister of Labour Mr. Suchart Chomklin on 24 February 2023 ordered the Department of Employment (DOE) to visit Pak Khlong Talad (Flower Market) to inspect illegal alien workers vying for Thai workers’ jobs.
The Minister assigned the DOE to visit Pak Khlong Talad to inspect and suppress local entrepreneurs and foreign workers working illegally who were not in compliance with the Cabinet Resolution dated 5 July 2022 on management of foreign workers.
Mr. Phairoj Chotikasatien, Director-General, Department of Employment, together with Police Lieutenant Colonel Phawat Wattasuphat, Deputy Superintendent Inspector (Traffic) and Acting Superintendent Inspector of Phra Ratchawang Municipal Police Station, led a team of directors and officers from Bangkok Employment Office Area 8 to visit the area.
Mr. Phairoj Chotikasatien revealed that: “The DOE visited the area to monitor the work of foreign workers at Pak Khlong Talad and enforce the law on foreign workers who do not have a work permit. This was done in response to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s order asking the Ministry of Labour to strictly crack down on illegal foreign workers vying for Thai workers’ careers in order not to affect the job opportunities of Thai people and avoid affecting the country’s stability and economy.”
“The inspection of seven establishments uncovered 14 unauthorised aliens. Of them, seven were found in three establishments while the other seven were found wheeling trolleys around the area. All were detained and sent to Phra Ratchawang Municipal Police Station for further investigation and prosecution for working without a work permit. Moreover, the police officers will sue three employers for hiring alien workers without a work permit.”
According to the Foreigners’ Working Management Emergency Decree, B.E. 2560 (2017) and its amendments, an alien working without a work permit or working beyond their rights will be fined 5,000-50,000 baht and be sent back to their country of origin. They will also be ineligible for applying for a work permit for two years from the date of punishment. Employers that accept foreigners without a work permit to work or allow them to work beyond their rights will face fines ranging from 10,000-100,000 baht per alien. Repeated offenses are liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or a fine ranging from 50,000-200,000 baht per alien and they will not be able to hire aliens for three years.
Those who see suspicious activities or illegal employment of foreign workers can report evidence and lodge complaints at the Central Employment Registration and Workers Protection Division, DOE, Ministry of Labour Building, 4th floor, or call 0 2354 1729, or at provincial employment offices nationwide, or at Bangkok Employment Office Area 1-10, or call DOE’s Ministry of Labour hotline 1506 press 2, or call hotline 1694.
