BANGKOK, 20 July 2011– The number of migrant workers registered by the Department of Employment (DOE) has totaled over 984,000 while the group will be provided with workplace insurance in accordance with the law.
Following the recent registration of alien workers during 15 June-14 July, DOE Deputy Director-General Prawit Kiangpol revealed the statistics which suggested that over 164,000 employers had brought in a total of 984,535 workers for documentations. Out of the registrants, more than 643,000 were citizens of Myanmar; 238,000 were from Laos; and the other 102,000 from Cambodia.
According to Mr Prawit, the DOE has requested cooperation from the Royal Thai Police in clamping down on all undocumented foreign workers from now on. However, alien employees in the fishing industry will be exempted for the time being as the registration period for them will come to an end on 13 August.
Since 14 July, the DOE has started collecting the biodata of legal migrant workers, including their photographs and fingerprints, and expects the process to be completed within 120 days. In addition, Mr Prawit confirmed that all of them would be eligible for workplace insurance as stipulated in the Workers’ Compensation Act BE 2537 (1994).
