BANGKOK, March 29 – The March 31 deadline for Thai employers to apply for quotas to hire migrant workers will not be extended, according to a senior Labour Ministry official.
Pravit Khiengpol, director general of the Employment Department, said 44,677 Thai employers have so far received quotas to hire 337,568 migrant workers and 2,568 co-workers.
He said the Labour Department has set up a one-stop service centre for employers’ applications and migrant workers’ employment registrations.
The previous director of the service centre was transferred for inefficiency in issuing employment quotas to employers, he said, warning that any officials who fail to issue quota documents within one day will be disciplined.
Thai employers wanting to hire new migrant workers are required to apply for quotas from the Labour Department after which the employed migrant workers must apply for registration and employment documents.
Some media reported that the application and registration procedures were complicated and that some officials demanded bribes in exchange for issuing the documents in one day.
Migrant workers without legal documents have become victims of intimidation and extortion by some government authorities, according to the reports.
Mr Pravit said he has asked the national police chief to order police officers to be lenient to the migrant workers whose legal documents are in process.
There are only two weeks left to issue legal documents to migrant workers and the Labour Ministry must ask the cabinet to extend the deadline, he said.
