Big drive soon to register illegal workers in Phuket

[Lite Beer]

Big drive soon to register illegal workers in Phuket
Darawan Naknakhon

V/Gov Sommai (in pale blue shirt) talks with some of the illegal Burmese she encountered today.

PHUKET: Well over 100,000 workers from Thailand’s neighbours – Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia – are now officially registered in Phuket, but unregistered aliens continue to be discovered.

Today Phuket Vice-Governor Dr Sommai Preechasilpa and Yaowapa Pibulpol, the head of the Provincial Employment Office, found another 15 workers aboard fishing boats in Phuket waters, and told them they must get registered by the end of June, and how to do it.

Aboard a Marine Police launch, they visited five fishing boats, the Klakamonchai 9, the 99 Thongchai 4 and Sinphichai close to Tapao Noi and Tapao Yai islands. Then they visited the Prakanchai 15 and Prakanchai 17 close to Maiton Island.

All of the Burmese crew members on the five boats were unregistered.

V/Gov Sommai said, “We wanted to check and to tell all alien workers to get registered and get work permits. [The 15] all said they had no complaints because they were earning more than they could at home.”

Ms Yaowapa said, “Currently we have about 110,600 alien workers registered in Phuket. Of these, 99 per cent are Burmese, with the other one per cent being Lao or Cambodian.

She added, however, that just 600 of the registered aliens have work permits. “Of course we know that far more than 600 are working here. Now we are working to make everything correct according to the policy of the [National Council of Peace and Order].

“We will set up a registration center at Phuket Provincial Community Hall in Phuket Town at the end of this month. They will have to pay a registration fee. The process takes half a day, then there is a period of 60 days for them to prove their nationality.”

After registration each will receive a “Non-Thai ID Card”. These are pink on one side. The other side is green for Burmese, blue for Laotians and brown for Cambodians. This side also acts as a temporary work permit, valid for 60 days.

The fees are B1,305 for an adult, B1,080 fee for a child between seven and 15 years of age, and B80 for childern under seven.

“Registration in Phuket has yet to come, but I’m pretty sure that we will have it in this month,” Ms Yaowapa told The Phuket News. “We are ready for it; we just have to wait until the NCPO gives us the go-ahead.”

“This is a great opportunity for the nationals of the three countries who have been working illegally in Phuket to become legal. After registration, they will have access to medical services in government hospitals at very reasonable rates.

“It’s also a good chance for businesses who have illegal workers to make things right.

“During the 60-day period, people will have to prove their nationality, and then the NCPO will decide again about who qualifies for long-term work permits.”

She warned, “Workers in Phuket must register. There will be a intensive checks later on [to detect illegal workers].”

Additional reporting by Anthika Muangrod

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/big-drive-soon-to-register-illegal-workers-in-phuket-47378.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

-- Phuket News 2014-07-16

[stevenl]

told them they must get registered by the end of June

Why do they get almost a year time?

[Jimi007]

told them they must get registered by the end of June

Why do they get almost a year time?

I know, it's a rhetorical question. I'm sure you know the answer as well as I. Why not exploit them a bit longer before they have to register… But kick out all those "tourist overstayers" as they take advantage of the visa system. None of this affects me personally either way, just an observation...

[CiaranO]

"[The 15] all said they had no complaints because they were earning more than they could at home.”

And i wonder how much is that?

[NamKangMan]

But aren't these people taking Thai jobs????

[SiggiCM]

so 600 people of 110600 are correct with all papers, how they want to issue 110000 work permits? this take 10 years like they working in the office, so if a family with 2 kids wants to register it is nearly 1 months wage (they not get more than 6-7000 Baht per month) for a ID card valid 2 month,

again a perfect example about Thai authorities, even monkeys in CM Zoo would find a better solution!

They should teach this kind of problem-solving in Thai University, for sure all Problems will be fixed in Thailand until end of year!