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Humane Approach to Migrant Labour in Thailand

There have been positive changes in government policy, but Thai society needs to change its attitude as well.

Thailand is making slow but steady progress towards better protection of its hundreds of thousands of migrant workers while also combating human trafficking and the worst forms of exploitation against the men, women and children who come to this country in search of economic opportunity. But there is still much room for improvement in all respects to make sure that migrant workers, who provide valuable service to Thai society and make a positive contribution to the country's economy, enjoy the basic human rights and are accorded with the adequate protection that they deserve.

Earlier this year, the Labour Ministry introduced a quota system to try to regulate the employment of immigrant workers. Industrial employers are required to submit a quota of foreign workers they already employ or intend to hire. Once approved by the ministry, employers are then asked to register immigrant workers and have them undergo health screening and pay for their health insurance so that labour officials can monitor their working and living conditions.

Many employers have come forward to register migrant workers while other, unscrupulous business operators have refused to come forward, probably because they want to continue to take unfair advantage of foreign workers, most of whom are unskilled or semi-skilled labourers from neighbouring countries. The ministry should make good on its threat to crack down on these exploitative employers, who not only pay these workers way below the minimum daily wage but also force them to live and work under appalling conditions.

The findings of a recent study commissioned by the National Security Council on Thailand's need for foreign manual workers show that the country's reliance on imported labour has become a fact of life. Thailand needs an input of some 500,000 workers from Burma, Cambodia and Laos to keep its economy functioning smoothly, the report says. The number of registered foreign workers in the country at the moment is about 400,000, while the estimated number of undocumented immigrant workers may be more than 800,000.

Despite limited success in its registration drive, the government's move was considered a marked departure from years of neglect. In the past, the government could not care less about lax immigration control or monitoring of labour standards. Instead of regulation, control and the protection of immigrant workers, corruption-prone Thai authorities used to turn a blind eye to human trafficking - one of today's most despicable crimes against humanity.

But the Thai government's attitude towards human trafficking has also changed. Thailand is now working a lot harder to try to remove the stigma associated with being identified as a source, transit point and destination for human trafficking. Women, men and children from neighbouring countries, including Burma, Cambodia, Laos and China, are brought into Thailand by organised criminal groups and pressed into bonded labour and prostitution. Or they pass through the country to other destinations.

Creating a specialised body to lead and coordinate anti-human trafficking operations may be a good start, but unless the government follows through with sustained forceful action, Thailand's image as a responsible member of the international community will remain very much in doubt.

It must be said the change for the better thus far has been achieved largely through international pressure. But the Thai government needs to do much more. However, the next big push towards a lasting solution to promote fair treatment of immigrant workers and to eliminate human trafficking will require strong domestic public pressure. The problem is that the majority of Thais continue to be either too insensitive or too ignorant to care about the plight of immigrant workers, who deserve to be treated better and with respect for their human rights.

The Thai public needs to be educated that as a society we cannot ignore the suffering of any man, woman or child, regardless of their origin or ethnicity, at the hands of modern-day slave traders or exploitative employers, without compromising our public conscience and the moral values that we as a society claim to possess.

Adapted from: "Humane approach to migrant labour." The Nation. 17 September 2006.