The Ministry of Labour’s Inspector-General and spokesperson Mr. Ananchai Uthaipatanacheep revleaed that the Department of Employment has established the 1694 hotline call center to accommodate users nationwide, including the general public, jobseekers, employers/organizations and migrant workers in Thailand. The call center will be able to provide accurate information efficiently and will be center to helping migrant workers to ensure internationally-standardized protection. The center also shows the nation’s intention to resolve human trafficking problems and the respect for human rights. The call center will include English, Burmese and Cambodian speakers, whereby the 1694 hotline will be available on Monday to Friday, from 08.30 – 16.30 hours.
Mr. Ananchai added that the Ministry of Labour has set up 100 centers nationwide for workers to report and register their undocumented migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, whereby the 1694 hotline will be crucial in providing accurate information. In order to serve users, the line will be available from 07.30 to 20.00 hours from Monday to Friday, and from 08.00 to 17.00 hours on the weekends and public holidays; this will apply until 7 August 2017. The number of calls has increased to 2,400 daily from the usual average of 700-800 calls per day. From 23 June to 26 July 2017, the 1694 hotline has received 24,397 calls consisting of 22,716 calls from employers and the general public, 17,769 calls asking about work permits, 2,729 calls regarding change of employers, 1,004 calls regarding change of working locations, 2,889 calls on other topics (international/domestic recruitment, freelance jobs, professional advice, social security, labour protection, skills development) and 6 lines on appeals and complaints regarding illegal workers. A total of 1,681 migrant workers called in, consisting of 802 Burmese workers, 549 Cambodian workers, 237 Laotian workers, 43 Vietnamese workers and 50 English-speaking workers.
“The increased population of users required 3-15 minutes of service each, therefore the lines are often busy resulting in an inconvenience or delays. I would therefore like to apologize to any users which have experienced this. The 1694 hotline will try its best to answer any questions quickly to avoid any problems. Thank you for using the 1694 hotline service,” conclude Mr. Ananchai.
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Spokesperson and Publication Sub-Division/
Bureau of Public Relations – News/
27 July 2017
