Labour Minister General Sirichai Distakul presented policies to leaders of foreign offices. The event took place today (10 January 2017) at the Prasong Rananant Conference Room on the fifth floor. In his speech he said, “Policies, relationships and foreign labour markets are issues I give great importance to. Each year, many Thai people go abroad for work and generate income to the nation totaling billions of Baht annually. Everyone here is trusted as the Ministry of Labour’s representative, to care for the Thai workers abroad ensuring they are treated fairly. Inter-country migration of labour is a global agenda. At the beginning of December, I and the ministry’s officials participated in the 16th Asia and Pacific Regional Meeting (APRM) in Bali, where an Indonesian representative spoke about mega trends and important changes which would impact the working world, to which globalization and migration was one of the topics.”
“Our role is changing as we are evolving into a labour-receiving country. Many challenges have risen, which is something the government and Ministry of Labour has given great importance to. As a labour-sending country expanding the workforce abroad, we must focus on high-value professions with good remuneration, and ensure compensation measures are fair in every country. The way we want our Thai workforce to be treated abroad, is how we should treat foreign workers in Thailand. Over the past 2 years and 6 months the government has been in power, we have made great progress to foreign worker management which is 1 of the 8 agendas for reformation. We have established agreements with CLMV countries, drafted relevant legislation and are currently formulating zoning for foreign workers in order to ensure internationally-standardized rights and protection. All of these measures will require us to create awareness among Thai workers abroad and foreign workers in Thailand. The Thai workers abroad have sacrificed a lot to work abroad in order to seek income to look after their families and drive our economy, therefore we must ensure they are taken care of well, wherever they may be,” said the Labour Minister.
The Ministry of Labour has offices in 14 offices in 13 countries; Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan (Taipei and Kaohsiung), Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Israel, Switzerland, Germany and Korea. Workers in need can contact the Thai Labour Offices in all countries at all times.
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Bureau of Public Relations/Pariyaron Phromsakha Na Sakonnakhon – News & Photos/10 January 2017
