The Ministry of Labour’s Inspector-General and spokesperson Mr. Ananchai Uthaipatanacheep spoke about Labour Minister General Sirichai Distakul’s direction to monitor over 500 Cambodian workers gathered in front of the Cambodian embassy in Thailand. The gathering was aimed pressure the embassy to issue passports, as the process has been pending since document submission in 2015, with requests for workers to pay additional fees this February.
Mr. Ananchai further stated that the Labour Minister was concerned for the people and emphasized the importance given to the citizenship verification process. The Labour Minister directed the Department of Employment to monitor the situation and coordinate with relevant parties in Cambodia in order to consult solutions to delays in the citizenship verification process, to which Cambodia has given good cooperation. Most recently, passports have been requested to enable workers to travel abroad, as well as OCWC cards for 7,300 workers; to date, 4,300 have received the cards. The Ministry of Labour has asked that foreign workers in Thailand be confident in its solutions and to follow news on further progress.
Mr. Ananchai continued to explain that the Ministry of Labour has given great importance to operation on foreign worker management, comprising Burmese, Laotian and Cambodian nationals. Efforts have been made in order to ensure legally upon entrance into the kingdom. The Department of Employment has been urged to coordinate with neighbouring countries on the citizenship verification processes. For more information, worker can call all provincial employment offices, the Bangkok Employment Office of the Department of Employment’s 1694 hotline.
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Spokesperson and Publication Sub-Division
Bureau of Public Relations
Pattarin Neeraphon – News
26 January 2017
