Mr. Phadermchai Sasomsub, the Minister of Labour, and the group consisting of Mr. Anusorn Kraiwatnussorn, Vice Minister of Labour, Mr. Somkiat Chayasriwong, MOL Permanent Secretary, Mr. Prawit Kiangphol, Director-General of the Department of Employment, and other staff, visited Japan during 4-8 December 2011 to attend the 15th Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting (APRM) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) at Kyoto and to conduct overseas employment promotion as invited by the International Manpower Development Organization Japan (IM Japan) at Tokyo.
In the 15th APRM, the Minister of Labour stated to the meeting that at the moment Thailand is undertaking a national plan regarding valued works on basis of tri-partite consultation and is developing foreign workers administration system and work permit categories for foreign workers in order to prevent and solve human trafficking problem. Relief effort for flood victims is also a challenge as this flood has affected every parties in all sectors especially the labour. The government has set up 3R strategies for recovery i.e. rescue, restore, and rebuild.
Mr. Phadermchai Sasomsub, was a speaker as a panelist in the special agenda “Natural Disaster Response with the Central focus on Employment Policy” as invited by the Japanese Minister of Public Health, Labour, and Welfare. There were approximately 200 people attending. Ms. Chantana Boon-arj, Minister-Counsellor (Labour) of the Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo, attended the lecture. The Minister of Labour proposed strategic measures “3 Rs” for country recovery after the big flood which has affected and caused tremendous damage to many industries e.g. manufacturing sector and employment.
The Minister of Labour met with the representatives of Thai employees currently working at LIXIL Cooperation at Grand Prince Hotel in Kyoto. The employees were sent there by Thai Tostem Co., Ltd. in Thailand to work at its parent company in Japan according to the Japanese Government’s policy to help Thai workers affected by flood. The Minister asked about their living conditions, gave moral support to the workers’ representatives, as well as assured them that the government is doing everything to fix the flood problems for all parties concerned e.g. workers, companies, and also to plan for long-term flood protection. The Office of Labour Affairs in Japan cooperated in bringing in Thai workers representatives to come to meet with the Labour Minister and the group.
After the mission in Kyoto was completed, the Minister of Labour and the group went to Tokyo. On Wednesday 7 December 201, 11 AM, the Minister of Labour and the group had a meeting with the executives of IM Japan at a conference room at the Imperial Tokyo Hotel and discussed ways to promote more Thai youths to enroll in the traineeship program in Japan held by the IM Japan and future plans to be cooperated with the Department of Employment to conduct more public relations activities to promote the IM Japan Traineeship Program in more regions, starting at Nakhon Ratchasima.
At 2 PM, the Office of Labour Affairs in Japan brought in the vice-president and the executives of Japan International Training Cooperation Organization (JITCO), a main agency of Japan responsible in overseeing technical training programs, to meet with the Minister of Labour. The JITCO aims to increase the number of foreign trainees and the Minister of Labour asked them to accept more Thai workers too. At 6.30 PM, the Minister of Labour and the group visited H.E. Mr. Weerasak Futrakul, Ambassador, at the Thai Royal Embassy in Tokyo.
