On October 25, 2022, Assistant to the Labour Minister, Mr. Surachai Chaitrakulthong, said that the Labour Minister, Mr. Suchart Chomklin assigned him to chair the meeting to discuss the direction of study and analysis of the relevant legal framework of Finland and Thailand. The meeting took place at the Tian Achakul Conference Room, 10th floor, Department of Employment. The Department of Employment’s Director-General, Mr. Pairoj Chotikasatien, the Thai Ambassador to Helsinki, Ms. Chawanat Thangsamphan, and the delegation joined.
Mr. Surachai said that the Labour Minister, Mr. Suchart Chomklin traveled to visit Thai wild fruit collectors in Finland and Sweden in September 2022. The Minister assigned the Ministry of Labour to work with the Royal Thai Embassy in Helsinki, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to jointly study and analyze the relevant legal framework of Finland and Thailand. Subsequently, the Royal Thai Embassy in Helsinki coordinated to discuss the direction of education and analyze the legal framework. From today’s meeting, it was concluded that in the 2023 season, the Department of Employment would require that the coordinator in Thailand be registered as a juristic person and send Thai wile fruit workers to work in Finland by domestic employers taking employees to work. This would develop a trend of traveling to collect wild fruits in Finland for Thai workers to be fair to them, motivating workers to travel to work with dignity, receiving protection and various benefits according to their rights.
“Today, the meeting discussed measures for dispatching workers to collect wild fruits in Finland in 2023. The measures are divided into those for Thailand and measures abroad. It will accelerate the push for a model of wild fruit picking where employers in Thailand take their employees to work, clearly determining expenses before traveling and expenses while abroad and setting up employment contracts that are fair to all parties. It determined a measure to notify the list of businesses that wish to undertake the business of deploying employees to collect wild fruits in Finland, and other measures, if necessary, such as epidemics and war. There is also a minimum price guarantee of fruits in Finland, ensuring hygienic accommodations, food arrangements, and setting appropriate labour quotas each season,” said Mr. Surachai.
The Department of Employment’s Director-General, Mr. Pairoj Chotikasatien, said that for the 2022 wild fruit collection season between July and September, a total of 3,966 Thai workers traveled to Finland, comprising 3,801 wild fruit pickers and 165 support staff. A satisfaction survey for fruit-picking workers in Finland in the 2022 season surveyed 3,801 people. It found that 8.15 percent of Thai workers received income after expenses of 100,000 Baht or more, 38.55 percent received 50,001 – 99,999 Baht after expenses, 47.61 percent received 30,000 – 50,000 Baht after expenses, and 5.69 percent received less than 30,000 Baht after expenses. The Thai workers earning less than 30,000 Baht were mostly Thai workers traveling to collect wild fruits for the first time.
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Division of Public Relations
25 October 2022
