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BP: Local authorities to have a big



Subject: BP: Local authorities to have a bigger say in labour policy 



June 18, 1999 
Local authorities to have a bigger say in labour policy

Provinces to decide on foreign workers

Nussara Sawatsawang

Provinces will have more power to determine labour policy after the Aug 4
reprieve for the employment of aliens expires, a labour official said
yesterday.

Local authorities would be authorised to permit the use of alien workers in
factories when necessary, said Duangmon Buranarerk, head of the Office for
Management of Foreign Workers, However, Thais must have priority, she said,
and
aliens would have to go home when the work ran out.

The decentralisation plan would be set out to provincial governors and
representatives of relevant agencies on Monday, she said.

Currently, there are 652,878 alien job seekers in the country, according to
the
Labour and Social Welfare Ministry. Of those, 90,911, mainly Burmese, had
registered for work in areas with acute labour shortages until Aug 4.

Mrs Duangmon blamed past failure to stem the inflow of alien workers on
centralised plans which, she said, made it difficult for the government to
monitor conditions in border areas.

Local officials were too idle to enforce the law strictly, preferring to wait
for new directives and regulations from the central government, she said.
However, the measure would encourage authorities to share responsibility in
controlling alien workers.

The government would evaluate the outcome of the new measures within six
months
of their implementation. Also, it would further look for short and long-term
solutions, she said.

However, a senior Foreign Ministry official cautioned that the new
decentralisation plan could allow the exploitation of cheap alien labour to
continue, and called on the government to ensure all alien workers would
not be
paid below the minimum wage.

The minimum wage is 162 baht per day in Bangkok and its surrounding provinces.
Aliens normally receive far less than the minimum.

In recent years, Thailand has come under pressure from the international
community which has accused the country of abuse and exploitation of alien
labour.


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© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 1999
Last Modified: Fri, Jun 18, 1999
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