Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin called upon the Ministry of Labour’s executives and the Director-General of every department and those involved in directing agencies in every area to control the Covid-19 outbreak among the workers. This includes notifying employers and organizations and urging employees to strictly comply with the Ministry of Public Health measures.
On December 20, 2020, at the Prasong Rananant Meeting Room, 5th Floor, Ministry of Labour, Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin spoke about the cases of Covid-19 in Samut Sakhon province, which he has monitored and showed concern for the workforce and communities in the area. He said that the government under the leadership of Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha, and supervision of Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, cares about the workers and all groups of people and has continuously ordered and implemented preventative measures. In the Ministry of Labour’s part, the Department of Employment and the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare have been instructed to visit the area to clarify and establish an understanding among employers and companies, to publicize to employees how to prevent Covid-19 outbreaks. In addition, there was a meeting and coordinated reports with the Covid-19 Situation Management Center to closely monitor organizations in Samut Sakhon, most of which are large organizations with a large number of employees. Each organization already has stricter measures to prevent Covid-19.
Therefore, the Labour Minister invited the ministry’s senior executives, including the Director-General of all departments and relevant persons, to instruct agencies in every area to integrate and collaborate to comply with the measures set by the Ministry of Public Health. This included a teleconference with the heads of the subdistricts in Samut Sakhon to monitor the situation. All government agencies under the Ministry of Labour were instructed to clarify and establish an understanding among employers and organizations that employees know how to prevent Covid-19 outbreaks. They were also instructed to cooperate with the Provincial Communicable Disease Committee and all related sectors to control and prevent the spread of Covid-19 among Thai and foreign workers in the workplace. This also included announcements prohibiting foreign workers’ movement in all cases and arranging measures to monitor and examine disease screening, such as public relations to raise awareness about wearing masks and using alcohol gels to wash hands.
Mr. Suchart said that the Ministry of Labour has coordinated with the Embassy of Myanmar in Thailand, private-sector networks, and NGOs to enable Myanmar authorities to release Myanmar language announcements to enable Myanmar employees working in Thailand to acknowledge and take action in preventing the spread of Covid-19. The efforts include campaigning for foreign workers and establishments employing foreign workers to be aware of disease prevention and control measures through promotions in foreign workers’ language, ensuring strict adherence with the measures set by the Ministry of Public Health. The measures include wearing a mask or cloth mask at all times during participation in activities, frequently washing hands or using alcohol gel, and spacing at least one meter between each other. Preventative measures also include the Myanmar labour data storage center’s temporary suspension from December 21 to January 3, 2021. Samut Sakhon has 275,782 foreign workers (data as of December 15, 2020), comprising 243,617 Myanmar workers, 13,200 Laotian workers, 9,648 Cambodian workers, and 9,317 workers of other nationalities, mostly working in the fishing and related industries.
Mr. Suchart spoke about measures to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus among foreign workers, including 1) Postponing the approval of importing foreign workers from March 23, 2020, onwards until the situation returns to normal. 2) Relaxation for foreign workers under MOUs with licenses expiring from November 2020 – December 2021, to stay in the Kingdom and work for another two years. 3) Inspect, screen, and monitor foreign workers at the Port-In Port Out center (PIPO). 4) Seek cooperation for establishments nationwide to promote and educate workers and insured persons in the workplace about the Covid-19 virus. 5) To inform employers in the workplace to screen foreign workers and monitor the spread of Covid-19. 6) Prevent the spread of Covid-19 among foreign workers in collaboration with the Thai Red Cross, Department of Health Service Support, Ministry of Public Health, providing knowledge and understanding about prevention methods by preparing documents in the language of foreign workers to build an understanding of remedial measures and provide relief supplies and enforce the 14-day screening and quarantine process as required by the Ministry of Public Health. 7) Compile a list of establishments that employ foreign workers or places that are at risk and the number of foreign workers in every province across the country, and to inform NCCC to be used in planning the detection of Covid-19, following the proactive preventive measures in collaboration with migrant worker health volunteers. Remedies include providing medical services to insured persons suffering from Covid-19. After the situation is relaxed, measures include 1) Promoting Thai workers into the employment system. 2) Preparing information on the necessity for foreign workers in the country and 3) Systematic migration of foreign workers.
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Division of Public Relations
20 December 2020
