On October 4, 2021, Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin presided over the meeting to hand over the policy to the Ministry of Labour’s advisory committee at the Prasong Rananant meeting room, 5th floor, Ministry of Labour. Assistant to the Labour Minister Mr. Surachai Chaitrakulthong, the Labour Minister’s Advisor, Mrs. Thiwalrat Angkinan, Secretariat to the Labour Minister Mr. Suthep Chitayawong, Assistant Minister from the Prime Minister’s Office performing duties for the Ministry of Labour Police Major General Nantachat Supamongkol, the Ministry of Labour’s Spokesperson (on politics) Mrs. Theanrat Nawamawat, Permanent Secretary of Labour Mr. Boonchob Suttamanaswong and the Ministry of Labour’s executives also joined the occasion. Mr. Suchart said that from the COVID-19 situation, the government under the leadership of Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha had made vaccinations a national agenda to create group immunity for the people. The Ministry of Labour has established the following measures to assist and remedy those affected by COVID-19: 1) Proactive COVID-19 screening under the “Workforce Fighting Together” project from 13 places from January 9 to July 31, 2021. A total of 526,657 people were screened, with 23,705 positive cases found, accounting for 4.50 percent. 2) Vaccinations for Section 33 insured persons in Bangkok and red areas for over ten provinces, from June 7 to October 3, 2021. A total of 2,736,242 insured persons were vaccinated (1,624,812 with one dose and 1,111,430 with two doses). 3) The Factory Sandbox project was launched to build immunity for workers and build confidence in driving the economy within the manufacturing sector to investors in manufacturing enterprises. The first phase operates in 4 provinces, namely Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Sakhon, and Chon Buri. The project covers 387 manufacturing/exporting companies with 500 or more insured persons, covering 474,109 insured persons. It operates under the concept of “Inspect, Maintain, Control, Supervise.” The project kicked off at the same time in four provinces on August 23, 2021. The results of the first phase of the project as of October 1, 2021, included COVID-19 screening for 108,375 insured persons in the workplace, representing 43.35 percent of the targeted 250,000 people. Vaccinations were provided to 48,296 insured persons in the workplace, representing 48.30 percent of the 100,000 targeted people. 4) Employer remedies covered insured persons under Sections 33, 39, and 40 in the 29 highest controlled provinces affected by the lockdown. Remedies supported 8.98 million people, totaling 39,815.89 million Baht, through the following actions. Section 33 insured persons were provided remedies from August 10 to September 3, 2021, whereby 3.39 million insured persons received remedies, amounting to 13,181.18 million Baht. Section 39 and 40 insured persons received remedies from August 10 to September 3, 2021, whereby 5.59 million insured persons received remedies amounting to 26,634.71 million Baht.
Mr. Suchart also discussed the drive of the Ministry of Labour’s missions to be a success, such as establishing a bank for insured persons, the establishment of a hospital for insured persons, and the Labour Museum Foundation, for example.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Division of Public Relations
4 October 2021
