The Labour Minister is prepared to propose to the Cabinet an adjustment on time to find employers of foreign workers of the three nationalities to 60 days, extending the time of Covid-19 testing and work permit applications (Bor.Tor. 48) for foreigners who fall in the group from the resolution on December 29, 2020. The proposal also suggests allowing foreigners following the resolution on August 20, 2019, August 4, 2020, and November 10, 2020, to temporarily work in the Kingdom to complete the procedures prescribed in the announcements of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Labour.
Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin reported that Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha and Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, who supervises the Ministry of Labour, acknowledges the issues that occurred on the management of migrant workers during the new wave of Covid-19. They are concerned about the impact on businesses, employers, and foreign workers, totaling 2,150,663 people. To resolve this problem, on June 2, 2021, the Foreign Worker Management Policy Committee Meeting No. 4/2021 approved the solution to prepare and further proposed to the Cabinet for approval as follows:
1. To extend the period for Covid-19 screening of foreigners who have taken action following the Cabinet’s resolution on December 29, 2020, ordering the collection of personal identities until June 16, 2021. To extend the period for Covid-19 screening, along with health insurance and work permit application (Bor. Tor. 48) with the Department of Employment through an online system as proposed by the Foreign Worker Management Policy Committee. The screening for the six prohibited diseases can be submitted until October 18, 2021.
2. To extend the grace period for foreign workers who are permitted to stay in the Kingdom and work, nearing the end, categorized by: 1) Foreign workers following the Cabinet resolution on August 20, 2019, and August 4, 2020, to exercise power under Section 17 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 and Section 14 of the Foreign Worker Management Act B.E. 2560 and its amendments, to stay in the Kingdom and continue to work temporarily. The application must be submitted before the work permit according to the current rights of each group that is ending. For passports or substitute documents that have expired, foreign workers must apply for a new document within one year so that the Immigration Office moves the stamp of permission to stay in the Kingdom. 2) Foreign workers following the Cabinet resolution on November 10, 2020, to exercise power under Section 17 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522, to grant a waiver for foreigners whose passports or substitute documents have expired to stay in the Kingdom as a special case for another year to create a new identity document and check the visa with the Immigration Office.
3. To solve the problems of foreign workers following the MOU, the group of foreigners following the Cabinet’s resolution on August 20, 2019, August 4, 2020, November 10, 2020, and December 29, 2021 (only those that have already approved under Bor. Tor.48) that have left their former employer and unable to find a new employer in time. Such foreign workers can be divided into 1. Groups whose stay has ended (January 1, 2021, until before the date of the Cabinet resolution) to exercise powers under Section 17 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 and Section 14 of the Foreign Worker Management Act B.E. 2560 to stay in the Kingdom as a special case until February 13, 2022, and 2. The group whose stay has not ended (the date of the Cabinet resolution – February 13, 2022) to exercise powers under Section 14 of the Foreign Worker Management Act to adjust the time for seeking employers from 30 days to 60 days.
Director-General of the Department of Employment Mr. Phairoj Chotikasathian said that foreign workers who have been granted a waiver to stay in the Kingdom and work in Thailand total up to 2,150,663 people, divided into 1. Foreign workers holding pink cards, totaling 1,364,214 people, comprising 1,162,443 people under the Cabinet’s resolution on August 20, 2019, and 201,771 people under the Cabinet’s resolution on August 4, 2020. 2. Foreign workers under the MOU, whose employment term has completed four years, amounting to 131,585 people, and 3. Foreign workers have ended their stay in the Kingdom or have been granted permission to work according to the Cabinet resolution on December 29, 2020, amounting to 654,864 people. The Foreign Worker Management Policy Committee, therefore, needs to fix this problem ASAP to effectively manage the work of foreigners and solve the shortage of foreign workers experienced by employers and businesses.
For employers/businesses and foreign workers with questions or looking for more information, they can contact the Provincial Employment Office in every province, the Bangkok Employment Office Areas 1-10, at LINE @Service_Workpermit or the Ministry of Labour’s hotline, by calling 1506, press 2 for the Department of Employment. Or, call the Department of Employment’s hotline on 1694, which provides services in Cambodian, Myanmar, and English, to advise how to proceed.
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Division of Public Relations
2 May 2021
