The Advisor to the Labour Minister gave a press statement on countermeasures for Thai workers returning from affected areas of COVID-19; after 14 days of quarantine, all Thai workers will receive care, prevention, and remedy, reducing the impact according to the procedures and missions of the Ministry of Labour.
Today (March 10, 2020) Advisor to the Labour Minister Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jak Punchoopet gave a press conference to the media about dealing with COVID – 19 for Thai workers returning from overseas. He spoke about the case of additional epidemics and cases in other countries and measures to take care of Thai workers abroad to return to Thailand, in terms of living and occupation. Deputy Permanent Secretary of Labour Mrs. Theanrat Nawamawat also joined the event, which took place at the Government Press Conference Center for new infections (COVID-19), Naree Samosorn building, Government Houses. He said that when workers return from overseas to Thailand, they will have to be screened, together with the immigration checkpoint at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang and Chiang Mai Airport, and the Ministry of Public Health, Immigration Bureau and airlines. After returning Thai workers have been quarantined for 14 days, the Ministry of Labour will check the membership benefits of the fund to help job seekers work abroad, for the Thai workers who return from countries at risk of infection and spread. If the worker is a member, they will have the right to receive financial aid to alleviate suffering from the epidemic. Official agencies from the countries have announced 15,000 Baht. For those who wish to find work, the Department of Employment has prepared 81,562 job vacancies. For those who want to improve their skills from the 70,000 people in the system, the Department of Skill Development has opened an additional 30,000 training courses, a total of 100,000 formal workers. For informal workers who want to improve their skills, the Department of Skill Development will provide skills training from the original 100,000 people to an additional 20,000 people, for a total of 120,000 people.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jak also spoke about the measures to take care of Thai workers abroad returning to Thailand in terms of living and occupation. The Ministry of Labour has the following preventive measures, including 1) The Department of Employment and the Department of Skill Development provides courses on how to make masks for household use and how to make hand wash gel for workers in over 300 freelance groups. 2) Publicize the awareness of workers and the general public to know how to protect themselves. 3) The Social Security Office notifies insurers in the social security system that they can receive health examinations at hospitals according to their rights, free of charge. A total of 52 insurers have undergone an examination at Bamrasnaradura Institute. Initial results show no positive results for COVID-19. 4) The Department of Labour Protection and Welfare campaign to promote measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to 550 establishments totaling 330,325 employees and 5) A checkpoint by the Department of Employment at Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and Chiang Mai Airport with integrated cooperation with the Immigration Bureau and the Ministry of Public Health, to screen for Thai workers returning from abroad.
The mitigation measures include 1) Examining the benefits of being a member of the fund to help people find work overseas, for Thai workers returning from countries at risk of being infected and spreading. If they are a member, they have the right to receive financial aid to alleviate suffering due to an epidemic. Official agencies from the countries have announced 15,000 Baht. 2) Recruiting for 81,562 vacancies and hiring new graduates to be project coordinators of the Ministry of Labour at the local level. 3) Skills development courses for 70,000 formal workers, to add 30,000, for a total of 100,000 people to train. 4) Skill development for informal workers, from the original 100,000 people, to add 20,000, for a total of 120,000 people to be prepared. 5) Loan project for employment promotion under the cooperation agreement between the Social Security Office and commercial banks, allowing businesses that apply for loans to get lower interest less than the market, in the budget of 30,000 million Baht; The project will end in December 2020. 6) Reducing the rate of contributions to social security fund for employers and insurers in 2020 (currently proposing to the Social Security Committee). 7) Studying and considering together three health funds (SSO, NHSO, and Comptroller General’s Department) for additional medical service fees paid to the hospitals providing treatment for insured patients with COVID-19 to receive thorough and sufficient services. 8) Notify and circulate information for Social Security Offices in Bangkok, all provinces, all branches and social security hospitals around the country to rehearse medical service guidelines in the case insured persons receive treatment for COVID-19 and 9) Encourage businesses to create labour trainings according to the Act by providing tax incentives, loans, and grants from the fund.
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Division of Public Relations
10 March 2020
