The Labour Minister met on the acceleration of temporary provisional measures for Section 83 addressing the shortage of marine fishery labour through integration with relevant units on the registration of workers at the One Stop Service Center from December 3, 2018 – January 31, 2019 at the 22 Fisheries Offices in the 22 coastal provinces.
On November 8, 2018, Labour Minister H.E. Police General Adul Sangsingkeo chaired the meeting on the acceleration of temporary provisional measures for Section 83 addressing the shortage of marine fishery labour at the Nikom Conference Room on the 5th floor, Ministry of Labour. He said that the government has focused on addressing labour shortages in the fisheries sector by assigning the Ministry of Labour as the main agency in coordinating relevant units. The Ministry of Labour has proposed 3 directions which are 1) Extension of working time for licensed fisherman permitted to work under Section 83 of the Fisheries Act B.E. 2558, the 11,000 workers who have passed the citizenship verification permitted to remain in Thailand for 2 year until September 30, 2020, who will be granted permission 1 year at a time; currently 6,082 workers in this group have applied for extended working time 2) Permission for migrants with passports, temporary passports, personal documents or resident documents, to remain in the Thailand to work in sea fishing for 1 year using the Seabook as the permit to work. A One Stop Service Center will be opened to service workers from December 3, 2018 – January 31, 2019 totaling 60 days at the Fisheries Offices in 22 coastal provinces. Processes will include recording the workers’ history at the Department of Provincial Administration, a health check-up by the hospital prescribed by the Ministry of Public Health, contract verification by the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, a retina scan for identity collection by the Department of Employment, issuance of a temporary Seabook by the provincial Fisheries Office for example. Employers will also be required to apply for registration to hire migrant workers from November 15, 2018 to January 31, 2019 at the Fisheries Offices in 22 coastal provinces.
Pol.Gen. Adul also spoke about the progress of migrant workers (Burmese, Laos and Cambodian) from the target of 42,000 Baht, employers requested the employment of 14, 322 migrant workers. From this, 9,614 workers have completed processes which has been passed to the embassies and 1,772 workers have applied for a work permit. The meeting today was a rehearsal for the staff of the relevant agencies, to create awareness and understanding to solve the shortage of fishing workers. This will be widely publicized, coupled with the opening of the Ministry of Labour’s 1506 hotline, where employer can ask for more information to make the practice more effective.
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Division of Public Relations/
Information by Department of Employment/
Photos by Chanchai Chaonongphian/
November 9, 2018/
