Samut Sakhon employer allegedly “dumps” migrant workers at a highway outside Bangkok

A group of Burmese migrant workers ended up on the side of a highway near Bangkok after their employer allegedly told them to get in a van to go get tested for Covid-19. The incident caught media attention as many coronavirus prevention measures focused on migrant workers were recently imposed after hundreds of workers at a seafood market in Samut Sakhon, southwest of Bangkok, tested positive.

Daily News reported that an employer “dumped” a group of 24 Burmese migrant workers at the side of a highway in Samut Prakan’s Bang Plee area, just outside Bangkok. The Ton News Facebook page even posted live videos of the immigration police confronting the group.

Apparently, the migrants worked in tambon Mahachai in Samut Pakhon’s Muang district, a “Covid-19 hotspot” linked to more than 1,000 cases. The migrants say their employer told them to get in a van to go get tested for the coronavirus.

Daily News says police did not know how to handle the situation. Police did not have any Covid-19 testing equipment on hand and officers say they were concerned that detaining the migrants could potentially spread the virus at the police station or immigration detention centre.

SOURCE: Thai Visa

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