Thailand news summary – July 24

– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community

PHUKET: Myanmar president Thein Sein yesterday promised to look into the issue concerning the detention of 92 Thais recently for land encroachment.

A Government House source said Thein Sein told Yingluck that he was willing to look into their situation but those found involved in drugs and war weapons must stand trial. A reduction of their sentence was possible while they would be assured good care in prison, he said.

Thein Sein also thanked Thailand and the Thai people for their support for his country while undertaking democratic reforms. The leaders inked two agreements for business deals in Myanmar’s Dawei area and development projects elsewhere in Myanmar.

More signings are expected for promoting energy cooperation and upgrading four border crossings from temporary to permanent status.

A military source based in Ranong, across from Myanmar’s Koh Song where the Thais are being held, said that by Friday, Thai detainees not charged for crimes, or not found at fault in non-felonies, or women and children could be separated out and undergo legal procedures and court trials.

A group of Ranong residents whose relatives were among the 92 Thai detainees, before learning that Yingluck and Thein Sein finally discussed the issue, had gathered outside an Army outpost and expressed disappointment that the leaders had not, up to that point, brought up the matter.

Weeratham Yimwan, a villager, said he hopes that those not involved in crimes would be finally released, while the wrongdoers should be sentenced.

PHUKET: Under a proposal by the Department of Employment, illegal female migrant workers who become pregnant while working in Thailand will be allowed to stay on and give birth here, and their newborns would be allowed to stay legally with their mothers, director-general Prawit Khiangphol said yesterday.

However, he did not say when the change would be put into practice.

The news follows strong criticism of a recent announcement that migrant women will be repatriated to give birth in their countries of origin before returning to work, leaving their children at home. Non-government groups said the move would put the lives of hundreds of Burmese women at risk every year if they were forced to return to their homeland while pregnant.

Prawit said the government eventually plans to allow female migrant workers whose nationalities have been verified and who are allowed to work in Thailand to give birth here and receive full maternity assistance under the social security scheme. Children born to such mothers would be certified by the embassies of their parents’ home countries and allowed to stay with their parents until they return home at the end of their employment contracts.

Children born to mothers living and working here temporarily because their nationalities have not been verified would be able to enter schools in Thailand and receive public health services, but both parents and children would still need to be verified.

It has been estimated that more than 100,000 illegal migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos living and working in Thailand could benefit from the proposal once it is put into effect.

Foreign labourers working in Thailand under intergovernmental contracts after the ASEAN Economic Community is launched in 2015 will be required to give birth in their countries of origin before coming to Thailand, but no regulations are in place to stop pregnant women coming to Thailand.

Prawit said the proposal and new regulations could help reduce human trafficking and the exploitation of child labour. PHUKET: The Supreme Court yesterday fined Rak Thailand Party leader Chuwit Kamolvisit 2.4 million baht for expanding a massage parlour without a building permit 10 years ago.

The amount includes daily interest and a daily fine of 500 baht on top of the original fine of 1.1mn levied by lower courts many years ago. Chuwit was found guilty of renovating the Honolulu massage parlour and adding some rooms and structures without seeking a permit from the Huai Khwang District Office.

The Criminal Court had sentenced him to a 40,000 baht fine plus a B1,000 daily fine, but halved both following his confession. The Appeals Court upheld the guilty verdict and the rates.

Chuwit divested himself of his massage parlours after entering politics.

— Phuket Gazette Editors

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