Karon to crack down on tailors

KARON (Kom Chad Luek): Community leaders in Kata-Karon have issued a warning to the 144 tailor shops in the area that they will crack down on any that continue to use aggressive touting techniques or take advantage of tourists.

Tambon Karon Chairman Winai Chidchiaw said that, at a meeting among village headmen and other community leaders, it was unanimously agreed to monitor the behavior of the shops’ staff, who have been warned to end practices that pose a threat to the area’s reputation among tourists.

Many of the shops hire foreign nationals, mostly from India and Nepal, he said.

Shops which continue to be sources of complaint will be penalized to the full extent of the law and subject to police investigations that would see any illegal aliens deported immediately, he warned.

K. Winai called for cooperation from the Immigration Police in this regard, as deportation procedures fall under their area of responsibility.

“We’re still looking for a solution to the labor problems in the tailor shops, especially as many of them serve merely as fronts which take customer orders, with the actual tailoring done by a third party,” he said.

“We have set up neighborhood committees to investigate and find out which shops fall into this category. Once we have an idea of the scale of the problem, we will meet again to decide what should be done,” he said.

In addition to the problem of illegal aliens working in the industry, complaints have also been received from Thai workers in the shops that they were being paid less than the minimum wage, he said.