PPEO moves to allay manual labor shortage

PHUKET: In a bid to ease Phuket’s manual labor shortage, the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) is accepting applications to extend by one year the work permits of the 19,000 Burmese, Laotian and Cambodian laborers working in Phuket whose work permits are set to expire this month.

Employers can register their migrant laborers at the PPEO building on Rattanakosin 200 Pi Rd, from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday.

PPEO officer Nantachai Thepcharoen made the announcement yesterday at the governor’s monthly press meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall.

There are 34,000 migrant laborers registered with the PPEO, 15,000 of whom have already had their work permits renewed, said K. Nantachai.

The number of unregistered laborers in Phuket remains unknown, he said.

“Phuket employers requested from us a quota of 50,000 workers, but so far only 34,000 have been registered. I think there must be at least 16,000 laborers working illegally in Phuket,” he added.

Due to the political situation in Myanmar, the central government has deferred increasing the number of Burmese laborers issued work permits, he said, adding that the Ministry of Labor will lobby the central government to increase the quota.