Registration drive expected to legalize 30,000 Phuket workers

PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) expects 30,000 migrant workers to be processed in the month-long registration drive starting on Wednesday.

“About 49,000 workers have already renewed their registration and we expect 30,000 new foreign workers to register [in the upcoming registration drive],” PPEO Chief Noppadon Ployyoudee told the Phuket Gazette.

The Employment Office will set up a “one stop” registration center at its offices at Saphan Hin from June 15 to July 14 for employers to submit their Tor Tor 1 registration forms.

“We will be open daily except July 2 and 3 [for the national election],” Mr Noppadon said.

He called on all employers to register their migrant workers.

“Please register them, so they can have health checkups and we can register their history. Doing so helps to stave off outbreaks of communicable diseases and makes it easier for police to track down migrant workers who break the law,” he said.

Prasart Boontantrapiwat, president of the Phuket Traders Association, voiced his support for the opening of the registration period.

“There are more than 9,000 employers and more than 100,000 migrant workers in Phuket. We would like them all to be registered,” he added.

— Chutharat Plerin