158 illegal Thai workers in South Korea arrested at Thai singer concert

Petch PetpailinMonday, March 27, 2023Last Updated: Thursday, December 21, 2023

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158 illegal Thai workers in South Korea arrested at Thai singer concert — Photo via Facebook/ 이서현 and TikTok arm_chutima

Photo via Facebook/ 이서현 and TikTok arm_chutima

Police arrested 158 illegal Thai workers in South Korea after they visited two restaurants to attend concerts of a well-known Thai singer. Following the incident, the singer expressed her remorse and posted an apology video on TikTok.

Chutima Sodapak, also known as Arm Chutima, was performing in concerts at two bars in Incheon City, South Korea. During her first performance, a raid took place, and 149 illegal Thai workers were arrested. Nine more workers were arrested at the second bar during Arm’s second performance. All of the workers were fined for illegally entering and working in South Korea.

According to Channel 3, each Thai citizen was fined 800,000 baht for illegally entering and working in South Korea.

The singer felt guilty that her concerts led to the arrest of the workers and expressed her remorse on her TikTok account, arm_chutima, yesterday to apologise to her fans in South Korea. She was seen in the video with a sad face. The video caption said…

“I am sorry with all of my heart. I am really sorry.” Watch the video HERE.

Arm also posted another video to express her support for all Thai people working in South Korea. Arm said in the caption…

“I am rooting for all Thai people in South Korea. If you get tired, learn to rest. Your families in Thailand are looking forward to meeting you.”

Arm also expressed her disappointment that she didn’t get a chance to sing during her concerts, as most of her audience was arrested before the show started.

Arm’s followers on TikTok tried to cheer her up. Most stated that the arrests were not her fault. Some followers blamed illegal Thai workers in South Korea for causing difficulties for Thai tourists entering the country.

The suppression of illegal workers in South Korea is a serious problem. The South Korean government asked for cooperation from the Thai government to help suppress illegal Thai workers.

Last month, the Thai Government spokesperson, Ratchada Thanadirek, announced during a press conference that illegal Thai workers, or the little ghosts, could return to Thailand without punishment or fine if they registered and travelled back before February 28.

However, many Thai workers chose to stay even if they were at risk because working in South Korea allowed them to earn a lot more money.

Petch Petpailin

Petpailin, or Petch, is a Thai translator and writer for The Thaiger who focuses on translating breakingThai news stories into English. With a background in field journalism, Petch brings several years of experience to the English News desk at The Thaiger. Before joining The Thaiger, Petch worked as a content writer for several known blogging sites in Bangkok, including Happio and The Smart Local. Her articles have been syndicated by many big publishers in Thailand and internationally, including the Daily Mail, The Sun and the Bangkok Post. She is a news writer who stops reading news on the weekends to spend more time cafe hopping and petting dwarf shrimp! But during office hours, you can find Petch on LinkedIn and you can reach her by email at petch@thethaiger.com.