Thais in Polish 'job swindle' want help

The Labour Ministry has been urged to help 58 Thai workers allegedly swindled by a job recruitment firm after they went to work in Poland.

Janya Yimprasert, chairperson of the Thai Labour Campaign's network of abused overseas workers, yesterday took two of the workers to petition the Labour Ministry through the government's complaint centre.

The rest of the workers are still in Poland. Twenty have been charged for not having work permits and have been ordered to leave the country.

The workers said, however, they have been left to fend for themselves.

They claimed Kitti Brothers job recruitment firm had deceived them by promising them highly-paid jobs in Poland.

They paid the firm 250,000-400,000 baht each in brokerage fees in return for jobs that were supposed to pay 50,000 baht a month. They were sent to work on farms and their Polish employers had not abided by their employment contracts, the workers claimed.

Mrs Janya said a group of Thai workers working on farms in Poland had sought help from her network. They said their employers refused to pay them their wages. They worked mostly on swine, chicken, strawberry and flower farms.

Mrs Janya said the workers wanted the government to press the Polish employers to pay wages owed to them.

They also called on the ministry to order Kitti Brothers to refund them the brokerage fees plus interest.

Songkran Onthonglang, 33, a native of Udon Thani, said he had been placed to work on a farm, not in a noodle factory as promised by the brokerage firm.

He and other workers paid 400,000 baht each in brokerage fees to the job recruitment firm.

Thawee Triwisen, 28, of Buri Ram, said many workers wanted to return home after they had been abused by their employers.

His wife was told by the job recruitment firm not to take any legal action against it. In return, it would help get Mr Thawee back home.

Amnuay Jina, 60, a Sukhothai resident, said her daughter Kittikarn Ratbandan was among those charged with illegal entry into Poland.

She demanded the job recruitment company return the 270,000 baht brokerage fee her daughter paid.

Suphat Kukhun, deputy director-general of the Employment Department, said his agency had coordinated with the Foreign Ministry to provide initial assistance to the workers left in Poland.

An initial investigation found most Thai workers had entered Poland legally and obtained work permits.

His agency would check why Polish authorities had charged the workers.

Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the foreign minister, added that if the arrested workers wanted to lodge an appeal, the ministry would coordinate with Kitti Brothers to help them fight their case.