'Skills deficiency hurts overseas labour'

Thailand must reduce its fees for overseas job placements and improve the language skills of workers, labour authorities have warned.

Labour Minister Chalermchai Sri-on said that Israeli ambassador to Thailand Itzhak Shoham had told him that the job placement fees for Thai workers seeking work in Israel were too high. As a result, Israel was considering reducing its quota for imported Thai labourers.

Mr Chalermchai said other countries shared a similar sentiment and were rejecting Thai workers because they viewed Thai labourers as victims of human trafficking. The high fees they pay to go abroad means Thai workers must work very hard and live in poor conditions to repay the debt incurred by the placement.

Israel had earlier suggested that Thailand send its workers through the International Organisation for Migration to reduce the cost of job placement overseas. The proposal was made a few years ago, but Israel has yet to receive a response from the Thai government.

Mr Chalermchai said his subordinates are studying the proposal, but for now he advises Thai workers to apply for membership with the Israeli labour organisation Histadrut.

Membership in the organisation cuts job placement expenses by 20,000 baht, he said.

Mr Chalermchai said job placement fees for a worker seeking employment in Israel should be 150,000 baht but agencies charge as much as 300,000 baht.

Upgrading the skills of Thai labourers working abroad is another matter that must be addressed, said Samarn Laodamrongchai, a researcher at the Institute of Asian Studies of Chulalongkorn University.

He said that the number of Thai workers leaving for overseas jobs has dropped from over 100,000 per year to 70,000-80,000 due to a lack of improvement in labour and language skills.

He said workers from Vietnam and the Philippines were more competitive in this respect.

Supat Kukhun, deputy director-general of the Employment Department, said that Thais used to be the most prevalent foreign workers in South Korea through the country's Employment Permit System for foreign workers, but it has since been surpassed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Nepal.

He said only one in 10 Thai workers looking for work in South Korea are able to pass language tests. Fewer than 1,000 Vietnamese job seekers passed language tests in the first year of South Korea's foreign employment system examinations, but today 85% of applicants from that country successfully complete the tests.

Vietnamese and Filipino workers with language skills work in medium-sized businesses in low-risk roles.

Thais work in small businesses and often take on dangerous jobs due to their limited language skills.