Thai workers in Israel want tax safeguards

The action follows complaints from many Thai workers upon their return home.

Speaking yesterday during his current visit to Udon Thani, Phadermchai said workers had told him Israeli employers, during 20 years of bilateral employment deals, demanded that the Thais sign agreements that they did not wish to have income-tax payments reimbursed when their contracts ended. The penalty for not complying would be that they received no salaries at all, or would be unable to return to Thailand.

"This is no small issue, as Thai workers are entitled to earn fully what they should get. Their money has been lost to Israeli employers in large amounts. I've ordered the DoE to look into the issue and sort it out through negotiations with the Israeli authorities," he said.

DoE director-general Prawit Khiangphol said income tax on Thai workers was 10 per cent, and it was deducted by employers throughout the employment period. But the amount was not returned to Thai workers, who had no choice but to sign agreements saying they did not wish to receive it. Many Thai workers who launched successful lawsuits against their employers were given half the amount, losing the other half in lawyers' fees.

Prawit said he would seek negotiations through the Thai Embassy in Israel, asking the Israeli government to tell the employers hiring Thai workers to return any income tax owed to them when their contracts ended, or when they returned to Thailand.

A Udon Thani local, who worked in Israel and asked not to be named, said he had not been reimbursed about Bt240,000 in deducted income tax after working under a five-year deal that ended last year. "A total of Bt4.8 million earned by myself and 19 others who worked together has been lost," he said.

The source said he had learned that some people who had worked in Israel for more than 20 years were demanding the same deal with employers. He said many who sued for their tax reimbursement lost the lawsuits, because they had agreed not to receive the tax reimbursement.

Pongphol Saengkaew, a Thai working in Israel for 13 years, said it was easier and more convenient for Thais to seek employment through private job-placement firms, rather than a government-to-government scheme arranged by the DoE, despite much higher service fees.

He said there had not been mediators to look after Thai workers when they had problems through the state-assisted channel. Any assistance provided upon their request through embassy contacts was processed slowly.