Workers lose Bt755m to bogus job offers

The victims are mostly based in Bangkok, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Ratchasima, Lampang and Udon Thani, the department's director-general Prawit Khiangphol said. Between October 2010 to September 2011, 1,783 workers were duped of up to Bt120 million.

The most common problems are that workers find themselves jobless after arriving at their destination, or are not paid enough, or not provided the conditions promised in the contracts or find the deal completely bogus. So far, 485 workers have lost a total of Bt32 million to job-placement firms and suffered one or all of the problems listed above.

Another 1,323 workers, who were duped of Bt87 million in total, found they could either not enter the country, or were forced to work illegally, or were left stranded or had nothing to do. The DOE stepped in and helped recover Bt59 million for the victims in 2008 and Bt185 million the following year.

In a move to tackle fraud, the DOE has been taking action on illegal firms and imposing strict regulations on newly registered companies. Five of the job-placement firms have lost their licences, another 15 face suspension and 26 have been fined so far, he said.

The DOE has secured soft loans for Thai workers wanting to work overseas from three state-run banks including Krung Thai Bank and Government Savings Bank, Prawit said.