การคุ้มครองและสวัสดิการของแรงงานไทยที่เดินทางไปทำงานในต่างประเทศ : มุมมองจากนโยบายและกฎหมายของประเทศต้นทาง

บทคัดย่อ

The objectives of the study “Protection and welfare of Thai workers overseas: views from the policies and laws of the country of origin" are to (1) study the problems of Thai workers going overseas; (2) study policies, laws and regulations relating to the protection and welfare of Thai workers, along with a case study from the Philippines as a comparative analysis; and (3) make recommendations to resolve the problems. This study employed primary data from indepth interviews with samples of workers who had worked overseas, people from employment agencies and related government officials. Related secondary data were also collected from documents. The results show that during the last 10 years (2000-2009), most of the Thai workers going overseas got their jobs through employment agencies, but the percentage of workers who went independently increased year by year. The five major countries that import Thai workers (accounting for about 80% of overseas Thai workers) are Taiwan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Israel, in that order. A study of the rules and regulations to protect foreign workers in those 5 countries that are the major labor markets indicate that all of them have labor laws and related regulations to protect foreign workers equal to those for their own nationals, as long as the foreign workers are legitimately employed. For Thai laws, the 1985 Employment and Worker Protection Act is the key law controlling the employment agency business and providing assistance for Thai workers overseas. So far, the Thai authorities concerned have performed their duties according to the laws, regulations and policies in solving the problems of deceitful employment agencies, monitoring foreign employers in upholding employment contracts and promoting the Thai labor market abroad. However, there are still problems such as the relatively low level of education and skills of most Thai workers going overseas, exploitation of workers by some unethical employment agencies, foreign employers failing to uphold employment contracts, limited government staff to deal with the problems, and a shortage of overseas jobs provided by the government, meaning long waiting lists. Analysis of the labor protection regulations of the Philippines compared to those of Thailand shows that they are similar in the rules set to control employment agencies, measures to protect workers and the authority of government bodies to deal with the relevant issues. The main differences are that Philippine laws includes provisions to protect workers in the shipping industry but Thai law does not at the moment; and the Philippines has written provisions on illegal recruitment as an offense equivalent to economic sabotage but Thai laws have not given it such a high priority. Philippine law allows people more freedom in running employment agency businesses and provides welfare and protection to overseas workers that are more extensive than in the case of Thai laws. Philippine laws have a deregulation provision on reducing government controls on overseas job seekers and the recruitment businesses, which shows its intention to liberalize this business sector while there is no such provision in Thai laws. Recommendations of the study are (1) to resolve Thai worker problems in an integrated manner with all related agencies; (2) to use preventive measures prior to going overseas as a basis for protecting workers; (3) to give Thai authorities a good attitude about helping and protecting Thai workers overseas; (4) to require the level of special investigation in cases of labor fraud; (5) to extend more welfare to Thai workers; (6) to make more agreements or memoranda of understanding with Thai labor importing countries; and (7) to put more effort into the government’s work to enhance the education and skills of Thai workers.

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