Thai Migrant Workers in the Middle East
March 2003
Migrant workers are one of Thailand�s most important exports. The money that workers can earn overseas returns to Thailand as a significant source of income, especially to families in the poorer provinces from which many migrant workers come.
The government recognises the importance of the workers and has various plans to assist them and to help them gain better skills. Most overseas employers know that Thais are hard-working and honest and yet in most cases prefer to hire Filipino workers because of their English language ability. If Thais had better language skills, they could dramatically increase the demand for their services internationally.
However, the conditions in which the workers have to live and work are often very poor. Not only must they live without seeing their family and friends, their accommodation can be small, dirty and far from facilities, they have little choice about their food and they may face dangerous working conditions. In some cases, employers simply refuse to pay them and try to have them expelled from the country. Migrant workers are also threatened by terrorists, as was shown by the attack on Thai workers in Israel recently.[1]
There are more than 200,000 Thais working overseas and around 50,000 of them are in the Middle East (see Table 1).[2] The demand for migrant workers in that region is particularly high because many countries have become rich through drilling oil and so are able to build their countries very rapidly. At the same time, local people have become rich and are mostly unwilling to do manual labour or other low-paid work. Middle Eastern countries are mostly hot and dry and many have strong Islamic regimes which further restrict the lifestyle of migrant workers.
| 1,081 |
|
12,765 |
|
2,702 |
|
5,297 |
|
8,441 |
|
Other |
| 1,154 |
|
12,952 |
|
20,411 |
|
5,445 |
|
8,607 |
|
Other Middle East |
| 1,155 |
|
14,619 |
|
21,273 |
|
5,488 |
|
8,607 |
|
Singapore |
| 1,180 |
|
15,354 |
|
3,708 |
|
542 |
|
8,764 |
|
South Korea |
| 1,247 |
|
159,566 |
|
4,701 |
|
6,086 |
|
876 |
|
Taiwan |
| 1,310 |
|
160,810 |
|
4,817 |
|
66,732 |
|
9,801 |
|
Total |
| 1,579 |
|
165,047 |
|
4,831 |
|
7,078 |
|
91,370 |
|
United Arab Emirates |
| 1,723 |
|
177,709 |
|
4,962 |
|
7,155 |
|
94,126 |
|
1998 |
| 1,743 |
|
18,181 |
|
5,033 |
|
7,583 |
|
Brunei |
|
1999 |
| 1,902 |
|
2,089 |
|
5,090 |
|
772 |
|
Hong Kong |
|
2000 |
| 101,814 |
|
2,171 |
|
5,121 |
|
780 |
|
Israel |
|
2001 |
| 110,753 |
|
2,197 |
|
5,207 |
|
79,589 |
|
Japan |
|
2002 |
| 12,163 |
|
2,428 |
|
5,246 |
|
8,071 |
|
Malaysia |
|
State |
Table 1: Registered Thai Migrant Workers, 1998-2002; source: Department of Employment figures.
It is not known how many Thais are working in Iraq, partly because of the sanctions imposed on that country and the actions of private employment agencies which are difficult to control. Now, the Minister of Labour and his leading officials are rushing to Kuwait and other countries in the region which have become particularly dangerous now it seems there will definitely be a war in Iraq. The Ministry of Labour helps overseas Thai workers to find safety together with Thai Embassies and Consulates. But this is particularly difficult to manage when it is not clear how many people are present in a country and where they are. Unlike some foreign expatriate workers from Europe or North America, for example, many Thai workers do not have enough money to be able to arrange their own transportation back home. Indeed, there are reports that as many as half the estimated 1,000 workers in Iraq have chosen to remain in that country despite the current war there because of fear of losing their jobs and loss of income.
Male
Female
Total
Professional, Technical and Related Workers
3,173 (2.3%)
899 (3.6%)
4,072 (2.5%)
Administrative, Executive and Managerial Workers
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
Clerical and Related Workers
1,592 (1.1%)
729 (2.9%)
2,321 (1.4%)
Sales Workers
86 (0.1%)
152 (0.6%)
238 (0.1%)
Service Workers
5,069 (3.6%)
8,970 (36.0%)
14,039 (8.6%)
Agricultural, Animal Husbandry and Forest Workers, Fishers and Hunters
664 (0.5%)
139 (0.6%)
803 (0.5%)
Production and Related Workers
30,574 (21.8%)
3,666 (14.7%)
34,240 (20.9%)
Technical Workers and Transport Equipment Operators
26,256 (18.7%)
6,705 (26.9%)
32,961 (20.0%)
Labourers Not Elsewhere Classified
72,690 (51.9%)
3,683 (14.8%)
76,373 (46.3%)
Total
140,104 (100%)
24,943 (100%)
165,047 (100%)
Table 2: Thai Migrant Workers Positions, 2001; source: Department of Employment figures.
Table 2 shows that most Thai workers are in what appear to be comparatively low paid jobs, with more than half of the men classified as labourers and more than a third of women in service industries. Despite the comparatively low pay o these occupations, the income is still thought preferable to what can be earned in Thailand and, in many cases, the lifestyle the migrant workers endure is so restrictive that is enables them to save a large proportion of their money.
Temporary migrant workers are just one category of people who are involved in crossing international boundaries. One typology of all such movements includes:
� Temporary labour migrants;
� Highly skilled and business migrants;
� Irregular migrants;
� Refugees;
� Asylum-seekers;
� Forced migrants;
� Family members;
� Return migrants.[3]
Thailand and Thais have been involved in all aspects of these migratory flows, with people coming to Thailand for a wide variety of reasons and Thais moving overseas similarly. Particular attention should be paid to those most vulnerable to abuse and stress. One report has identified problems relating to Thai women working overseas in a variety of occupations and included, in addition to the occasional need to arrange illegal entry to the target country and the costs and dangers inherent in that, the mental health problems of living overseas and then attempting reintegration into Thai society, unwanted pregnancies, abuse by employers, workplace accidents and disputes with fellow workers.[4]
It will be particularly important in the future to ensure that the Royal Thai Government continues to provide to Thais working overseas the protection and assistance that they will require. It will not be enough to plan skills upgrades and undertake trade diplomacy with a view to negotiating agreements with other countries to allow them to accept more workers.
[1] Yuwadee Tunyasiri and Supot Wancharoen, �Licence Revoked After Gaza Attack,� Bangkok Post (December 2nd, 2002).
[2] Nobody knows for sure exactly how many workers there are because many workers go overseas on private sector job arrangement schemes. Since many of these schemes are unregulated, many of the workers find themselves at greater risk of being cheated or otherwise badly treated. There is also the problem of trafficking (i.e. kidnapping and forced migration of mostly women) which is, by its very nature, shrouded in secrecy.
[3] Castles, Stephen, �International Migration at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century: Global Trends and Issues,� International Social Science Journal, No.165 (September, 2000), pp.269-82.
[4] Supang Chantavanich, �Conclusion, Discussion and Policy Recommendations,� in Christina Wille and Basia Passl, eds., Female Labour Migration in South-East Asia: Change and Continuity (Bangkok: Asian Research Centre for Migration, Institute for Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University, 2001), pp.253-66.
This is a work in progress.
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