Published on August 26, 2005

Thailand has much to learn from Taiwan in terms of human rights policy regarding foreign workers. Victimised Thai workers and Thai society in general must gracefully accept the sincere apology offered by Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu on Wednesday for failure by Taiwanese authorities to enforce labour standards and protect workers’ human rights.

It was brave and honourable for Taipei to own up to its mistake and take remedial actions to see to it that Taiwanese employers provide decent working and living conditions and accord Thai and other foreign workers respect and human dignity. Her apology followed the Sunday riot by Thai workers employed to build a subway system in Taiwan’s southern port city of Kaohsiung. There was nothing perfunctory about the way the vice president expressed her remorse on behalf of Taiwan for the alleged mistreatment of Thai workers by Hua Pan, a company hired by Kaohsiung Mass Transit Bureau to provide accommodation and manage their living quarters.

“It is regrettable that such a thing could have happened in Taiwan which has boasted of its respect for human rights,” Lu told reporters after meeting with labour officials and local authorities in Kaohsiung. “The improper management that led to the riot makes us feel ashamed.”

Preliminary investigation by Taiwanese authorities suggests that the workers were subjected to mental distress, including being unfairly fined for small transgressions, in addition to inhumane and squalid conditions of their dormitory, according to Taiwanese media reports. Taiwanese workers’ rights advocacy groups also showed solidarity with foreign workers by demonstrating in front of the Council of Labour offices to protest the council’s failure to investigate complaints of ill treatment foreign workers and to demand it review foreign workers policy. There are about 90,000 Thai workers being employed in Taiwan, which makes it the biggest national group of foreign workers in the territory. Taiwan also represents the biggest labour market for overseas Thai workers, which number about 150,000 in total, who remitted some US$1.5 billion (or Bt60 billion) home in 2004.

The labour situation in highly industrialised Taiwan is, in a number of ways, similar to what is happening in Thailand: the demand for unskilled and semi-skilled labour far outstrips supply, necessitating import of large number of foreign workers to make up for the shortfall. To be fair, as is the case anywhere in the world Taiwan and Thailand included, some unscrupulous employers will always try to take advantage of foreign workers. It takes alert government authorities, well-informed public and active civil society organisations to see to it that workers are protected and well treated.

Which brings us to the often unfair way in which Thailand treats its estimated 1.3 million foreign workers from Burma, Cambodia and Laos, who are employed in agriculture, fisheries and as domestic helpers and construction workers. Although things are improving – last year the Thai government began requiring all migrant workers to apply for work permits, in a move inching toward better regulation of foreign workforce.

Yet too many foreign workers are still being employed illicitly and as such are subjected to human rights abuses, unfair treatment and inadequate healthcare, education and other services for their children born in Thailand. Many employers are unwilling to register foreign workers, in order to avoid being required to improve living and working conditions, which would cut into their profit margins. To them, it is simply cheaper to bribe corruption-prone law enforcement officials to turn a blind eye on illicit employment of foreign workers.

This dismal state of affairs must not be allowed to continue. The government must come up with a more realistic quota for the foreign workers it needs and see to it that employers who choose to hire foreign workers rewards them for their valuable service by improving their working and living conditions.

The Thai public must also wake up to the reality that it is consistent with Thailand’s national interest to treat foreign workers well because a regulated foreign labour force that is well taken care of and paid fairly helps improve productivity, competitiveness and even stimulate the economy with their spending. There is a lesson to be learned from what happened to Thai workers in Taiwan.

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