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Published on July 21, 2007

Creditors of Thai Silp South East Asia Import Export are committed to finding a way to revive the financially troubled garment-manufacturer, Kasikornbank said yesterday.

The bank held an urgent meeting with fellow creditors Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Bank of Ayudhya and HSBC yesterday morning to discuss possible solutions for Thai Silp.

"We are committed to lending financial assistance to the company under a sound business plan or business-rehabilitation plan," Kasikornbank said in a statement issued after the meeting.

The banks are ready to send in experts to help the company's owners draft a rehabilitation plan. They will also seek a meeting with the owners on Monday for further discussions, the statement said.

Thai Silp workers yesterday set up a five-member panel to assist in selling off the firm's assets to raise the money for full wages and compensation following the company's sudden closure last week.

Workers' representative Boonleu Yodboon said that so far 35 items worth Bt140 million, mostly vehicles, had been found to be mortgage-free and would be sold to raise money for workers' wages from July 1 to 15.

The wages for July 16 to 31 and August 1 to 6, including severance pay, will be paid when the asset sale is over, he said.

Boonleu also urged the governor of Samut Prakan to complete a check on the firm-owners' assets nationwide within 3-5 days.

Workers continued camping outside the main factory in Samut Prakan yesterday and urged their fellows not to take up new jobs just yet for fear they might not get their due from Thai Silp.

Boonleu said the workers would ask the Lawyers Council of Thailand for legal assistance as they had no one to advise them.

He urged the labour minister to give the assistance promised at last week's talks on reopening the firm's factories and reinstating workers.

Factory worker Winit Sriphrom said she would fight to the end for full wages and compensation before looking for a new job.

She said she would return to Phetchabun, where she had some agricultural land, if she could not find a job.

Duangta Churat, 37, said she was disappointed by state agencies' failure to deliver the help promised after the firm's abrupt closure on July 11.

"Half wages is about Bt2,000. That won't cover my rent. What about meals and children's expenses? I want the employers to pay us in full, so we can survive," she said.

Pirarat Singwong, 35, said most workers did not believe the firm's owners lacked the money for payments because they had been in business for years and had probably transferred funds elsewhere.

She said she had called phone numbers given on job leaflets but been told there were no vacancies.

A Thai Silp office worker said the firm had 4,992 employees, 500 on monthly salaries and the rest on daily wages. About 450 workers resigned on July 16 and 17, most of them after getting jobs elsewhere.

Sakda Thepjaroenniran of the Samut Prakan Labour Protection and Welfare Office affirmed that the workers would be paid their wages, overtime, severance pay and compensation for unused annual holidays because the firm's owners had signed an agreement on this.

Workers who took up jobs elsewhere are still eligible to receive unpaid wages and compensation from Thai Silp under the Labour Protection Act 1998, Sakda said.

Guards at the Thai Silp factory alerted police yesterday morning that half a dozen employees had stolen tools and gas tanks, despite the presence of 10 policemen at the factory.

Lance Corporal Thaksin Kasang of the Rachatheva police station said the thefts had taken place from the back of the factory, to which the police had no access.