Child slave labour is not practised among Thai and immigrant workers in Samut Sakhon, the provincial labour welfare office said yesterday.
Office chief Bunrit Saenphan was speaking after leading a group of US Department of Labor officials on a tour of seafood processing factories in the coastal province. The visit follows a private charity agency study claiming many among the 20,000 young Thai and foreign workers there are being overworked or exploited in the seafood and fishery industries.
He said workers under 15 in the province were mostly children helping with their parents' household chores or willingly in small-scale industries. "It's not child slave labour, nor are they involved in works with hazardous environments," he said.
Bunrit admitted illegal employment of immigrant workers was continuing in Samut Sakhon, but the situation was better as a result of efforts by office workers. Business operators were also cooperating and volunteers were feeding the authorities with tip-offs over illegal hirings.
A Mirror Foundation study says more than 20,000 Thai and foreign workers, aged 15-18, including 4,715 registered Thai workers, are working in factories under harsh conditions.
There are now more than 100,000 young and adult immigrant workers registered in Samut Sakhon, where there are more than 100 unregistered seafood processing factories. Large numbers of others live and work there illegally.
The US officials will continue paying visits to various locations in the province until Friday. "But they have found no illegal activities or abuse yet," Bunrit said.