Bangkok and Pattani, Thailand
Advocacy groups representing foreign workers in Thailand’s seafood industry called on the government Tuesday to ensure that employment contracts are made transparent, and to act to prevent workplace exploitation or abuses aboard Thai-owned fishing boats.
A new survey by the Fishers’ Rights Network found that about nine out of 10 foreign migrants working on fishing boats in Thailand had not had their contract translated or explained in a language they can understand. Tens of thousands of migrants from neighboring countries, including Myanmar and Cambodia, work in Thailand’s fishing sector.
At an online news conference where survey results were presented, the network and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) urged Bangkok to do much more to implement Convention No. 188 (C188) of the International Labor Organization. The convention, which came into force in November 2017, aims to shield employees in the seafood
Fishers’ Rights Network calls on Thai Government to enforce contract provisions 29 Jun 2021 Press Release
Fisher leaders from the ITF Fishers Rights Network are calling on the Thai Government to enforce contract provisions. The fishers demand for enforcement follows the release of new survey results that highlight systemic abuses of migrant fishers fundamental rights.
The FRN research, based on surveys of 520 fishers in eight Thai provinces from March-June 2021, revealed that:
87% of fishers in Thailand are not in possession of a copy of their employment contract.
96% of fishers do not completely understand their contract
33% of fishers who understood their contract stated that working conditions were not in accordance with contract terms
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