Written by Myat Nyo

22 January 2012—Samut Sakhon, Thailand—For no apparent reason, more than one hundred migrant workers were dismissed today from the Pakfood Public Company Limited’s shrimp processing plant in Sumut Sakhon Province.

On 19 January 2012 Pakfood returned to workers the funds that Pakfood had been withholding from worker paychecks to defray the cost of work permits and temporary passports for the workers. In addition, each dismissed worker also received THB1000 as compensation for the dismissal.

Mr. Tar, one of the dismissed workers, said that, “We estimate that 120 migrants were refunded money by the employer. That money had been kept by the company in order to pay for the work permits and temporary passports that we need in order to work here legally. Now, we are going to be undocumented again because we can’t get documents within a reasonable timeframe”.

Mr. Khaine, a migrant worker’s rights activist, noted that, “There are over one thousand Burmese migrants working at the factory and the migrants who were dismissed had worked there for two to six months. Work at the shrimp factory is seasonal and migrants are dismissed depending on how many shrimp are received for processing”. He went on to state that, “I went factory as soon as I heard of the incident. Migrants are afraid when they are undocumented. Thai labor laws clearly state that employers cannot dismiss without cause. The laws also say that workers cannot walk out. Labor brokers working for the employer don’t want migrants to listen to any advice from me.”

An additional six migrants were arrested when they arrived at the Pakfood factory near Maha Chai shortly after the dismissal, but they were released later after paying THB500 to local police as a monthly security fee. “We were arrested because the area was crowded with many dismissed workers”, said one migrant who had been arrested.

Established in 1972, Pakfood is one of the Thailand’s largest seafood & ready-to-eat food processors. It supplies more than 100 products to countries around the world, including the USA, Japan, and the European Community. Their website is at www.pakfood.co.th.