Getting caught in war among risks faced by Thais working overseas

Evacuation of thousands from Israel-Hamas war zone underscores their plight

- Tan Tam Mei

BANGKOK - Unsafe labour conditions, the threat of getting trafficked, and getting caught in the crossfire of a war. These are some of the vulnerabilities faced by Thai labourers who head overseas to find work.

The recent evacuation of thousands of Thais from the Israel-Hamas war zone and the rescue of over 200 Thais from a Myanmar call-centre scam zone are recent instances that underscore the risks Thai labourers are exposed to when seeking employment overseas.

Most overseas Thai labourers are involved in the semi-skilled fields spanning the agricultural, industrial and services sectors.

Better domestic salaries and a more educated population had

seen the number of Thais heading overseas dwindle from the highs of almost 200,000 nearly two decades ago, to about 113,000 in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.

This figure fell to less than 40,000 in 2020 and 2021, but surged to nearly 129,000 in 2023, as the country sees a weaker than expected economic recovery.

Several structural issues, such as income inequality, pandemicinduced economic hardship and the lack of development and opportunities in rural Thailand have, in the period following the pandemic, increased the number of Thais going overseas for work, said Dr Sakkarin Niyomsilpa, a lecturer at Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research.