BANGKOK, Thailand – The Ministry of Labor has established a monitoring center to track developments in the Middle East and prepare assistance measures for Thai workers following escalating hostilities involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. The update was delivered by Santi Nantasuwan, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Labor, during a briefing on March 5 at the Joint Press Center on the Emergency Situation in the Middle East at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Authorities said 61,396 Thai workers are currently employed across the Middle East through official authorization and work-notification procedures managed by the Department of Employment. In response to the situation, the ministry has set up a war room led by the permanent secretary for labor to monitor developments, receive reports, and coordinate assistance for Thai workers in the region.
Deployment of Thai workers to the Middle East has been temporarily suspended, with attention to high-risk countries such as Israel and Iran. Workers already in the region have been encouraged to activate the SMART TOEA mobile application, which records the geographic coordinates of their residences and workplaces. The system allows authorities to quickly identify worker locations and provide assistance during emergencies, while also serving as a channel for official updates.
Provincial labor offices across Thailand have also been instructed to visit families of workers in the Middle East to encourage them to inform relatives to keep the SMART TOEA application active and enable location sharing. Thai labor offices in the region are coordinating with Royal Thai embassies to assist workers and monitor conditions. Authorities have also prepared contingency plans, including personnel support, should the evacuation of Thai workers back to Thailand become necessary.
