BANGKOK, 22 June 2015 – The Department of Employment (DOE) has allayed concerns of job seekers wanting to work overseas and affirmed that the government has no plan to halt employment programs to South Korea, due to the MERS-CoV outbreak.
The DOE confirmed it will continue to send Thai workers for jobs in East Asia. Each month, about 1,000 Thai people travel to South Korea for employment in small-scale manufacturing, construction and agriculture. These hiring contracts are often negotiated government-to-government. Currently, at least 23,000 Thais workers are in South Korea.
Although the recruitment service will proceed as normal, the department said it has tightened pre-departure requirements to ensure that all Thais going to South Korea are well-informed of ways to protect themselves against MERS-CoV and other infectious diseases.
Aside from required health check-ups, the workers must participate in an orientation that gives them guidance to prevent infection by the fatal virus.
The Thai embassy in Seoul and the Thailand Overseas Employment Administration will regularly check on Thai workers in South Korea to observe their health and living conditions. So far, no Thai nationals in South Korea were reported to have come down with MERS-CoV.
