Large numbers of undocumented alien workers nationwide flocked to register for temporary work permits on the final day of registration yesterday.
In Tak's Mae Sot district, bordering Myanmar, as many as 1,000 Myanmar workers were taken by their employers to register at the one-stop service centre in the district office.
The workers are both migrants who have worked or stayed in Mae Sot for a long time and ethnic Karen people who sought help from brokers to find employers to take them to register.
About 27,000 Myanmar workers have come to register at the centre, officials said.
They said the high turnout was partly because the registration fee was cut from more than 3,000 baht per person to 1,900 baht. Many workers' permits were also due to expire soon.
More than 100,000 Myanmar workers are believed to be working in Mae Sot district.
Meanwhile, the Tak Industrial Council lodged a petition with Tak governor Somchai Hatayatanti seeking to extend the registration deadline to March 31 next year. The governor has yet to approve it.
In the northeastern province of Buri Ram, bordering Cambodia, a huge number of Myanmar, Lao and Cambodian workers also turned up to register at the one-stop service centre in the provincial employment office.
A total of 1,659 foreign workers have registered at the centre since registration there began on Aug 4, officials said.
Buri Rum Employment Office chief Anan Klankayan said employers who hire undocumented alien workers after the registration deadline would face a fine of up to 100,000 baht per worker.
And the undocumented workers would face up to a five-year jail term or a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both, he said.
Jom Janklang, a sugar cane plantation owner in Buri Ram's Pa Kham district, who has taken his foreign workers to register at the centre twice, said he received good service there.
Labour Minister Surasak Karnjanarat said yesterday a total of 1.48 million workers have registered nationwide from June 30 to yesterday.
Of them, 563,947 are Myanmar workers and their 38,949 family members; 202,706 are Lao labourers and 8,788 family members; and 636,400 Cambodians and their 38,474 family members.
A total of 289,422 employers had taken their workers to register, the minister said.
After the registration ended, the documented workers will be required to undergo the national verification process, he said. The workers who pass the verification step will be permitted to work from April 1 next year to March 31, 2016.
The national verification process and work permit processes cost 1,500 baht in total, not including passport fees.
Gen Surasak said after migrant workers receive work permits, they will be entitled to social security welfare coverage.
Those exempted from Social Security Office registration, such as house maids and fishery and farm workers, must buy health insurance cards from the Ministry of Public Health, he added.
Speaking about the nationality verification process, Singhadet Chu-amnart, deputy director-general of the Department of Employment, said Cambodia will send five teams of officials to help verify Cambodian workers.
Myanmar officials will carry out their nationality verification work online, while Lao officials are still sorting out their working methods, he said.