The government is reviewing its guidelines over migrant workers in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak at a seafood market in Samut Sakhon.
Tanee Sangrat, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), said yesterday that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai had discussed the matter with Myanmar's Minister for International Cooperation U Kyaw Tin on Sunday, with both committed to preventing the trafficking of workers.
Mr Tanee said the government currently had no intention of allowing in migrant workers from neighbouring countries during the pandemic but the Labour Ministry was considering how this could best resume in the future.
As of yesterday, the number of coronavirus infections in Myanmar rose to 116,134, Cambodia 363, and Laos 41.
Asked by the Bangkok Post whether bilateral action could prevent people sneaking across the border illegally, Mr Tanee said such cooperation had existed for a long time but might be difficult in the present circumstances.
"As far as I know, there are no quotas on the number of [legal] foreign workers. The government encourages them to arrive under MoUs to ensure they undergo screening and receive health insurance," he said.
Thai authorities -- the Immigration Bureau, army and Township Border Committee -- are working with their Myanmar counterparts to monitor high-risk border areas, such as Mae Sai-Tachileik and Mae Sot-Myawaddy, he added.
Mr Tanee stressed that Thailand attached great importance to the role of migrant workers in driving the economy. "The government takes care of them the same as our own workers in terms of wages, livelihoods and coronavirus treatment," he said.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) issued guidelines on Sunday for how to treat the infected migrants. Thailand has decided to adopt Singapore's method of curbing the outbreak because the workers, most of whom are asymptomatic, had been living in the same dormitory.
The migrant workers are forbidden from leaving the building and Ministry of Public Health officials are instead sending in their food and medications.
Meanwhile, Mr Tanee said Thailand had provided medical assistance of more than 45 million baht to Myanmar to ramp up its capacity in handling the coronavirus outbreak.
Among donated items are 10,000 RT-PCR tests, medical equipment and drugs altogether worth two million baht, and a donation of more than one million baht to Rakhine state via the World Food Programme.
