Bangkok: The government continues to crack down on illegal foreign workers without work permits, emphasizing that illegal work is punishable by both imprisonment and fines. It was revealed that from October 1, 2024 to April 18, 2025, more than 2,000 foreign workers have been prosecuted.
According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Karom Polpornklang, Deputy Government Spokesperson, revealed that in the past period, Thailand has continuously faced the situation of foreign workers illegally entering to work in Thailand, resulting in the competition for jobs among Thais, such as workers in flea markets, fresh markets, nail salon employees, car repair shops, vendors, pushcarts, and online sellers. In order to maintain the stability of Thai workers in the country, as well as prevent problems from illegal employment that may affect the economic stability of society in the long term, the government, through the Ministry of Labor, has integrated with relevant agencies to jointly suppress foreign workers illegally entering the country to work intensively and continuously.
Mr. Karom said that the results of operations in fiscal year 2025 (between October 1, 2024 – April 18, 2025) included inspections of 38,734 establishments employing foreign workers nationwide, prosecution of 1,329 establishments, and inspections of 523,706 foreign workers, of which 398,493 were from Myanmar, 70,371 from Cambodia, 32,983 from Laos, 522 from Vietnam, 9,189 from China, and 12,148 from other nationalities. A total of 2,575 foreign workers were prosecuted, of which 883 were found to have stolen jobs from Thais, of which 481 were from Myanmar, 139 from Cambodia, 109 from Laos, 24 from India, 54 from Vietnam, 21 from China, and 55 from other nationalities. The occupations most frequently stolen by foreigners were peddling goods, barbering, driving vehicles, and massaging, respectively. The sectors where foreigners are prosecuted for not complying with the conditions are shop sales, construction work, and labor work, respectively.
“The foreign worker problem is one of the problems that the government is focused on solving and has been proactively enforcing the law strictly and clearly to suppress continuously. The government would like to remind foreign workers who do not have a work permit or work outside of their rights will be fined between 5,000 and 50,000 baht and will be deported back to their country of origin. They will also be prohibited from applying for a work permit for 2 years from the date of the penalty. Meanwhile, employers/establishments that hire foreign workers without work permits will be fined between 10,000 and 100,000 baht per foreign worker employed. If they commit the offense again, they will be imprisoned for not more than 1 year or fined between 50,000 and 200,000 baht per foreign worker employed and will be prohibited from hiring foreign workers for 3 years. If the public finds illegal employment of foreign workers, they can report it to the Central Employment Registration and Jobseeker Protection Division a
t 02 354 1729 or at the Bangkok Employment Office Area 1-10 and the Provincial Employment Offices in every province. Or call the Ministry of Labor hotline at 1506, press 2, or the Department of Employment hotline at 1694,” said Mr. Karam.