The Department of Employment will impose strict screening for Thai workers wanting to work in Israel, following reports that 55% of Thai workers employed in that country were involved in illicit drug use and smuggling.
Department chief Sumet Mahosot said on Friday that Labour Minister Surasak Karnjanarat expressed his concern over the involvement of Thai workers in illegal drugs following a Foreign Ministry report that about 15,000 out of 27,000 Thais working in Israel were found to have been involved with drugs.
Gen Surasak was worried about the future of Thai workers overseas if they were addicted to drugs. Their salaries would end up paying for drugs instead of supporting their families, said Mr Sumet.
The labour minister has ordered the department to closely work with the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Royal Thai Police Office and other agencies to address this problem, the department chief said.
Mr Sumet said he will consult the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which jointly screens Thai workers to Israel, about tight screening measures to prevent them getting involved in drugs. These measures include urine tests and background checks.
Those who test positive for illicit drug use will not be allowed to work in Israel, he said. Police will be asked to help check personal records.
The department will also coordinate with the Suvarnabhumi airport to strictly check the travelling bags of workers.
Mr Sumet said he earlier visited Thai workers in Israel and found 3,500 Thais working in the southern part of that country were addicted to drugs, particularly methamphetamine. Workers who were also drug dealers had allegedly paid one million baht to those who smuggled illegal drugs to Israel, he said. Drug use was rampant among Thai workers in Israel.
Punishment for those involved in the smuggling of methamptamine is light in Israel, with a jail term of only six months, he said.