The Labour Ministry has capped the fee placement firms charge job seekers heading to Taiwan and threatened to revoke their operating licences if they overcharge.
Padermchai: Warns of licence revocations
Labour Minister Padermchai Sasomsap yesterday said the fee for sending job seekers to work in Taiwan must not exceed 40,000 baht per head.
This amount includes a brokerage fee equal to one month's salary for a worker of 28,000-30,000 baht, travel expenses and a medical check-up charge, the minister said.
In past years, overseas job seekers wanting to work in Taiwan had been charged as much as 120,000 baht each by brokers.
The minister told representatives of job-placement firms that Thais must not take advantage of their compatriots. He urged operators not to overcharge job seekers.
He said the 40,000-baht limit on fees set by the ministry was based on figures proposed by several related agencies.
Any firm found charging fees above the limit would have their operating licence revoked, he said.
He spoke during an employment pact signing at the ministry. Job-placement firm operators were invited to sign a deal to promise they would abide by the ministry's limits on expenses for sending job seekers abroad.
Kerksak Sakbodin, chairman of the Thai Overseas Manpower Association, confirmed that many job placement agencies were willing to cooperate with the ministry fee cap.
Taiwan is a popular labour market where about 70,000 Thais are now employed.