More than 200 Thai workers left for Israel yesterday under a bilateral labour cooperation pact amid tight coronavirus control measures, said Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin.
A total of 206 workers have taken up employment in the Middle Eastern country under the Thai-Israel Cooperation on the Placement of Workers (TIC).
It was the third group to have gone to Israel under the TIC this year. The first and second contingents comprised 386 workers.
The target is to send 2,000 TIC workers to Israel before the end of January, the minister said.
Mr Suchart, who saw the second group off at Suvarnabhumi airport on Thursday, said the workers are expected to earn a monthly wage equivalent to 48,073 baht each, before tax.
The labour export programme to Israel was launched in June 2012.
Each year, Thailand is offered a quota of up to 5,000 workers and to date, 40,082 Thai workers have worked under the TIC, generating 54 billion baht in revenue for the kingdom.
Mr Suchart said the recruitment process, from job application, interview to the signing of labour contracts, was conducted with transparency. Health safety also ranks high as a priority in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since the Covid-19 outbreak was brought under control in the middle of the year, 16,466 workers have been sent overseas.
The highest number went to Taiwan (5,032), followed by Sweden (3,189), Finland (2,319), Japan ( 2,107) and Vietnam (473), according to the ministry.
Mr Suchart said before the workers set off overseas, they were informed about labour conditions, pay and legal protection in a training session organised by the Department of Employment.
They are registered as members of a fund set up by the ministry to provide emergency assistance to Thai workers overseas.
Also, every worker being employed overseas is now required to be insured against Covid-19.
They are charged an insurance premium starting at 199 baht.