The Migrant Working Group (MNG) has urged the Labour Minister to extend the registration period for migrant workers by another 15 days after many people encountered problems.
MNG member Adisorn Kerdmongkol said that over the past couple of weeks many migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam have tried to register online but problems have prevented them from being successful.
Some successfully entered their names but received a message telling them their registration was incomplete.
Moreover, the website was down for two days due to system maintenance but this was not taken into account with the deadline approaching. Also, it was not announced beforehand that the photo of each applicant must have a white background.
Mr Adisorn said there must have been many workers unable to register due to a lack of information.
Many employers, therefore, hired agents to file documents for their workers, at a cost of 12,000-18,000 baht each.
Mr Adisorn said that the burden of this cost would fall on the workers.
"We call for an extension of the registration system for another 15 days via both online and offline platforms. There should be more offline registration platforms available at provincial employment offices because there are many people who do not have access to online registration," he said.
He also said there were hundreds of thousands of migrants who must apply for a passport and a required certificate of identity before Feb 13.
However, many Myanmar migrant workers are facing a problem applying for passports at their embassy before the government's March 2023 deadline, officials said.