More than 2,000 foreign nationals have been arrested for illegal work in Thailand over the past three months, according to the Labour Ministry.
Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said that since the ministry launched a campaign to inspect workplaces employing migrant workers nationwide under the theme "finding, arresting, and extraditing," progress has been made.
From June 5 to Oct 2, officials inspected 20,152 outlets employing 277,770 migrant workers.
The largest group of migrant workers consists of 209,435 Myanmar nationals, followed by 42,766 Cambodians, 16,481 Laotians, 181 Vietnamese, and 8,907 from other nationalities.
Out of 20,152 workplaces, 844 were found to be employing illegal immigrant workers.
A total of 2,063 individuals were arrested: 1,289 Myanmar nationals, 281 Cambodians, 315 Laotians, 41 Vietnamese, and 137 from other nationalities.
"Thailand's economy depends on the labour sector to drive it. We prioritise striking a balance between recruiting Thai nationals and overseeing foreign workers to meet the demands of businesses and help them maximise efficiency in fields such as manufacturing, agriculture, and industry," said the minister.
The Department of Employment's director-general, Somchai Morakotsriwan, said the department will increase its focus on investigating groups of foreign workers who take jobs reserved for Thai nationals, such as travel agents, tour guides, masseurs, or barbers.
"Foreign workers coming to Thailand must respect our laws. They must have proper identification documents and work permits and work according to the rights specified in the Ministry of Labour's announcements," he said.
Meanwhile, Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said City Hall is pursuing an initiative to return footpaths to pedestrians and relocate street vendors to designated areas.
"The heart of the street vendor issue is the use of public areas to make a living.
"It has been a long-standing problem that has become a way of life for some people but creates conflict with pedestrians.
"Our main goal is that in the future, street vendors will decrease and should not occupy public spaces," he said.
"We'll allocate spaces for them so that sellers don't have to worry about their stalls blocking walkways. This will make them feel safer and allow them to live better," he said.
City Hall plans to adopt the model of Hawker Centres in Singapore. New regulations on street vendors will be introduced next year, allowing vendors to operate in these designated areas, he said.
Over the past two years, City Hall has prepared some areas for street vendors and relocated some of them.
"I believe this effort will help make the city more orderly," he said.