1.5 million foreign workers in Thailand, mostly illegally

BANGKOK, Aug 18 – Almost 1.5 million foreign workers currently live in Thailand, most of whom are not legally registered with the authorities.

Speaking at a national seminar on developing public health services for foreign workers, Deputy Permanent-Secretary of Public Health, Dr Siriwat Tiptaradol, said that according to statistics from the Ministry of Labour as of January 19, there were 1,310,690 foreign workers living in Thailand.

Most of the workers have had expired work permits since February 28, he said, and they must go through the nationality verification process. However, they are temporarily allowed to stay in Thailand to await being deported to their home countries by February 28, 2012.

MCOT