Bangkok court orders worker to be freed from hospital cell
The Southern Bangkok Criminal Court yesterday ordered the Immigration Bureau to immediately release and pay a small sum of damages to an injured Burmese worker held in a locked cell at the Bangkok Police Hospital.
Chalee Diyoo, 33, had been locked in a room in the hospital for more than two weeks, during which time he has had operations to repair a ruptured intestine and a fractured thigh – injuries he sustained in a work accident.
Chalee’s problem was having a Thai employer who absconded and refused to pay his hospital bills after the Burmese was hurt at his worksite. Chalee was unable to pay for three weeks’ treatment at Pathum Thani Hospital and ended up being sent to the Police Hospital, where he was chained to the bed, as he was unable to show ID papers or his work permit and was classed an “illegal”.
The chains were removed four days later, after the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) protested to the Royal Thai Police.
