From: kamol@ipied.tu.ac.TH (Kamol Hengkietisak)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.thai
Subject: Bangkok Post Jan 24: Sunday Post Enquiry: Looking for a "dream job"
Date: 25 Jan 93 13:58:48 GMT
Article-I.D.: ipied.9301241511.AA13204
Organization: Mail/News gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: munnari.oz.au

By Prasong Charasdamrong
 
 
EACH year, a large number of poor rural folks fall victims to 
cunning job agencies in their "quest" for well-paid jobs overseas. 
And even though news reports exposing these schemes appear 
regularly, a constant stream of unaware people are still willing 
to bank their hope -- and their life savings -- on these merchants 
of dreams.
 
Yom Saisuwan, 45-year-old farmer in Ban Kwangthong, Nong Chang 
subdistrict of Uthai Thani and a father of four, paid 25,000 baht 
fee to a job placement agency since last November. He is still 
waiting for that promised job offer to arrive so that he will be 
working and making "real money" in Saudi Arabia.
 
Everyday, thousands of poor people like Yom are waiting at their 
rural homes or at their adopted homes in Bangkok for their dream 
jobs to come through. Many of them would have already spent 
thousands of baht to realise that dream.
 
A joint task force of officials from the Department of Skill 
Development and the Police Department last month raided Number One 
Hitech, a job placement firm in Nonthaburi accused of swindling 
more than 13 million baht out of 1,300 job seekers.
 
Its licence to operate a job placement agency for foreign job 
markets was revoked, and its owner and manager arrested.
 
For the unfortunate job seekers, the raid has awakened them from 
their dream of a well-paid job. Many of them have now returned to 
their hometowns in various regions throughout Thailand.
 
Getting poorer, these people are resuming their farm work. And 
yet, they are likely to continue their dream even as they are 
working to pay the debts they have incurred in their search for 
that dream job.
 
Stopping at any town, any district, or any village in the country, 
you will most likely come across such a job dreamer or two.
 
Like Yom, unemployed Nao Khornsri, 38, of Ban Pratuyuen in Larnsak 
district, in Uthai Thani, said he had paid 30,000 baht to a job 
placement agent for a job in Taiwan.
 
Standing in his farm outside Ban Khok Kwai of Ban Rai district in 
Uthai Thani is 32-year-old Sa-ard Phoo-iam. He had spent 12,500 
baht and has been waiting since last November for a confirmation 
of his trip to a job in Hong Kong.
 
There are at least eight other unemployed persons in the town 
district still waiting for the final nod to make their trips to a 
job overseas after paying between 10,000 baht to 70,000 baht in 
advance service fees, the Sunday Perspective has learned.
 
No figures exist to indicate how many people in other towns and in 
the rest of the country have paid job placement agencies for jobs 
overseas and are still waiting for confirmation. The number can go 
as high as tens of thousands or more.
 
They may or may not get the job at all.
 
One thing for certain, there is a real possibility that they might 
not get the job and also lose their money all at the same time. 
This is because the deal they have made appears to go against a 
regulation laid down by the Interior Ministry's Department of 
Skill Development (DSD), which is an indication that something is 
amiss.
 
By law, only registered agencies are permitted to arrange jobs for 
applicants. As yet, it has not been confirmed that the agencies 
with which these workers have dealt have registered with DSD.
 
And if they are registered companies, they are prohibited from 
collecting service fees from the applicants more than one month in 
advance of their departure to their work sites.
 
The regulations also state that the agents must return the money 
to the applicants if they fail to arrange jobs for the applicants 
within one month after collecting the fees.
 
Of course, a large number of applicants are still waiting for the 
promised jobs more than a month after they put down their payments 
for the service.
 
Nobody knows for fact how many poor, unemployed peasants have been 
lured by illegal or deceptive job placement agencies.
 
DSD director-general Mrs Amporn Chulnanonda said in an interview 
that complaints about cheating or suspected cheating "reach my 
office regularly."
 
Many people obviously benefit from the huge sum of money generated 
by these fraudulent schemes. They may be people genuinely involved 
in job placement business. Or they could simply be opportunists, 
who have no business in the job placement industry, who stalk the 
vulnerable rural folks looking for a better-paid job and a better 
life.
 
Qualified, registered agencies may be able to find jobs for their 
applicants. Yet, it is not always certain that they are not 
overcharging the applicants for their services.
 
The volume of money generated by the job placement business, 
legally and illegally, may be estimated to run close to 1,000 
million baht or more.
 
If we assume that each applicant pays a minimum of 10,000 baht 
which is generally within the legal limit of one-month potential 
salary, the combined revenue of registered job placement firms 
must be no less than 600 million baht last year, calculating from 
the official figures that they sent about 60,000 workers aboard.
 
But the fact is that not every worker pays the maximum amount 
permited by law. Indeed, it has been estimated that each worker 
pays 30,000 baht or more on average, excluding other expenses such 
as air fares to get to the job site.
 
An estimate of about 2,000 million baht a year, shared among the 
274 registered agencies at about 70 million baht each, is probably 
not far from the truth.
 
It has been also reported that many workers have to pay up to 
200,000 baht for a job. Should this be the case, the total earning 
on the part of job agencies can easily double.
 
Mrs Amporn has predicted that a better job potential exists for 
Thai workers in foreign countries this year. For the job agencies, 
this means a potential of even greater earning.
 
An employee of a job placement agency, who asked not to be named, 
said if more jobs are available, the service fees could be reduced 
which would benefit the job seekers.
 
He admitted, however, that his agency has charged job seekers over 
the maximum one-month salary permitted by law.
 
Sunday Perspective has learned that an applicant for a job in 
Taiwan, where the average salary for a skilled worker is about 
40,000 baht, is expected to pay between 80,000 and 90,000 baht.
 
A housewife job in Hong Kong offering a salary of about 11,000 
baht requires a fee of up to 30,000 baht.
 
In Singapore where a skilled worker gets up to 20,000 baht a 
month, the applicant will have to pay the job agent about 40,000 
baht.
 
An applicant for a job in Denmark, where a skilled worker can earn 
up to 40,000 baht, sometimes pays as much as 230,000 baht.
 
And for a job which pays 30,000 baht monthly in Japan, where a 
work permit is hard to come by, placement agencies demand service 
fees of between 160,000 and 230,000 baht.
 
Even when service fees for a job are high and job seekers may have 
to take a loan at high interest rate, many people still prefer to 
go and work abroad.
 
"It seems worthwhile if they really get a job, judging from the 
money they sent home," said a DSD official.
 
According to estimates available at the DSD, the Thai labour force 
brings in foreign currency up to 30,000 million baht annually. 
Base on an estimate of about 200,000 workers in foreign countries, 
it means that each of them sends home an average of 150,000 baht a 
year.
 
This is big money compared to the income of almost nothing when 
they farm for a living," the official said.
 
The figures for labour earnings have been calculated through an 
established banking channel. Another official added: "There must 
be a huge unknown volume of money sent in through illegal 
transactions."
 
DSD chief Amporn disclosed that total earnings from the Thai work 
force abroad was 25,000 million baht in 1991. That was considered 
the worst year.
 
She said the total income for the first nine months last year was 
20,000 million baht.
 
T he money were sent home by some 200,000 workers. These include 
3,000 in Saudi Arabia, 30,000 in Singapore, 20,000 in Brunei, 
20,000 in Libia, 22,000 in Malaysia, 2,000 in Hong Kong, and the 
rest in Israel, Germany, Denmark, Korea and Japan.
 
The DSD chief said she thinks that the success of these workers is 
a strong movitvation for others in the rest of the country to seek 
work abroad.
 
"Because of well-paying jobs, they're willing to pay more in 
service fees to get a job abroad and risk being cheated," she 
said.
 
On the other hand, the success of legitimate job agencies becomes 
an example for dishonest persons to get rich on the back of poor 
people in their insidious schemes.