PHUKET: More stringent checks were ordered yesterday on about 1500 squalid shanty camps that house Phuket's migrant work force of up to 200,000 people.
The clamp follows a New Year brawl between rival groups of Cambodians at a large shanty encampment near Phuket International Airport that appeared to leave nobody with serious injuries.
Governor Governor Nisit Jansomwong told officials yesterday that he wants greater care taken by authorities in maintaining public order and upgrading the health and hygiene standards at the camps.
''We really need to know who these people are and what they need to live and work on Phuket without problems,'' he said. ''Most construction on Phuket is performed by workers from Burma, Cambodia and Laos.''
A few years ago the curfews and controls that were used to restrict the movements of migrant workers were lifted when it was discovered that they were not responsible for outbreaks of crime on Phuket.
The greatest pressure on Phuket from the presence of large numbers of legal and illegal migrant workers comes on the public hospitals where their ailments and conditions are treated.
Thousands more migrant workers are employed in construction in other Andaman provinces, especially Phang Nga and Krabi.
The clamp follows a New Year brawl between rival groups of Cambodians at a large shanty encampment near Phuket International Airport that appeared to leave nobody with serious injuries.
Governor Governor Nisit Jansomwong told officials yesterday that he wants greater care taken by authorities in maintaining public order and upgrading the health and hygiene standards at the camps.
''We really need to know who these people are and what they need to live and work on Phuket without problems,'' he said. ''Most construction on Phuket is performed by workers from Burma, Cambodia and Laos.''
A few years ago the curfews and controls that were used to restrict the movements of migrant workers were lifted when it was discovered that they were not responsible for outbreaks of crime on Phuket.
The greatest pressure on Phuket from the presence of large numbers of legal and illegal migrant workers comes on the public hospitals where their ailments and conditions are treated.
Thousands more migrant workers are employed in construction in other Andaman provinces, especially Phang Nga and Krabi.
'what they need to live and work on Phuket without problems'
Treating migrants with dignity and affording them equal human rights would be a good start.
Posted by Herbert on January 10, 2015 08:29