Qatar and Thailand will this month sign an agreement on conditions for the employment of Thai workers in Qatar, the Bangkok Post newspaper quoted a senior official as saying yesterday.
The agreement will be signed by Thai Labour Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, labour permanent secretary Jirasak Sukonthachart said.
Jirasak, who is also acting secretary general of the Social Security Office, said the ratification would cover employment contracts, travel expenses and salary and would be agreed with Qatar’s ambassador to Thailand, according to the Bank Post report.
He said that ratification was needed since Qatar wanted to recruit as many as 30,000 Thai workers to work in various fields such as architecture and engineering, and would include technical experts and crews for its flagship airline Qatar Airways.
At present about 200 Thais are employed by the airline. After the signing of the ratification, the number of Thais working with Qatar Airways will double, the paper quoted Jirasak as saying.
Prawit Kiangphol, director-general of the employment department, said the department was formulating a new system to take care of Thai workers working abroad and foreign workers working in Thailand, to ensure they were well protected by the law.
He said the system would focus on travel and brokerage expenses of working abroad and prevent staff from losing out financially.
Representatives from countries popular with Thai workers will be invited to give their views on the initiative in November.
