A Myanmar migrant worker at a spindle factory in the Mahar Chaing district in Thailand was compensated 486,759 baht (about K18.6 million) last week for the loss of one of his hands in March, according to Aid Alliance Committee (AAC), a Thai-based migrant affairs society.

Ko Aung Myint Thein lost his right hand at an accident at the spindle factory, where he has been working since March 2017. Photo – Supplied (AAC)

“The migrants have paid for life insurance and social welfare security fees to the government each month. So, the Thai government must take responsibility for workers who have accidents.

“We managed to get a suitable compensation from the Thai government quickly after asking them for a while,” AAC’s member Ko Ye Min told The Myanmar Times yesterday.

The migrant worker Ko Aung Myint Thein from Mon State in Myanmar, lost his right hand at an accident at the spindle factory, where he has been working since March 2017.

He was compensated within 40 days after the accident, according to AAC.

According to Thai laws, workers and employers have to pay 5 percent of the workers’ monthly salaries for life insurance and social welfare security fees, while the government pays 2.5pc for each worker.

Workers who fall sick, have an accident, or die while giving birth, will be compensated with a suitable amount by the government.

“Even workers who have no documents have labour rights. It is not a matter of whether the workers have legal documents or not. Every employer must take responsibility for the workers,” said Ko Ye Min.

He added that most employees in Thailand are afraid of violating the labour rights and laws because rules and regulations are very strong in Thailand, and there are many strong labour organisations.

Action Labour Right’s member Ko Sai Yu Maung told The Myanmar Times that although there are social welfare security laws in Myanmar, workers who died or were involved in accidents face difficulties in being compensated and in being provided with social welfare allowances by the government.

“A family had to be satisfied with compensation of K1.7 million for losing their son at a construction site since they were not sure if they would be compensated with suitable fees by the government,” said Ko Sai Yu Maung.

He also said that a female worker who lost two fingers had to settle with the K1.3 million, and one of factory workers who lost his fingers eight months ago has still not been compensated until now.

By: Zaw Zaw Htwe, Myanmar Times

Published on: 11 April 2017