More than 100 embattled migrant workers employed in construction sites in northern Thailand left unpaid by a real estate company.
According Prachatham News, at 9 am on Wednesday, 27 January 2016, about 121 migrant workers demonstrated at the Office of Welfare and Labour Protection of the northern province of Chiang Mai.
The migrants workers who were earlier employed by Perfecto Company, a real estate development company, as construction workers came to ask for assistance from the Thai authorities as they have not been paid since 16 December 2015.
According to Migrant Workers Federation (MWF), a civil society group for migrant labourers, the worker most of whom cannot speak Thai were employed in three different construction sites developed by Perfecto Company in Chiang Mai.
MWF reported that they workers have not been paid from 16 Dec 2015-15 Jan 2016. Their salaries and compensation added up together amount for 3,461,602.80 Baht (about 96,510 USD) after the company decided to halt the construction projects.
The total amount of the money left unpaid by the company is divided into 554, 850 baht of one-month-worth advance payment and 2,036,100 baht of compensation.
MWF added that the workers tried to contact the company, but the company has closed its office.
A landlord who owns the area which Perfecto Company had rented out as a worker camp also said that the company has not paid the rent.
Muay-u Nantao, MWF officer, said that many workers are now left destituted as the owner of the worker camp has cutdown water supply and electricity of the camp and many of them do not have enough money to find new places to rent.
MWF also said that it will help the workers to file charges against the company for the employers also allegedly forged documents on the working hours of the workers in order to pay them less.
Migrant worker demonstration at Chiang Mai's Office of Welfare and Labour Protection on 27 January 2016 (Photo from Prachatham)