Migrant workers thronged the One Stop Service (OSS) centres nationwide today as the period for registration will expire at midnight tonight (March 31).
Failure to register will mean hefty fines and imprisonment for migrant workers and their employers, including ban to employ foreign workers for up to three years.
The OSS centre at the Ministry of Labour in Bangkok, migrant workers waited in long queue for their turns although authorities would announce that there are over 3,000 migrant workers on the waiting list and they could no longer add more in the list.
Some have been waiting at the office for three days.
They were told to report themselves online first at www.doe.go.th by midnight and authorities will call them to register at later dates.
In Samut Sakhon province, one of the provinces with large number of migrant workers in the fishing industry, several thousands of workers still there the OSS centre set up inside the Samut Sakhon hospital, authorities said there are about 30,000 workers on the waiting list on the last day today.
But they assured that all the workers on the waiting list would be registered by today, as all personnel from various state agencies have been mobilised to work to process the registration.
The Samut Sakhon OSS centre set to register a total of 104,207 workers, breaking down to 6,234 Cambodians, 4,459 Laotians, and 93,514 Myanmar.
At OSS centre in Mae Sot district of Tak, Myanmar migrant workers continued to arrive this morning.
Labour employment chief Mongkol Songkram said the centre has so far registered over 34,000 migrant workers since Feb 5.
There are still 8,000 workers on the waiting list, he said, adding that all would be registered by the deadline.
In Chiang Rai's OSS centre, 3,000 workers remained on the waiting list but officials said they could process all by today.
Labour Employment Department's director-general Anurak Tossarat said since the opening of OSS centres for registration, over 1.1 million migrant workers have registered, from a total of 1,379,000 workers.
He said there are still 270,000 workers not yet registered.
He encouraged employers and migrant workers to report online via www.doe.go.th. and authorities will later summon them for nationality verification and application for work permits until June 30.
During the waiting period, provisional work permits will be issued to them, he said.
He said those who have finished the registration requirements will be permitted to work until 31 March 2020.
Unregistered workers will face a fine of 5,000-50,000 baht, while employers will face 10,000-100,000 baht fine for a worker employed.
For repeated offence, employer will be subject to 50,000-200,000 baht fine for one employed worker, and a jail sentence of not more than one year for a worker employed. Defiant employer is also banned from employing migrant workers for up to three years.
Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service (ThaiPBS)