(Lampang, Thailand and Seoul, Republic of Korea) Five-year-old Thanakrit Arsakij laughs as his grandmother buttons his crisp white shirt bearing the name of his school. The school is well-regarded in this provincial city of northern Thailand but the tuition fees are expensive. Thanakrit and his grandmother therefore rely on monthly remittances from the boy’s mother who works in the Republic of Korea, some three thousand kilometres away.
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Ms Sakultala’s three-year contract was arranged through a bilateral recruitment programme between the governments of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Republic of Korea. The Employment Permit System (EPS) is an initiative of the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labour which has facilitated the recruitment to Korea of thousands of workers from Thailand and 14 other countries. Virtually all of the recruits work in small and medium-sized businesses.
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Like many working couples in transitional or developing economies, finding decent work and meeting the aspirations of the extended family can be difficult to balance, as can the decision to work away from loved ones. Ms Sakultala’s husband works in the Thai capital Bangkok. Her son lives with her mother in Lampang, and now Ms Sakultala is in Korea. “At first I was sad. I cried. My mum also cried but she understood that I’m doing this for our future,” says Ms Sakultala. “It’s good that my son is still very young, so he really doesn’t understand [the feeling of separation]. That comforts me.”
In the showroom of a plastic factory, some two hours from Seoul, a company director praises the EPS programme. “The migrant workers we’ve recruited through the EPS are diligent. I think this policy is very positive and I hope we can continue to promote it,” said Mr Bum Won Seo of Changsin Living Company.
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The International Labour Organization’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific is working in partnership with the Republic of Korea to provide technical support to the EPS. “We are very happy to be part of this because the EPS is one of the better labour migration programmes in Asia and even globally,” said Mr Nilim Baruah, ILO Regional Migration Specialist. “The ILO is well positioned for this kind of partnership involvement because it involves dialogue between our member States resulting in bilateral agreements to produce better managed approaches to migration for decent work,” he added.
With few job prospects in Ms Sakultala’s home town and a better paying factory job offer from Korea, migrating wasn’t an easy decision for her family, but going through the EPS reduced some of the worries.”
“In general, the EPS is a good system,” said Ms Nakaprapa Bamrungsuk, Chief of the Overseas Placement Section at the Thai Ministry of Labour in Bangkok. “The EPS solves problems by using the government-to-government system and, because of this, the (Thai) workers are protected (in Korea) by national labour laws, so they can have a better life over there”.
“Migrant workers who come to Korea through the EPS are not subjected to any discrimination under our labour laws,” said Mr Lee. “In other words, they have the same minimum wages, industrial safety and health care provisions enjoyed by Korean workers”.
As Ms Sakultala settled into her new life in the Republic of Korea, Mr Lee offered some words of reassurance. “I hope you can make the best use of this system so that you adapt yourself to Korea as soon as possible. When you return to your country, I hope you achieve your dream and have a good memory of Korea. The Korean Government will do our best to help you.”
By Allan Dow, Partnerships Unit, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
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