The eight have languished in prison for more than three months since their arrest. Their employer brought them into Thailand on February 10 under the terms of the MoU, but they were arrested the following day at a worker camp in Tung Tong.
The President of the Phuket Local Business Club, Prasan Boontantrapiwat, said their employer provided them with accommodation in the camp while they waited for their work permits, which were expected to be issued two days later.
However, before that could happen they were arrested by Tung Tong police and charged with working without work permits.
On March 9, an Inspector General of the Ministry of Labor, Pakorn Amornchewin, visited Phuket to check into the case, after relatives of the Burmese complained to the government of Myanmar. So far, nothing seems to have come out of that visit.
Mr Prasan explained that worker’s employer had already paid the fees for their work permits.
“They are legal immigrant workers. They just arrived and hadn’t yet started working,” Mr Prasan said.
The police apparently see things differently, telling the employer initially that he would have to pay B5,000 each for the release of the Burmese.
Originally nine workers were arrested. One admitted to working illegally and has been sent back to Myanmar. The other eight, however, have refused to admit guilt and are willing to go to court to prove their innocence.
This may take some considerable time; the first hearing is unlikely to resolve the case, and with the chronic backlog in Thailand’s courts, the next hearing might not be until next year.
An official who asked not to be identified said that if the eight were to change their minds and plead guilty they would be sent back to Myanmar but would have very little hope of returning to Thailand to work.