250 Thais promised farm jobs in Australia abandoned at Bangkok airport

Thailand’s Department of Employment has ordered an investigation into an employment scam, in which 250 men and women were duped into paying between 60,000 and 120,000 baht for non-existent farm jobs in Australia.

The job seekers, mostly from Buri Ram, Nakhon Ratchasima and Sakhon Nakhon provinces, showed up at Suvarnabhumi international airport in Bangkok last night, expecting to fly to Australia. They were told by airline staff, however, that there were no bookings for them. The employment broker, identified only as “Ms. Oy”, did not show up at the airport.

The job seekers then went to the police station at the airport to file complaints against Ms. Oy who, eventually reported to the police station to acknowledge the complaints against her.

Nonetheless, she claimed to be just a broker who had been promised 2,000 baht for each of the job seeker she managed to recruit. She also claimed that the advance payments had been transferred to another woman, identified as “Ms. Fah”, who is believed to be a representative of an employment agency.

Somchai Morakotsriwan, director-general of the Department of Employment, told the media today that he is sure that the job seekers were duped, because there is no official record that the employment agency in question has a permit to send Thais to work abroad.

He added that his officials have been interviewing all the job seekers, to gather information for use against the real scammers who, if found guilty, will face suspension or revocation of its operating license, if it has one. He also said that the five million baht, which is kept at the department as a surety, will be confiscated and distributed to the victims.

He disclosed that there are currently no job openings in the farm sector for foreign workers in Australia, adding that applicants must go through language proficiency and skill tests before being allowed to work there.

All duped job seekers have been advised to file complaints with the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) tomorrow,because the CSD is better equipped to deal with such a case involving so many victims.