Anti-foreigner sentiment runs high

[racha]

I just read this from the Phuket Gazette......

 

 

 

PHUKET: Just when foreigners in Phuket were beginning to regain confidence in Thailand as a place in which to invest, a Member of Parliament has once again clouded the skies by suggesting a massive rise in the fees for an initial work permit, from the current 300 baht to as much as 300,000 baht.

 

 

 

The astonishing announcement was made today at a packed meeting convened by the Phuket Chamber of Commerce.

 

 

 

Khon Kaen MP Premsak Pearyura, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Labor, said that 300 baht was a very small amount for a foreigner to pay, especially if converted into US dollars or Euros.

 

 

 

?The government should charge more than this to stop foreigners grabbing jobs from Thais.

 

 

 

?The [initial] work permit fee should bring in more revenue for Thailand. It should be 30,000 or 300,000 baht.?

 

 

 

He also criticized the new qualification that allows a company to get one work permit for every 2 million baht of paid-up capital.

 

 

 

?Two million baht is a small amount. The government should consult the public about whether the figure should be raised, and by how much.

 

 

 

?Most of the foreigners are small investors who take work from Thais. We should have big investors who don?t negatively affect Thais,? said MP Premsak.

 

 

 

His views were met with overwhelming support from the 150 people at the meeting, drawn from memberships in the Chamber of Commerce; the Phuket Tourism Association; the Thai Hotels Association, Southern Chapter; the Phuket Guide Association and the Phuket Chapter of the Federation of Thai Industries.

 

 

 

A press release swiftly presented by the Chamber after the meeting also stated opposition by the ?Phuket private sector? to the qualification that allows foreigners to get work permits on the strength of having paid 18,000 baht in income tax in the previous year. ?This is too low. It does not add value to the economy,? the release stated.

 

 

 

It also criticized the new rule that work permits must be issued within seven days to foreigners who qualify.

 

 

 

?This is not long enough to check the foreigner comprehensively. The result of this is that it is easier for foreigners who damage Thai culture, and who want to grab profit and build a power base, to get work permits.?

 

 

 

MP Premsak said, ?We will see Thai unemployment soaring, like in Argentina.

 

 

 

?I don?t want to see this happen to Thai people,? he added, turning to Department of Employment Deputy Director-General Songsak Tantayothin sitting next to him on the podium. ?Don?t open Thailand too wide for foreign workers; that would mean the end of Thailand.?

 

 

 

K. Songsak replied that he was grateful for this opportunity to hear people?s opinions, which he would relay to the Ministry.

 

 

 

?If there are problems we can make adjustments.

 

 

 

?Not all foreigners are evil. There are many who support us and do good things. We should accept these good things from them.?

 

 

[Guest]

Sounds more like greed than anti-foreigner sentiment. Companies can always move to the Philippines, China, or Korea, etc. If Thailand wants to shoot themselves in the foot, I am sure the other countries listed above will take up the slack in terms of cheap labor and letting forigners work there at a reasonable price.

[Lord Toad]

It is significant where this was said. Island people (Phuket & Samui) are always very insular and think they do not need foriegners. If a badly run Thai bar fails it will be blamed on farang bar owners taking all the business, or simply "farang no come" as if it is the fault of the tourists for not coming tp their bar.

 

However there are many Thais who do not support the influx of foriegn small buinesses. And let us be fair not all farang businesses actually bring added value to Thailand. I believe there need to be farang bar owners because they provide bars that tourists like and can relate to. But how many should there be is a fair question. Many farangs are running businesses here they would be thrown in jail for back home...( a gogo bar is effectivily a brothel by any other name!)

 

But it is the prolieration of farang businesses and residents that make Thailand such an attractive place for many, particularly long term stayers.

 

For the Thai overnment it is a balancing act between getting it right for investment, tourists and even farang residents who meet the Thai requirement (retirees mainly) and the local perception about the good, or bad, of Forieigneres investors and workers. The Thai governemnet is after all supposed to be a democracy and thus depends on popular support.

[ThaiHome]

For a multi national company, the cost of the work permit for the expat is not a factor in the decision. If you are investing or running a multi million-dollar business, then it doesn't matter much if the work permit is 50 dollars or 2,000 dollars.

 

 

 

Personally, I think this was just a speech made to please an audience that would be receptive to the sentiments. Anybody heard of demagoguery?

 

TH

[Guest]

Have you ever heard how your own country handles the work permits? Maybe you re-think about the whole thing after looking at that.

[Guest]

i think the word we need here is xenophobic, thais (politicians)are constantly blaming foreigners for their own downfall. what would phuket be without foreigners, certainly not the most affluent province in the country i guarantee that. what these single minded beaurocrats fail to realise is most small businesses are earning a relative income in the country they operate in ie. thailand, they earn Baht, not dollars or euros.

 

 

 

sorry...had to get that off my back ...... i can hear the mind police coming down the corridor now. immigration here we come .........

 

 

 

 

[racha]

Have you ever heard how your own country handles the work permits? Maybe you re-think about the whole thing after looking at that.

 

 

 

You are answering me as if I wrote the story ??????

 

 

 

I am not complaining about anything in the story actually just posted it because it is very interesting for us guys living here as it came from the MP in charge of the labour department, I can see that there is Anti-foreigner sentiment being stirred up from high above, though it is hard to write to much as it breaks the rules of the board re-political discussions.

 

 

[pattaya127]

(politicians)

 

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Me, and still agreeing with you, i would take the parentheses off, i do not think that this kind of demagoguery, as someone said, will change one iota in the way thai people feel about foreigners. IMO

 

 

 

PS: will be glad to report honestly on my next trip about how it feels to be a foreigner in Thailand, in 2003, since i intend to do a lot of traveling around the country.

[Guest]

Never felt so much that back home was home before having stayed for a while in Thailand.Considering all the time going back to Europe,not that I hear much less anti foreigner outcry there,but pretty obviously I resent it less...

 

 

[Guest]

>> You are answering me as if I wrote the story ??????

 

 

 

No, I answered you as the one who decided the thread title.