Thai workers protest
Hundreds of Thai workers started a riot in Kaohsiung on Sunday night in protest against poor working conditions. Among their grievances were bans on alcohol, mobile phones and buying food from outside.
Reading the news reports it seems that the conditions under which the workers were employed were little better than being in prison. The following comes from the Taipei Times editorial.
A riot by Thai workers on Sunday night in Kaohsiung wasn’t a prison riot, but there were many common features. Although the workers are not prisoners, their freedom is restricted to almost the same degree and the conditions they live in are not dissimilar to a jail. In a nation that prides itself as being built on human rights, the riot that swept through the community of construction workers is a shameful incident.
There are about 100,000 Thai workers in Taiwan. They are mostly employed to do dangerous or mundane work (mstly construction and factory work) that Taiwanese people are unwilling to do. They are also willing to accept lower wages. There are also many foreign workers from other Southeast Asian countries, especially The Philippines, in Taiwan.
The workers responsible for starting the riot will be deported. However, the remaining workers will return to work and management has agreed to meet their demands. It will be interesting to see how well the Taiwanese justice system works and whether any of the Taiwanese management who denied the workers their rights will face legal action.
Links
Thai workers riot against `unfair’ firm – Taipei Times
‘WORST INCIDENT IN 20 YEARS’: Thai workers run riot in Taiwan – The Nation
Thai workers riot over living conditions – Taiwan News
Foreign workers raise their voice
No justice
The slavery continues
Workers protest for a day off
Thailand reflects on Taiwan
Posted: August 23rd, 2005 under Human rights, News & media, Taiwan.
Tags: Thailand
Comments
Comment from David
Time 27 August 2005 at 10:05 am
The chief of the CLA has apologised for the incident.
Comment from David
Time 28 August 2005 at 11:14 am
This incident is obviously creating a few waves in Taiwan.
According to this Taipei Times President Chen and Vice President Lu have called for an investigation into the riot. This is made more interesting by the fact that Chen Che-nan, a Presidential advisor and father of the Kaohsiumg Mayor has been accused of being involved in the hiring of the workers.
Comment from Patrick Cowsill
Time 14 January 2007 at 1:18 am
It would be interesting to see how the Taiwan justice system works – I agree. Were any of the Taiwanese culprits ever prosecuted? Do you have details about this?
Comment from David Reid
Time 14 January 2007 at 8:26 am
An article about this was in The Nation (Thai newspaper) yesterday.
The Kaohsiung District Court on Wednesday acquitted four Thai labourers of all charges related to the August 21, 2005 riot in their living quarters in Kaohsiung County that caused property damage of 10 million Taiwan dollars (Bt10.98 million), Taiwan\\\’s Central News Agency reported.
http://tinyurl.com/ydb7aa
Comment from David Reid
Time 15 January 2007 at 7:32 am
Sorry, the link to the article was wrong. I have fixed it now. It goes on to say:
In a separate ruling, the court passed a six-month sentence on Yen Shih-hua, general manager of Huapan Company, and four of his staff members for providing video gambling machines in the labourers\’ dormitories.
Comment from David
Time 25 August 2005 at 9:52 am
Just in case you don’t believe that the workers are really treated like prisoners read this quote from the Taipei Times.
She cited a media report indicating that an inmate stays in a room that is about 0.7 ping, but a Thai worker gets to stay in a space that is only 0.47 ping.
The article contains some useful background information.