“Because of safety concerns, the Labour Ministry has barred Thais from working there,” the department’s director-general Singhadet Chu-umnart said yesterday.
He issued the warning after receiving a report that six Thais were lured into paying Bt80,000 each to an illicit agent, arriving in Libya on a tourist visa, and not getting a job.
“Our office in Saudi Arabia has reported that these workers are also forced to stay inside narrow rooms and are given limited food as they wait for any employer to turn up,” Singhadet said. “These workers want to return to Thailand but at this point, they can’t leave Libya yet.
“They won’t get their money back either.”
According to Singhadet, it was reported that illicit agents are active in Thailand’s Northeast – recruiting 20 Thai workers for Libya.
“We’re speaking up now in the hope that no more victims believe in such scams,” he said.
He added that people who duped others for money with a promise of overseas jobs are violators of the Recruitment and Job Seekers Protection Act.
“Their crimes are punishable by a jail term of between three and 10 years and/or a fine of between Bt60,000 and Bt200,000,” Singhadet said.

The ceremony will also be marked by thousands of lights and candles held up by an estimated 20,000 mourners on both sides of the river.
Rangsikorn Thimatrikka, deputy executive chief of the Buri Ram Provincial Organisation, said a traditional boat race would also be held in place of the annual King’s Cup race.
“This procession is being held to pay homage to the late King and also to express our gratitude for his royal grace,” Rangsikorn said.
He added that entertainment activities had been suspended.

A 50-YEAR-OLD man drowned in Bangkok’s Saen Saeb canal at around 6am yesterday as he was stepping off a commuter boat at Nanachat Pier.
The body of the man, who was later identified as tour-bus driver Theerapong Silarit, was retrieved from the four-metre-deep canal a few hours later by volunteer divers from the Poh Teck Tung Foundation. The retrieval of the body took hours because of traffic by other commuter boats.
The victim’s body had bruises on the neck and shoulder and was sent to Ramathibodi Hospital for an autopsy.
Chaowalit Metyaprapas, owner of the boat service firm Family Transport (2002) Co, offered his condolences and said his company would compensate the victim’s family starting with funeral expenses.
He also said another member would be added to the usual boat crews of one driver and one conductor to help to take care of passengers as they board and exit the boat. He said the company would also require boats to stop at each pier for a longer period so passengers do not need to rush on and off.
Family Transport has been operating express boat services along 18 kilometres of the Saen Saeb canal since 1990. The boats stop at 28 piers, starting at Bang Kapi’s Wat Sri Boonreung Pier and terminating at Pom Prap’s Saphan Phanfa Leelat Pier. The company’s 55 boats, 70 drivers and 100 conductors cater for 40,000 commuters daily on weekdays and 20,000 on weekends.
Meanwhile, boat driver Wichien Thamsamer, 38, and conductor Pornchai Saeyang, 35, told police at Makkasan Police Station that Theerapong lost his balance and fell off the boat just as it was about to stop.
Pornchai said one passenger had jumped out just as he was about tie the boat off to a pillar, and Theerapong followed suit, but plunged into the canal. He said the accident happened despite him shouting that passengers should remain inside the boat until it had stopped completely.
The conductor said he had told Wichien to move the boat so its propeller blades did not hit Theerapong, before he alerted the company and authorities to help to look for Theerapong. However, after waiting 30 minutes for a sign of the victim, the boat had no choice but to drop other passengers off, he said.
“I feel very bad and very sorry for what happened. I have worked here for five years, but never seen anything like this before … I tried to warn people but they wouldn’t listen. I have seen this man many times before, as he usually boarded the first boat … It feels very bad that he was on our boat and we saw him die like this,” Pornchai said.
Several accidents have hit Family Transport boats before. On March 5, Theerapong sustained a slight injury when a commuter boat owned by the same firm caught fire at the Wat Thep Leela Pier.
Deputy Transport Minister Omsin Cheewapreuk, who inspected the Saphan Phanfa Leelat Pier along with police, Marine Department officials and rescue workers, said CCTV footage showed one passenger jumping off the boat followed by Theerapong, who fell into the canal.
He said boat service providers had been previously instructed to ensure that all boats stopped completely before commuters were allowed to disembark. He said authorities would wait for the police to investigate the incident, adding that if the boat did not stop completely, steps would be taken to prevent a similar incident.
Police spokesman General Dechnarong Suticharnbancha said he had instructed Makkasan police to study the incident to see if it had been caused by recklessness or if it was an accident.
He has also urged people to be careful when boarding and disembarking from transport vehicles both on land and water.

Major accidents in Klong Saen Saeb:
•    August 17, 2010: Death by drowning of Phra Maha Apirak Premrung, 25, after he falls off a commuter boat near The Mall Ramkhamhaeng Pier.
•    May 25, 2012: A commuter boat’s mid-section engine catches fire, which spreads to the canvas roof, prompting driver to dock at Thong Lor Pier. No injuries or death reported.
•    December 24, 2012: The death by drowning of boat conductor Kamonpan Pha-at-rat, 30, after she falls into the canal as she slips while walking on the boat.
•    January 4, 2013: The death by drowning of an unnamed male passenger after he falls while stepping out of a commuter boat at Pratunam Pier.
•    April 2, 2013: Two speeding commuter boats in the canal cause large waves that hit people on the Chan Issara Pier, knocking many people to the ground. CCTV footage of the incident goes viral on the Internet, becomes known as “Klong Saen Saeb Tsunami”, and leads to the suspension of the two boat drivers’ licences and a Bt5,000 fine for service operator Family Transport (2002) Co.
•    October 17, 2013: A commuter boat crashes into the Wat Thep Leela Pier while it is about to dock. Before the vessel sinks, some 100 passengers flee to safety. No deaths reported.
•    March 5, 2016: A commuter boat explodes at the Wat Thep Leela Pier resulting in 60 injuries, including two serious cases, leading Family Transport to order its 25 boats to stop using liquefied natural gas (LNG).
•    November 10, 2016: The death by drowning of commuter Theerapong Silarit, 50, after he falls off a commuter boat near Nanachat Pier.

The portrait, painted by well-known artists Tawee Kesa-ngam and Sattha Homsawat, will be displayed at Market Village shopping mall next Friday as part of an exhibition on His Majesty’s achievements.
The artists will take nine days and nine hours to complete the portrait.
“I will use all my power and ability to draw the biggest royal portrait ever. I want people to see and remember his smile and his eyes that reflected mercy and grace on the people,” Tawee said.
People will be allowed to attach black ribbons under the portrait in homage.

THE NATIONAL Legislative Assembly (NLA) yesterday overwhelmingly backed the first draft of a proposed bill that would legalise contract farming.
Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya said the bill would protect farmers against conglomerates and ensure fairness in contract farming, which would improve the country’s economy in the long term.
However, some NLA members pointed out that the bill still had legal gaps that would need to be addressed before it is forwarded to the Cabinet.
“Right now contract farming is widespread … and if we support contract farming with a law to |regulate the system to have more fairness and align with international standards, it will increase our potential, make our agriculture more sustainable and give farmers financial stability,” Chatchai said.
“This bill will protect farmers from unfair contracts and help them to gain more negotiating power over agricultural conglomerates.”
He said a contract farming law was needed because farmers always had less power in negotiations and were in an unfavourable position when dealing with complicated contracts with big investors.
The bill will require companies that want to engage in contract farming to register with the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry’s Office of the Permanent Secretary and publicly disclose their operations.
Also, before a contract is signed with farmers, the companies will have to present a prospectus to farmers informing them of the details and benefits of the agreement.
According to the new bill, the definition of a contract farming system is an agreement between an agricultural business operator with more than 10 farmers and a registered agricultural organisation.
The bill was approved by the NLA, with 202 members voting in favour with no objections and three abstentions.
Some members voiced concerns, however. Thanee On la-iad commented that even though the bill was based on a good principle to protect farmers, the definition of the contract farming system – a contract with more than 10 farmers – could open a legal gap allowing agricultural business operators to sign contracts with groups of less than 10 farmers to avoid complying with the law.

Unfair contracts
Woraphon Sokhatiyanurak, another NLA member, said |the prospectus for farmers might not be sufficient to ensure the |fairness of contracts.
He suggested that there should an official registration process to protect farmers and the contract should specify the owner of the intellectual property that could be created during the course of the contract.
In a related event, Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of Association for the Protection of the Thai Constitution, asked the Ombudsmen to investigate officers who offered benefit to agricultural business operatiors that were involved in unfair farming contracts with farmers.
He said the issue concerned the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry’s cooperation with a big agricultural conglomerate to replace dry-season rice farming with maize.
Srisuwan said the contract required farmers to buy seed only from companies that participated in the programme. The seed was then sold at very high prices.
He said the policy was unfair to farmers and asked the Ombudsmen to investigate, adding that the government should strictly regulate contract farming or abolish the system for good.

The adjacent area of Sanam Luang has already been equipped with eight checkpoints and 3,500 policemen have been deployed, said deputy police spokesman Maj-General Songpol Wattanachai yesterday.
Songpol added that police had reunited 95 people who had become lost with their relatives, arrested at least two pickpocket suspects in the area outside the checkpoint perimeter, and taken legal action against 20 undocumented foreigners, he added.
Bangkok deputy governor Amnuay Nimmano said tents had already been set up on the north side of Sanam Luang to host the relocation of volunteer tents and the queue of mourners to clear the south side for the construction of the royal crematorium next year.
Amnuay added that officials had checked safety standards at piers in the area because Thammasat University is hosting graduation ceremonies this weekend. Twenty-seven surrounding roads will be closed, so water transport was expected to accommodate higher volumes as graduates and their relatives join mourners in flocking to the area.
Metropolitan Police Area 1 chief Maj-General Wichanwat Borirakkul said the Thammasat pier normally reserved for chartered boats would also be open to public transport. He added that boats originating from the Si Phraya, Yod Piman and Wat Kalayanamit piers would be travelling to the Thammasat pier.

Network members would gather the names of as many people as possible, coordinator Boworn Yasintorn said yesterday.
He said the group would report on their progress and give project details on Friday at the Ram Rakop Conference Room within the Royal Turf Club of Thailand under the Royal Patronage (Nang Lerng). After that they would also set up a committee to follow up with the movement.
“This matter is about the people humbly offering the designation Bhumibol Maharaj, which is the highest honour of royal designation, to His Majesty,” said Boworn.
“The government can provide opinions and must support this, rather than prohibiting an activity that is an expression of loyalty to the late monarch,” the campaign coordinator said.