23 October 2013
As many as 30,000 workers from Thailand could be recruited to fill labour shortages in Qatar’s infrastructure, construction and transport sectors.
Thai and Qatari government officials will get together later this month to sign an agreement clarifying employment conditions of Thai workers in the Middle-Eastern country, reports the Bangkok Post.
The agreement will cover contracts, travel expenses and salaries and will ensure that Thai expats working in Qatar are protected under the law.
Workers from Thailand could fill Qatar’s labour shortage in the construction sector (Credit: tomaspir/Wikimedia)
The news comes after reports of deaths and slave-like conditions among Nepalese workers in Doha captured headlines last month.
However, some wonder where the Thai workers will come from.
Writing in The Gulf Times, Arno Maierbrugger states there is a shortage of labour in Thailand: so much so that highly-skilled engineers such as construction project managers are paid around $6,000 a month.
Thailand has embarked on a $64bn infrastructure drive to build high-speed railways, new roads and other massive logistics over the next ten years and, according to Dr Maierbrugger, may need to look to Myanmar and Bangladesh to fill its own labour shortage.
