News Forum - Foreigners, particularly Russians, accused of working illegally in Phuket

[Thaiger]

The Phuket Information Centre (ศูนย์ข้อมูลภูเก็ต) Facebook page accused foreigners, particularly Russians, of operating illegal businesses and working illegally in Phuket. Phuket Information Centre Facebook page shared with its followers last Sunday, February 5, that… “A lot of foreigners stay and work in Phuket, both legally and illegally. Recently, a group of foreigners started a car …

The story Foreigners, particularly Russians, accused of working illegally in Phuket as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Pinetree]

Criminals by nature,  throw them all out, or continue to suffer the consequences of providing a safe harbour to them and their ilk .

[TheDirtyDurian]

Haha. That was predictable. Nothing like some clickbait Russian story to get people riled up.

[BJoe]

Again,  the HYPOCRISY of Thais complaining about illegal foreign workers when hundreds of thousand are illegally working abroad. The only reason this particular Thai is complaining about losing customers is because his field competency is well below that of his foreign competitors. And in all probability, more costly.

[Leeshard]

These sort of jobs are very transparent. If foreigners without work permits are allowed to operate with impunity they will do so. Everyone knows about it except the police, it seems. Or, more likely the police do know but are paid to look the other way. 

[Donald]

Anybody here has any idea of how many Thais are working and living illegally in other countries around the world ? Maybe they should pay some attention to that first.

[palooka]

These people are the first of many thousands to come.

Millions of Russians will be the poverty stricken and will socially invade Europe just to survive POST PUTIN. 

If he loses and he will, the financial repercussions against Russia are incredible.

Even heard of a private citizen talking up a class action against Russia in the world court, because of the increase in cost of living, financial losses and hardships due to the Russian aggression.

In this day and times, they may have a case.

Russia is finished financially; they will owe so much in debt the country will be the paupers of Europe for centuries. 

Hopefully, sanity may prevail, and the powers that be, terminates his existence.

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, palooka said:

Hopefully, sanity may prevail, and the powers that be, terminates his existence.

It needs someone to act like Claus Von Stauffenberg who tried to assassinate Hitler. But this time don’t let some goon move the briefcase. Send Putin a nice new Judo suite suitably impregnated with Novichok.  Putin has taken Russia back more than 30 years.   

[ChrisS]

Guessing the right people are as usual being paid off, therefore the problem doesn't exist

[Manu]

On 2/7/2023 at 11:23 AM, TheDirtyDurian said:

Haha. That was predictable. Nothing like some clickbait Russian story to get people riled up.

< Removed >

I know personally, I would say roughly, 2 dozens of people who do somehow some illegal work where I am. ALL of them are from Europe... I have 6 Russian friends too here, 4 of them have had legal businesses for a while, the 2 others work online as freelance. I guess I cannot sell my story to the Thaiger.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Faz
Off topic comments removed

[Manu]

13 hours ago, Soidog said:

It needs someone to act like Claus Von Stauffenberg who tried to assassinate Hitler. But this time don’t let some goon move the briefcase. Send Putin a nice new Judo suite suitably impregnated with Novichok.  Putin has taken Russia back more than 30 years.   

And that comment is supposed to be on the subject "Foreigners, particularly Russians, accused of working illegally in Phuket". Well done, Mister Bond.

[TheDirtyDurian]

8 minutes ago, Manu said:

Yeah, works everytime, a little hate does the rest. Anyone fats somewhere in Thailand? Russian. I almost missed the clickbait Chinese stories from weeks ago, and all the covid nightmare's "predictions" driven by hate from the same haters that was about to overwhelm Thailand (and the World). Well it did not happen, nothing is happening, let's move on back the Russians.

I know personally, I would say roughly, 2 dozens of people who do somehow some illegal work where I am. ALL of them are from Europe... I have 6 Russian friends too here, 4 of them have had legal businesses for a while, the 2 others work online as freelance. I guess I cannot sell my story to the Thaiger.

My oldest son just starting dating a Russian girl. She's actually really sweet. 

Nicer than the half-Thai-Brit the other one is seeing. 

[Cabra]

18 hours ago, Donald said:

Anybody here has any idea of how many Thais are working and living illegally in other countries around the world ? Maybe they should pay some attention to that first.

How is that relevant to this article? Are you suggesting that a country should not raise awareness and resolve issues (under the rule of employment law) within its own boarders until said country resolves employment illegalities of all its citizens traveling abroad? By your logic, a country should not pursue foreign felons/criminals within its boarders, because their citizens are felons/criminals in other countries. The truth about Thais working illegally abroad is that they are largely invited (even lured) into these countries (as cheap and subserviate labor - see Korea). Now if you wanted to compare the inaction (hypocrisy, even) on Burmese workers allowed to work in Thailand ("taking Thai jobs") without proper paperwork vs the Russians called out in the article, that would make a bit more sense. The primary difference is the Burmese are largely working for Thai businesses, and the Russians the "setting up" their own businesses. Vastly different situations.

[MrStretch]

On 2/8/2023 at 9:52 AM, BJoe said:

Again,  the HYPOCRISY of Thais complaining about illegal foreign workers when hundreds of thousand are illegally working abroad.

Not hypocrisy at all.  They are talking about illegals working here, which is strictly regulated by law.  It would be hypocrisy if those same people were illegal foreign workers in another country.

That would then be up to the citizens of that country to complain about.

 

[Soidog]

5 hours ago, Manu said:

And that comment is supposed to be on the subject "Foreigners, particularly Russians, accused of working illegally in Phuket". Well done, Mister Bond.

It was @palooka fault. He enticed me to make an off topic comment in relation to his off topic comment.  That said  we were discussing Russians and the link to the Ukraine war as they shouldn’t be in Phuket in the first place. So it wasn’t way off topic, maybe a little tangental.  

Firmly back on topic. Russians shouldn’t be anywhere on holiday right now in order to do anything. Send them home. 

[palooka]

10 hours ago, Manu said:

< Removed >

I know personally, I would say roughly, 2 dozens of people who do somehow some illegal work where I am. ALL of them are from Europe... I have 6 Russian friends too here, 4 of them have had legal businesses for a while, the 2 others work online as freelance. I guess I cannot sell my story to the Thaiger.

You having 2/6 each way here Manu?

You speak of Russian friends where you live, Koh Chang, and then have a go at others who go slightly off topic on region.  

[Donald]

On 2/9/2023 at 10:12 AM, Cabra said:

How is that relevant to this article? Are you suggesting that a country should not raise awareness and resolve issues (under the rule of employment law) within its own boarders until said country resolves employment illegalities of all its citizens traveling abroad? By your logic, a country should not pursue foreign felons/criminals within its boarders, because their citizens are felons/criminals in other countries. The truth about Thais working illegally abroad is that they are largely invited (even lured) into these countries (as cheap and subserviate labor - see Korea). Now if you wanted to compare the inaction (hypocrisy, even) on Burmese workers allowed to work in Thailand ("taking Thai jobs") without proper paperwork vs the Russians called out in the article, that would make a bit more sense. The primary difference is the Burmese are largely working for Thai businesses, and the Russians the "setting up" their own businesses. Vastly different situations.

Lead by example I would say. In each case putting people who work "illegally" at par with criminals is certainly not right. I am sure that wasn't the intention, but you did make the comparison. I am all in favor that people stick to the rules of the country they want to live in, whether they make sense or not . It's just that the Thai authorities obsession with illegal foreigners in one or another way is pathetic. Parading over stayers for the cameras like they just caught some Isis terrorist looks pathetic. And one thing is for sure, it doesn't make any difference if they are Russians or any other nationality, as I suspect that in the context of Russia bashing this article seemed to be biased in that direction.

[IanL]

Would love to see the stats for how many of the Russian 'tourist' arrivals over the last couple of months haven't taken their return flights home.  Extended their visas (or got one after their exemption expired) / done a visa run / are now overstayers.  Many are not here for tourism - they're avoiding Putin's call up, and who can blame them?

[Khunmark]

Seems to me the enduring sentiment here is the old chestnut ‘they’re stealing our jobs’. A time honoured phrase wheeled out by xenophobes across the globe.

[TheDirtyDurian]

55 minutes ago, Khunmark said:

Seems to me the enduring sentiment here is the old chestnut ‘they’re stealing our jobs’. A time honoured phrase wheeled out by xenophobes across the globe.

Well if its a job protected for Thais only, like a driver service for example, then they are, "Stealing our jobs!" 

[Cabra]

3 hours ago, Donald said:

Lead by example I would say. In each case putting people who work "illegally" at par with criminals is certainly not right. I am sure that wasn't the intention, but you did make the comparison. I am all in favor that people stick to the rules of the country they want to live in, whether they make sense or not . It's just that the Thai authorities obsession with illegal foreigners in one or another way is pathetic. Parading over stayers for the cameras like they just caught some Isis terrorist looks pathetic. And one thing is for sure, it doesn't make any difference if they are Russians or any other nationality, as I suspect that in the context of Russia bashing this article seemed to be biased in that direction.

Lead by example, how? By not enforcing its own laws? Maybe you think Thailand should arrest its own citizens when they return from aboard if suspected of breaking another countries employment laws? Your comment is stupefying. Employment law is real. And if you break those laws you are a criminal. Who is law enforce suppose to obsess about if not criminals? You seem to be unclear on the concept of law and order. All foreigners working illegally are at risk (and seeing as a Thai national can't be considered working illegally in their own country, foreigners are naturally the targets of employment laws on the books to protect Thai jobs). Don't be mad about Russians being called out, be mad Russians put themselves in a position to be called out. Get right with the law, or face the consequences. It makes no difference where they are from.

[Soidog]

4 hours ago, Donald said:

Lead by example I would say. In each case putting people who work "illegally" at par with criminals is certainly not right. I am sure that wasn't the intention, but you did make the comparison. I am all in favor that people stick to the rules of the country they want to live in, whether they make sense or not . It's just that the Thai authorities obsession with illegal foreigners in one or another way is pathetic. Parading over stayers for the cameras like they just caught some Isis terrorist looks pathetic. And one thing is for sure, it doesn't make any difference if they are Russians or any other nationality, as I suspect that in the context of Russia bashing this article seemed to be biased in that direction.

I can’t disagree with any of that other than an illegal activity by definition makes your actions a crime and hence you are a criminal. That said, the way you describe it is totally correct. People should not be paraded as they are. 
 

On your point about calling out Russians, again I have to agree. Many many times I have banged this drum of nationalistic headlines that only serve to divide people. I personally don’t think Thailand should be allowing Russians in to the country for holidays. But I also don’t agree with this obsessive calling out of nationalities in headlines. I will continue to point this out whenever is encounter it. It helps no one and especially those of us who are long time stayers in the country. In the U.K. if illegal workers are found. The headline simply says that “Illegal farm workers caught” only when it’s central to the story are nationalities mentioned. It needs to stop! 

[Khunmark]

2 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Well if its a job protected for Thais only, like a driver service for example, then they are, "Stealing our jobs!" 

Granted, however the article doesn’t make a distinction between legal and illegal employment where the claim  of ‘stealing jobs’ is being made.

[Soidog]

4 minutes ago, Khunmark said:

Granted, however the article doesn’t make a distinction between legal and illegal employment where the claim  of ‘stealing jobs’ is being made.

Agreed. Right now, the tourism industry is desperate to get people working back in the industry. Hotels, bars and restaurants are needing more staff. Why not let foreigners in the country do some of this work? Having a fluent English speaker in a hotel front desk would help everyone. Salaries would be poor for most foreigners, but I know lots of people with time on their hands that would help out and earn a few thousand baht as well as keeping busy. 
 

Fact is that the country isn’t ready to let this happen. One day it will need to change as this is a direction of travel no one can stop. 

[palooka]

13 minutes ago, Soidog said:

I know lots of people with time on their hands that would help out and earn a few thousand baht as well as keeping busy. 

I know a few that would do it for nothing other than accommodation, if out of area to them.

" keeping busy" are the key words.