BANGKOK - As an attempt to curb the growing number of clusters of COVID-19 cases, the Thai government announced on 27 June that accommodation for workers both inside and outside of the construction sites, building transformation sites or demolition of building sites shall be temporarily closed, while movement of workers shall be prohibited temporarily for at least thirty days. The order applied to Bangkok and its vicinity, following the emergence of more clusters in construction camps in the area.

According to the official figure from the government, over 48,000 migrant workers work in the construction camp sites in Bangkok alone. Without any income, and no possibility to leave the construction camp sites for food and other necessities, workers have been left without much assistance. Though the government promised that workers under the social security system would get financial assistance, only a fracture number of migrant workers in the construction sector are registered under it.

Despite the situation, the ILO, through the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative’s Safe and Fair Programme, in collaboration with the Employers’ Confederation of Thailand (ECOT), was able to provide rapid assistance to these vulnerable groups of migrant workers, including women migrant and their family members. Since the issue of the Order, 1,500 survival kits composing of sanitary items, food, water, and PPEs have been distributed to migrant workers including their children in the construction camp sites in Bangkok and its vicinity. This rapid assistance has helped migrant workers especially women to get through the day with less difficulty in the construction camp sites.

Many migrant workers in the construction sector migrate with their families to Thailand from neighbouring countries. Being locked in their on-site or off-site accommodation which are known to be congested, unhygienic and unsafe, is not a condition anyone would wish to be in. To make matters worse, being locked down in the accommodation means that women, in particular, could be in a more vulnerable position if the perpetrators are living with them. According to the report on Support to children living in construction site camps by UNICEF, more than 40 per cent of mothers reported experiencing some form of verbal, psychological abuse or physical violence, and almost 90 per cent of children participants of the survey reported experiencing some form of physical violence from their parents or guardians. These groups of women and children in the construction camps must not be left behind.

"Construction workers, including migrant workers, find it challenging to adapt to the control of movement measure and to cope with congested living condition of the construction camps. Thousands of them find themselves facing possible health risks, not to mention violence and harassment especially against women workers," says Graeme Buckley, Director of Decent Work Technical Support Team for East and South-East Asia and the Pacific and Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR, ILO.