Thailand moves to resume flow of workers to Saudi Arabia

“The Saudi deputy labour minister will visit Thailand this month to check out the career development centres under the Department of Skill Development and the Manufacturing Automation and Robotics Academy [MARA],” Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said on Thursday. “We plan to discuss this MoU and explore the cost of living and benefits for Thai workers in Saudi Arabia, among other labour-related issues.

“The ministry expects the MoU to be ready in two months, with the first lot of Thai workers under this memorandum arriving in Saudi Arabia within six months,” he said.

Saudi Arabia lowered its diplomatic ties with Thailand, which were established in 1957, after the theft of around US$20 million worth of jewels by a Thai janitor in 1989. This sparked a long-standing row that became known as the “Blue Diamond Affair”.

Bilateral ties resumed earlier this year after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha visited Saudi Arabia on January 25-26 as a guest of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, during which both leaders discussed future relations and cooperation.

“Saudi Arabia requires more than 8 million workers for its construction projects, especially high-skilled groups like engineers and architects, and medium-skilled groups like foremen, metal workers, plasterers, welders, painters and drivers,” Suchart added.

“Some 30 years ago, Thailand used to send approximately 300,000 blue-collar workers to Saudi Arabia thanks to high compensation rates. Over the years, as technology has advanced, the skills of our workers have been upgraded accordingly,” he said.

Last year, only 56 Thais went to Saudi Arabia for jobs, he said, adding that most had been taken there directly by employers to work as technicians, mechanics, welders, cooks and maids. Thai workers, meanwhile, are popular in other Middle East countries, with Israel hiring up to 20,044 Thai workers last year, followed by 931 in the United Arab Emirates, 240 in Qatar, 239 in Bahrain and 194 in Kuwait.