The labor ministry has announced that a temporary entry ban on migrant workers from Thailand meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is now lifted. That comes shortly after the government lifted a similar entry ban on Indonesian migrant workers.
The labor ministry has cited Thailand’s adequate disease prevention measures as the reason for lifting the ban. It says it next plans to communicate with the governments of the Philippines and Vietnam. It says it will lift bans on migrant workers from those countries once their disease prevention protocols meet international standards.
Upon arrival, migrant workers from Thailand will go to mass COVID testing centers. Until at least February 14, arrivals will spend 14 days in quarantine and a further seven-day “self-health management” period at these centers.
Their employers will be required to apply for quarantine beds for their workers on a special labor ministry website. However, priority for quarantine beds at testing centers goes to Taiwanese nationals, and given the upcoming rush of returning Taiwanese people expected ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, getting a bed for a foreign migrant worker may prove difficult. To make things easier for employers of migrant workers, Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center has secured 350 quarantine beds for migrant workers from January 1-14.