Business people and scholars have warned that harsher punishments imposed by the executive decree on migrant worker employment may not be an effective tool to curb illegal labour.
They said the decree has the potential to bankrupt businesses and lead to abuse of power by some labour officials.
They reiterated the possible impact of the decree as the Labour Ministry encourages universities, businesses and non-governmental organisations to air their views in a process to draft organic laws of the decree to direct legal measures in a way that is suitable to all parties.
In a seminar held by Migrant Working Group, an NGO working on the migrant worker issue, participants said a time frame for discussing the decree, set by labour officials, is too short.
The seminar was told tougher penalties "which are well intended" may lead to new problems.
According to the decree, employers are subject to hefty fines of between 400,000 and 800,000 baht for each migrant worker illegally hired.
That will cause small entrepreneurs to become bankrupt even though they have no intention to commit wrongdoing, said Wathin Nukuea, a representative from the Federation of Thai Industries.
Excessively high fines are not always a good solution, he said. Instead the government should set more moderate fines and use them along with other legal measures such as banning violators from hiring foreign workers, he suggested.
This will be enough to put them in line because they are afraid of the impact on their businesses, which depend on foreign workers, if they are deprived of such an employment right, Mr Wathin said.
The harsher penalties also raised concerns over potential abuse of power by some officials who may exploit the decree to demand "off-system money" at high rates that match high punishments employers want to avoid, said Lae Dilokwitthayarat, an economist at Chulalongkorn University.
"High punishments do not always reflect efficiency or wipe out illegal labour," he said.
Mr Lae also disagreed with the complicated steps employers are required to follow under the decree. Their complexity and expensive costs will cause some employers and their prospective workers unable to do the jobs to resort to job brokers. A result is they have to pay unnecessary costs and the workers will eventually bear this financial burden, he said.
He said the issue of legal measures against illegal workers needs thorough and careful consideration.
Yet the government has given stakeholders only 120 days to brainstorm ideas for drafting the organic laws, migrant worker advocate Adison Koetmongkhon said, adding the time is too short to "work in a proactive mode".
The Employment Department has already invited universities, NGOs, employer and employee groups to send their opinions about the organic laws and is scheduled to hold a one-day hearing on Sept 17, said department official Suthep Benchaphakhirat.
The government has suspended parts of the decree following concerns over its negative impacts. The decree is set to take effect on Jan 1 next year on condition that employers and illegal foreign workers "get things right" during the grace period.
However, Mr Wathin said some employers and workers in remote areas upcountry would not report to authorities because they may not be aware of the announcement of the reprieve period.
