Ministry needs to update its list of what foreigners can do
The fuss over the legal status of the Mahanakorn Building, due to the fact that it was designed by a foreign architect, highlights a serious breach of the 2008 Working of Aliens Act by the Labour Ministry, itself, which is supposed to enforce the law.
Section 57 of the law provides that a new ministerial regulation prescribing the occupations permitted to aliens shall be issued within two years to replace the outdated 1979 Royal Decree that lists prohibited occupations, pursuant to Section 6 of the 1978 Working of Aliens Act. Since the number one prohibited occupation in the 1979 list, which is still in force due to the ministry’s neglect, is that of labourer, it is likely that nearly all tall buildings constructed in Thailand over the last 20 years are also illegal structures on the same basis as the Mahanakorn building, due to the fact that they have been constructed by foreign labourers.
I would advise the Labour Ministry to put its skates on and do what it should have done six years ago by enacting a new list of occupations more suited to Thailand’s current needs as quickly as possible, unless it wishes to preside over a mass demolition programme.
George Morgan
