Bangkok: Dr. Atthawich Suwannabhakdi, a Member of Parliament and Deputy Leader of the Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party, has raised concerns over the recurring failures of the E-Work Permit project system, which has resulted in a backlog of hundreds of thousands of foreign worker applications. He has urged the establishment of a parliamentary committee to investigate these issues.

According to Thai News Agency, Dr. Atthawich spoke in the House of Representatives during a debate on a motion to establish a special committee to study the system for protecting the rights and welfare of independent and platform workers. He expressed worries about the Ministry of Labour's procurement of IT systems, citing the E-Work Permit project as a prime example of failure.

Dr. Atthawich pointed out that an external company was hired to develop an online system for registering foreign workers, known as "pink cards." Initially, employers had to queue to process these registrations. The E-Work Permit platform, implemented by a large IT joint venture company starting with the letter "F," was valued at 7.8 billion baht but resulted in data errors affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.

Furthermore, he highlighted the suspension of labor imports from Cambodia due to permit renewal issues. Combined with Myanmar's conscription policy, which restricts young workers from leaving the country, Thailand is forced to rely on existing labor from Myanmar and Laos. Dr. Atthawich stressed the importance of a stable online permit renewal system, as the current E-Work Permit platform's instability has left over 100,000 workers unable to renew their permits.

Dr. Atthawich suggested that either the House of Representatives committee or the Minister of Labour, Mr. Chulaphan Amornvivat, should urgently investigate the E-Work Permit system. The investigation should determine whether the work has been officially accepted and what kind of liability insurance the company holds, given the project's high value of 7.8 billion baht.