On 26 September 2017, the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, Ministry of Labour, inspected the working and employment conditions on board the Asian Warrior, a foreign flagged offshore supply vessel, anchored off the coast of Songkhla province. It was found that the ship-owner had failed to pay the full wages to its 10 seafarers which is a violation of Maritime Labour Act B.E. 2558 (2017) and the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Maritime Labour Convention 2006. Among those crews, eight of them are Filipinos and two of them are Indonesian.

As a result, the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare has issued an order to the ship master to pay the full wages for the period of 3 June – 31 August 2017 to all the crews. The Department has also provided food and medicine for the crews and worked closely with representatives from Stella Maris Seafarer Center to carry out a co-inspection of the living conditions on board. It has also coordinated with the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) to provide assistance to the crews to ensure that their rights are protected and that they will received their unpaid wages. 

On 28 September 2017, the Marine Department has also inspected the vessel and, therefore, will not authorise the Asian Warrior to port-out until the vessel owner fulfils his duty of providing remedies to all the crews. Moreover, the Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is liasing with the flag state and other relevant countries in order for them to be informed of the matter and to proceed with appropriate assistance to members of the crews of their own nationals as well as to demand the vessel owner to pays the whole wages to the crews.   

Thailand remains committed to working closely with all stakeholders and civil societies to ensure protection and standard working conditions for maritime labourers. In this regard, Thailand became a state party to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 on 7 June 2016 and the Maritime Labour Act B.E. 2558 was enacted to implement the said Convention. The action taken by the Government with regard to the Asian Warrior vessel is therefore in compliance with Thailand’s obligations under the Convention, which is to ensure that the working and living conditions on board the vessel are in accordance with the international labour standard.