Singapore returns passports to dozens of Thai students

BANGKOK, June 13 (TNA) - The Singapore government has returned passports to some 40 Thai students who were cheated by a manpower firm and an employment agency in the island state. Pravit Kiengpol, Director-General of the Department of Employment, under the Thai Ministry of Labour, told journalists that Friday's return of the confiscated passports came after nearly 30 Thai students lodge a complaint with the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok that they were lured by the manpower company, named Study Plus, which had displayed advertisements on a website and on Facebook that Thai students could receive training at famous hotels, restaurants and clubhouses while staying in Singapore. The Singapore government returned the Thai students' passports, after found well-grounds in their complaint and also found guilty of a linked employment agency in Singapore, named Goaboard Education Group. The Thai students were told that they would receive wages and an overtime payment, but they were each charged by the man power company 25,000–29,000 baht as its service fee and for their lodging. After working in Singapore for a while, the Thai students' passports were confiscated, while many were asked to become witnesses by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower. According to the senior official, the Singapore Ministry of Manpower seized the students’ passports after finding that their documents were faked. The senior official said the Thai students, whose passports were returned but still want to continue their training in Singapore, can do so, but they have to now inform the Thai labour representative in the island state first. Department of Employment officials acknowledged that about 40 Thai students remain stranded in Singapore. (TNA)