Labour Ministry confirms no Thai workers in Syria

BANGKOK, July 23 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Labour's Department of Employment confirmed Monday that there are currently no Thai workers in strife-torn Syria, urging all concerned parties to remain calm. When making the confirmation to journalists, Department of Employment Director-General Prawit Keangpon insisted that all Thai workers in Syria have already returned home. Prawit acknowledged that Syria has stopped hiring Thai construction workers for several years, as there have been no plans for new property and infrastructure development in the Middle East country. According to the senior labour official, a total of 13 Thai workers had been hired in restaurants and traditional Thai massage businesses in Syria since 2009 but all of them returned to Thailand several months ago, when violence escalated in the country. The Thai senior labour official affirmed that there have also been no skilled workers in other sectors in Syria, saying that the public and the workers' relatives need not to be worried. (TNA)