• 
• 

Published on November 6, 2007

A nasty brawl be-tween Thai and Egy-ptian construction workers in Kuwait last week was caused by drunken Thais urinating in an area reserved for Muslim prayers, a worker's relative in Phichit said yesterday.

The relative said they were told two Thais had been killed. But Labour Minister Apai Chandanachulaka said no Thai workers had been killed in the brawl last Thursday night. Rather, four had sustained slight injuries.

Yor (not her real name) told The Nation her son-in-law, who is one of 1,000 Thais at the Kuwait site, often told her the Thai and Egyptian workers did not get along well.

The Egyptian workers bullied the Thais by cutting into queues for food and pushing to get on vehicles to work, she said.

In the latest incident, some of the 20,000 Egyptian workers invaded the Thai workers' camp on Thursday night, attacking them and damaging their belongings.

They were furious that drunken Thai workers had intruded on the Muslim camp's prayer room and reportedly urinated there, Yor said.

Yor said her son-in-law had contacted her on Sunday to say many Thai workers were hurt and at least two killed in the melee. He told her labour agencies had moved the Thais out of the area and promised to provide extra security.

"The government's information doesn't match what we know from those who were there. After the brawl, my son-in-law and other Thai workers felt disheartened.

"But the Thai ambassador, who went to inspect the scene and provide assistance, did not fully do what he was supposed to do because, soon after his arrival, he hurried away because of security fears," Yor said.

Many Thai workers wanted to come home, so she had called a government hotline 1111 to ask for assistance in repatriating them but did not receive a satisfactory response.

She was told by officials to contact the Phichit Labour Office, despite the fact the matter was urgent, she said.

Meanwhile, Apai said he had instructed three labour recruitment agencies to review their plans to take care of Thai workers in Kuwait in cases of emergency.

Apai said it was up to the Kuwaiti legal system whether or not the Thai workers involved in the brawl would be sent back home.

He insisted the incident was an isolated case involving a particular group and thus should not affect other Thai workers in Kuwait.

On Sunday the Labour Ministry ordered recruitment agencies to stop sending Thai workers to Kuwait until an investigation into the brawl was completed and to prevent the situation from getting worse.

The Nation

PHICHIT