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Lawsuit

2 Sep 2016

Betagro & Thammakaset lawsuits (re labour exploitation in Thailand)

Status: CLOSED

Date lawsuit was filed
2 Sep 2016
Unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers
Location of Filing: Thailand
Location of Incident: Thailand
Type of Litigation: Domestic

Companies

Thammakaset 2 Thailand Agriculture & livestock

Sources

Snapshot

In 2016, 14 Myanmar migrant workers filed a lawsuit against Betagro, a Thai food corporation, for alleged mistreatment at one of its poultry suppliers Thammakaset. The workers allege forced labour, restrictions on movement, passport confiscation, and unlawful salary reductions. In response, Thammakaset filed several defamation suits against former workers, journalists, and activists for raising awareness regarding the alleged labour abuses.

Our page covering these defamation suits can be found here.

Legal proceedings

On 2 September 2016, 14 Myanmar migrants filed a lawsuit at a labour court in Saiburi province, southern Thailand, against Betagro, a major Thai food corporation. The lawsuit seeks compensation and civil damages for alleged mistreatment at a poultry farm in the central Lopburi province in Thailand, Thammakaset 2, that supplies Betagro.  The workers allege that they suffered serious abuses at the factory, such as forced labour, restrictions on movement, passport confiscation, and unlawful salary reductions. They claim, they were forced to work 22-hour shifts without extra pay and proper breaks, while their salaries came to less than minimum wage. The 14 workers seek 44 million Thai Baht (about $1.25 million) in damages and compensation. 

In June 2016, Betagro's decision to stop buying from Thammakaset was reported and the company said it had "stopped business operations with the farm until there is a solution for the labour conflict."

In August 2016, the Lopburi Department of Labour Protection and Welfare ordered Thammakaset, to pay the past wages of the 14 workers for an amount of 1.7 million Thai Baht (about $52,000). Thammakaset appealed and the Region 1 Labour Court rejected its first appeal. On 14 September 2017, the Supreme court of Thailand dismissed Thammakaset's second appeal and approved  the compensation order.

On 15 January 2019, the Supreme Court of Thailand ordered the immediate payment of  the 1.7 million Thai Baht (about $52,000) awarded by the Lopburi Department of Labour Protection and Welfare in August to the 14 migrant workers. On 12 March 2019, after an appeal by Thammakaset, the Central Labour Court (also known as the Supreme Labourt Court) issued a statement confirming the payment of the 1.7 million Thai Baht to the 14 migrant workers.

Defamation proceedings

In response to the lawsuit, Thammakaset filed numerous defamation complaints against former workers, journalists, and activists for either raising awareness about the labour abuse they had suffered or speaking in support of the labourers. A full list of the defamation suits can be found here: Thammakaset lawsuits against former workers (re defamation on labour conditions, Thailand).

This Story thread follows the developments of these cases and the following materials should also be considered:

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre tracks these cases in other threads:

Timeline