At least four Thai labourers in Saudi Arabia have died from the coronavirus since June, according to government officials.
Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin yesterday held a teleconference call with Wittawat Khuprasert, Minister Counsellor of Labour in Saudi Arabia, and Owart Thongbormakrud, chief of Lampang Provincial Employment Office, to discuss the cases.
The latest case was that of Thanom Chuedaeng, a 67-year-old native of Lampang, who worked for a company in Jubail, an eastern province of Saudi Arabia.
He was pronounced dead at the Jubail Government Hospital on Wednesday where had been treated for COVID-19 since 16th August.
Mr Thongbormakrud visited Thanom’s family but its members had already learnt about the migrant worker’s death.
The family then coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to follow up on a compensation payment and other support benefits.
The body of Thanom will be buried in Saudi Arabia, while his family is expected to hold religious rites on Sunday, he said.
Mr Khuprasert said Buaphan Masiri, a driller who worked on an underground water field, from Nakhon Ratchasima, died on 26th July in Saudi Arabia, but the Department of Consular Affairs only received a report on the man’s death yesterday.
Also, he said that another Thai national died after having a fever, but there was no written report by a doctor in Saudi Arabia saying he died of COVID-19.
Mr Khuprasert said the last time Saudi Arabia provided jobs for Thai labourers was 30 years ago, adding Thais that were recruited are now over the age of 60.
He said most of them are not subscribers of the government’s overseas job-seeker support fund.
As of yesterday, Saudi Arabia has reported 311,855 cases of COVID-19 infections, 1,019 more from the previous day. In addition, the Middle Eastern country reported 3,785 deaths, 30 more from Wednesday, as 286,255 have recovered.
