Migrant Burmese workers at a Mahachai, Samut Sakhon factory gather to undergo medical examinations.

All migrant workers will need to do is pay Bt1,300 to get complete medical coverage, says Health Ministry

The Public Health Ministry has spent Bt155 million on care for illegal migrant workers, says Health Service Support Department deputy director-general Dr Visith Tangnaphakorn.

He was speaking at the second National Migrant Health conference, held in Bangkok by the Public Health Ministry, World Health Organisation, International Organisation for Migration and the Migrant Working Group.

To give migrants access to medical care, the Public Health Ministry has launched a new package for unregistered migrant workers living in the country. All they need to do is pay Bt1,300 each and they will be given an annual health check up, health insurance and access to public hospitals across the country.

"Illegal migrants who buy the package will be given the same access to medical treatment as registered migrants," he says.

The Public Health Ministry is expecting this package to reduce its financial burdens.

The Ministry of Labour estimates that there are about 1.3 million migrant workers living in Thailand, of which only 621,437 are registered.

Hospitals pick and choose

Representative of the Migrant Working Group, Tassanai Khantayaporn, says some hospitals refuse to treat unregistered migrants because they are afraid of having to deal with the police.

"All hospitals have the duty to provide medical treatment to everyone without discrimination," she says.

The diseases most common among migrant workers are diarrhoea, tuberculosis, HIV/Aids, dengue fever, elephantiasis and malaria.