These testimonies were rejected by the company managements. Centaco/Sky Food
states it would be “impossible to cover up problems given the high standards required by our business” while Saha Farms/Golden Line says that “machines are operated at
their standard speed at all times”.
The testimonies from workers at four different factories indicate significant numbers
of underage labourers working as adults, often with ages faked in their id documents.81
At three factories these children were said to be as young as 14 years old,
with documents stating they were 18 years old.82 Employing children under 15 years
of age is in breach of Thailand’s Labour Protection Act of 1998. Further, according
to the law, employment of children under the age of 18 comes with a list of requirements.
For example, an underage employee shall have a rest period of no less than
one hour after working for not more than four hours. Further, the law prohibits
children under the age of 18 from working in slaughterhouses.83 The research team
was not able to interview any underage workers directly, nor verify the specific allegations.
However, according to reports from the US Department of Labor underage
workers are common in Thailand’s labor intensive sectors, as migrants who arrive in
the country at times have passports with a wrong year of birth. It is a difficult challenge
for Thai companies to intervene and identify the workers’ actual age.