The Late Thai Worker Who Couldn't Return Home for 10 Years and Sent Only a 1 Million Won Monthly Salary

Endured Only by Talking with Thai Family
Investigative Authorities "Investigate All Illegal Activities"

A story has emerged about a Thai migrant worker in his 60s who died while working at a pig farm in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, and was abandoned in a nearby mountain, living in isolation without returning to his home country for 10 years.

According to Yonhap News and others on the 9th, Mr. A (67), a Thai migrant worker found dead in a nearby mountain on the 4th, entered Korea in 2013 on a tourist visa and had never returned to his home country since then.

Accommodation where the deceased Thai worker stayed /
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Mr. A, who worked at a pig farm in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, earned a monthly salary in the range of one million won and sent most of it to his family in Thailand after deducting expenses for cigarettes and coffee. Initially, he received a salary in the low one million won range, and just before his death, it was reported to be about 1.8 million won.

Mr. A barely spoke Korean, had no interaction with neighbors, and lived alone with almost no contact with other Thai workers residing in Korea.

The pig farm raised about 1,000 pigs, including 90 sows (mother pigs). Mr. A was known to have taken on the arduous task of managing all the manure from the pig farm and caring for the sows day and night, including overseeing births.

The news of Mr. A’s death has been conveyed to his family in Thailand, who are reportedly planning to come to Korea to handle the arrangements for his remains.

The kitchen of the accommodation where the deceased Thai worker stayed /
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Earlier, Mr. A was found dead at the end of last month in his lodging next to the pig farm. The farm owner, Mr. B, who discovered the body, used a tractor to abandon Mr. A’s corpse in a nearby mountain. On the day of the incident, Mr. B’s son suggested reporting it to the police, but fearing that the employment of an undocumented foreign worker would be exposed, Mr. B ultimately abandoned the body in the mountain.

It has been determined that Mr. A lived for over 10 years in very poor conditions in a corner of the pigsty. The National Forensic Service’s autopsy found no signs of homicide, and it was determined that he had health issues, but investigations are ongoing to see if these conditions contributed to Mr. B’s death.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, Pocheon City, and other related agencies are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the farm’s air quality, environmental conditions, and employment practices. If additional illegal activities are uncovered at the pig farm, they plan to impose penalties accordingly.

Meanwhile, the Uijeongbu District Court issued an arrest warrant for Mr. B on the 7th on charges of corpse abandonment, citing concerns over evidence destruction and flight risk. The police have formally charged and are investigating Mr. B and his son, while awaiting the final results of Mr. A’s autopsy.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.