It’s been 18 years since the first batch of Thai workers travelled to Finland and Sweden to pick berries. Since then more than 110,000 Thai workers have travelled across continents for the lure of 130,000 - 150,000 baht for their two months of hard labour.

Thai workers wishing to work as berry-pickers in Sweden and Finland must not believe those trying to convince them to work in those countries this year, as the yearly job quota had been filled and no extra posts will be available, the Labour Ministry's Department of Employment (DOE) director-general Waranon Pitiwan warned on Tuesday.