The Supreme Administrative Court of Thailand today turned down the petition of a disabled Shan migrant worker, who had been paralyzed in December 2006, in an accident which occurred while she was working at a hotel construction site in Chiangmai, according to the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF).

The disabled migrant worker, Nang Noom Mai Saeng, again claimed disability compensation from the Chiangmai Social Society Office (SSO) this morning.

She was paralyzed from the waist down when a broken sling sent a 300kg mould it was lifting, crashing down. It struck her, while she was working at the Shangrila Hotel construction site on Chiangmai's busy Changklan Road on December 4, 2006.

However, the court turned down her petition, said HRDF.

The court also supported the decision of the Chiangmai Administrative Court, ruling that, the Court had no power to consider whether a circular, issued by the SSO denying access, according to HRDF's report was released this morning.

Nang Noom has appealed against the decision to the Workmen's Compensation Fund (WCF), with the support of the HRDF and intervention from the National Human Rights Commission.

"Migrant workers are human beings with flesh and blood and a life and a mind the same as Thai people, so they deserve some level of security in their lives. They given benefits to our economy," Somchai Homla-or, Secretary General of HRDF said, reacting to the court's ruling.

The HRDF said it would take up the campaign so that work-related accidents and disease compensation would gain meaningful access to the international arena.

The first petition was submitted in last April.