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Thais in Hong Kong form a sizable minority; there are an estimated 13,000 Thai people in Hong Kong, largely women.[1] Most are migrant workers employed as foreign domestic helpers; other common professions for Thais in Hong Kong include cleaners, waiters/waitresses, hairdressers, and bank officers.[2] The minimum wage for domestic helpers in Hong Kong is HKD3,270 as of 2005, adjusted downwards from HKD3,670; an additional levy on the salary is supposed to be paid by the employer, but the Thai Ministry of Labour reported in 2005 that employers often forced the employee to pay this levy instead.[3] A minority of Thais in Hong Kong are businesspeople or investors; a large proportion of Thailand's outward investment in newly industrialised economies goes to Hong Kong. Direct investment by Thais in Hong Kong peaked in 1996 and then fell due to the 1997 East Asian financial crisis.[4]