Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has confirmed that Thailand has no policy to deport foreign workers, amid rising tensions along the Cambodian border.
In a statement posted to her official Facebook and X accounts on Sunday, the prime minister said the Thai government will not force migrant workers to return home and that the decision rests entirely with the workers themselves.
“The Thai government has no policy to repatriate alien workers from any country from the kingdom,” she said.
“But if any country takes measures to call back workers with jobs having been created for them, they have the right and freedom to decide under the responsibility of their country,” she added.
Although Cambodia was not named directly, her message came shortly after the Cambodian government urged its citizens to return, following a partial border closure enforced by Thai security forces.
Former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said last week that Cambodia still needs workers and is prepared to absorb returning citizens from Thailand.
He also predicted a prolonged standoff after Cambodia asked the International Court of Justice to intervene in a dispute over four locations along the Thai-Cambodian border, Khmer Times reported.
Cambodia has stationed 400 buses near the border to facilitate the transport of workers back home if necessary.
“As long as the government orders to transport citizens and workers who need to leave the Thai border to their homeland, we will immediately follow the order,” Phnom Penh Governor Khuong Sreng was quoted as saying by Khmer Times on Saturday.
Hun Sen, now Senate President, also praised Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet for implementing contingency plans to receive returning workers. The country’s Labour Ministry said tens of thousands of job openings are available for them.
Meanwhile, Thailand and Cambodia continued discussions on Sunday in the second day of a Joint Boundary Commission meeting, aimed at resolving the border conflict peacefully.
