About 19,000 Thai workers in Malaysia have returned home due to the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Malaysian ringgit.
Thai Consul-General to Kota Bharu Mongkol Sinsomboon said figures show 38,487 Thai workers work legally in Malaysia with 30,000 others working illegally in the neighboring country.
He said the new wave of Covid-19 early this year, which also hit Malaysia hard, prompted the Malaysian government to invoke a state of emergency and left many Thai workers without jobs.
According to the Thai Consul-General, Malaysia’s policy on migrant labor was appealing to Thai workers before the pandemic struck last year as the Malaysian government began requiring employers to take out social security coverage for migrant workers.
He said however, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the government to lock down the country. It also came as the Malaysian government was struggling to cope with its public debt problem, resulting in a steep fall in the value of the ringgit. (NNT)
