Cambodian workers crossed the border at the immigration checkpoint of this northeastern province to return to the homeland as Thailand started sealing off construction worker camps in Greater Bangkok and four southern border provinces today.
The Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) headed by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-ocha decided to close infectious and high-risk areas including construction worker camps in Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan, Nakhon Pathom, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat for 30 days starting on June 28 to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Employers yesterday sent the workers back through the Chong Chom border crossing point in Surin’s Kap Choeng district. Many cambodian workers were left along Kap Choeng-Chong Chom highway and local immigration police rushed into gathering them at the Surin immigration office and kept them away from general people. Despite strict disease control measures, five immigration police officers of Surin earlier contracted COVID-19.
Surin immigration police said the number of Cambodian workers leaving the country through Surin on a daily basis started to double yesterday and most of them were construction workers. Police confined the outgoing migrants in a specific area throughout the process of their departure which also included COVID-19 tests.
Local immigration police asked employers to leave their migrant workers only at the Surin immigration office to support disease control and facilitate repatriation. (TNA)
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