Thailand has reopened its border with Cambodia to migrant workers to address labor shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sa Kaeo Deputy Governor Nattachai Nampoonsuksan reported that a total of 184 Cambodian laborers crossed through the Ban Khlong Luek checkpoint in Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaeo province on Tuesday (1 Feb). The group is among the migrant laborers permitted to work in Thailand under the Labor Employment Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Thailand and neighboring countries.
According to the Federation of Thai Industries, Thailand currently needs around 800,000 migrant workers to serve the manufacturing, tourism and service sectors. To address labor shortages, the Thai government signed an MoU with Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, allowing workers from these countries to rain employment in the Kingdom.
Employers in Thailand are required by the Ministry of Labor to pay a quarantine charge of 8,500 baht for each foreign worker they register. Each worker must spend one week in a COVID-19 quarantine facility, while those who have not been vaccinated will receive inoculations.
The ministry’s Department of Employment has opened channels for business operators to apply to hire migrant workers, with companies who can pay for work-permit fees and quarantine charges for their employees enrolling in the process. The registration period for bringing in foreign workers ends on February 13, 2023. (NNT)
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