Cambodian migrant workers at a Thailand-Cambodia border check point (Photo: khmertimeskh.com) Bangkok (VNA) - The Thai National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), on July 5, requested the Ministry of Labour to review a new labour law which has been causing a flux of foreign workers returning home from Thailand over fears of arrest and heavy fines.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, it would take the ministry four months to examine the newly introduced Executive Decree on Foreign Workers Management before submitting a revised draft to the government for two-month consideration.
On July 4, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, as NCPO chief, invoked Article 44 of the Constitution that gives power him to push through policy, to order a 180-day suspension of four key articles of the decree that impose harsher penalties against unreported and unlicensed migrants and their employers.
In spite of the delay, as of July 5, more than 34,000 Myanmar workers left the country. There are about 4 million legal and 1 million illegal Myanmar workers reportedly staying in Thailand.
In the Thai border with Cambodia, the number of migrants returning home has been increasing daily, with nearly 2,000 workers crossing the Poipet checkpoint to go back to Cambodia on July 5.
Millions of migrant workers from neighbouring countries, such as Cambodia and Myanmar, play an important role in Thailand’s key economic sectors, including the billion-USD fishing and aquatic processing industry. -VNA
VNA
