NEW WORKERS, AGE-OLD PROBLEMS?
Thailand will begin to discover what life without Cambodian workers really costs, said Roisai.
The reality is problematic for multiple sectors of the economy that have long been underpinned by cheap labour.
A joint report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development from 2017 estimated that migrant workers contributed 4.3 to 6.6 per cent of Thailand’s gross domestic product.
Before the conflict began, over 520,000 Cambodians worked in Thailand, accounting for 12 per cent of the country’s foreign workforce, according to official data.
Cambodian migrants made up the second largest group in the country before the exodus, only behind the estimated four million Myanmar nationals in Thailand.
“Without them, economic disruption could be substantial for many employers,” said Nilim Baruah, a senior regional labour migration specialist at the ILO in Bangkok.
Many migrant workers are hired to perform largely unskilled labour roles in construction, fisheries, food processing and agriculture. The export sector will feel the pinch first as production must meet orders on time, Sompong said.
The seafood industry may cope better, given the ongoing monsoon season means it is not currently the peak fishing period. For fruit farms or other crop sectors needing seasonal pickers, the impacts could be devastating, he added.
The labour shortages will have businesses scrambling for urgent replacements in a system that is inflexible and opaque.
“One option is hiring workers from neighbouring countries like Myanmar, but that process is complex and costly. This situation shows the system is still fragile and needs lasting solutions, not short‑term fixes,” he said.
The current system ties workers to a single employer, making changing jobs difficult and often illegal.
Contracts are often locked in place for several years, removing flexibility for individuals and employers alike while broker fees and document fees can make finding and securing new workers expensive and time-consuming.
The idea of recruiting Thai workers to replace migrant labour can only go so far. Thai workers usually have other options and would not take on “3D” (dirty, dangerous, demanding) jobs unless the pay is much higher, Sompong said.
Last month, Thailand’s Cabinet greenlit the hiring of 10,000 Sri Lankan workers to fill the urgent labour gaps. More than 30,000 Sri Lankans quickly registered for the scheme, Labour Minister Pongkawin Jungrungruangkit told reporters on Aug 19.
He also called for workers from Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines to apply to work in Thailand.
A lack of transparency about this rushed policy has Roisai concerned about the plan.
“We don’t know the process. We don’t know the cost. We don’t see any comprehensive plan. And I don’t see the government preparing anything to help the new workers integrate with society,” she said, citing support like having translations for government or essential services that these workers would need.
While people from Myanmar and Cambodia have deep social roots in Thailand built on decades of migration movement and policy development, these potential new arrivals from other countries would not.
It could also further inflame a factor at the core of the problems with Cambodian migrants – deep rooted nationalism among many Thais towards migrants in general who are increasingly blamed for domestic economic woes, even though they are performing jobs that locals do not want.
These feelings have been expressed as vitriol and hate speech and proliferated on social media, she said.
“These (local) people don’t benefit directly from migrants’ economic contributions. So, when the benefits are not well distributed, it makes some people who feel like they’re suffering translate their anger to migrant workers rather than the economic structures,” she said.
“It’s nationalism that’s driven by the wariness of resource sharing. When you read deeply, a lot of it is driven by economic hardship.”
Hostility on social media targeting Cambodian communities has been rife during this period of conflict, experts told CNA.
While Cambodians have borne the brunt in recent months, Myanmar migrants have also been repeatedly targeted in campaigns documented in recent years.
Fast spreading misinformation online was observed as a trigger for the harassment and intimidation of many Cambodian migrants during this crisis, including women and children, said Jomtien Jansomrag, a programme officer responsible for labour rights projects for Raks Thai Foundation.
The foundation’s reports show that even before the heavy clashes, Cambodian children who grew up in Thailand and lived in the border provinces of Chonburi, Rayong and Trat were already being harassed by groups of Thai youths, creating ill feelings and fear.
“These problems existed before, but the war and conflicts have made them worse … When social media spreads hatred, it’s very difficult to stop,” she said.
These issues are not new; rather they are a pattern of behaviour targeting migrants that have been promulgated in recent years by shadowy political players and groups hiding with anonymity on social media, Roisai observed.
She said that where frictions used to occur more between employers and employees in the past, now it’s between the workers and their host communities fuelled by domestic economic struggles.
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