Cambodian Labour Exodus From Thailand Continues Today

[pdogg]

I think the crackdown on illegal migrant workers is good as that will have the effect of higher wages for the Thai working class.

 

 

 

 

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for Asia-Pacific said  37,000 Cambodian migrants left Thailand on Friday and another 6,000 tried to leave Saturday morning, bringing the total to 60,000 over the past seven days.

 

IOM is an inter-governmental organisation in the field of migration, with 155 member states, a further 11 states holding observer status and offices in over 100 countries.

 

IOM’s Cambodia office has sent three buses to help transport the returnees, but is concerned that flows have suddenly increased over recent days, placing a strain on services at this, the main border crossing, between the two countries.

 

“There are usually only about 100 migrants coming through each day,” said Leul Mekonnen, IOM’s acting chief of mission in Cambodia.

 

“But we are already seeing more than 1,000 a day and we do not know what the coming days hold.”

 

IOM Cambodia is working closely with Cambodian immigration officers at the Poi Pet Immigration Centre at the request of the Department of Immigration to assist the migrants with onward transport to their provinces.

 

More than half of the migrants are women and children. Aside from transport, there is also a growing need for food, water, health care and shelter. IOM is currently assessing needs and looking for emergency funding to deal with the sudden influx.

 

“IOM’s primary concern now is the safety and dignity of vulnerable migrants,” said Mr Mekonnen. “We are doing our best to get them home as soon as possible.”

 

Pol Lt Col Benjapol Rodsawat, deputy chief of Sa Kaeo immigration police, said local officials were trying to explain to Cambodian workers that they should not be afraid if they work in Thailand legally, saying that the key border checkpoint in Aranyaprathet would never be closed.

 

Pravit Khiengpol, director general of Thai Labour Ministry’s Employment Department said a number of Thai companies would suffer a shortage of workers following the mass exodus  of  the Cambodian workers.

 

Official statistics show that a total of 441,569 Cambodian workers have registered with the Employment Department.

 

Meanwhile China’s state news agency Xinhua reported Friday Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had ordered 150 military trucks to transport those migrant workers back to their home provinces.

 

On Wednesday, Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the massive deportation was due to the Thai military coup, which forced factories and enterprises to stop using illegal migrant workers, according to Xinhua.

 

He also dismissed news reporting that Thai military had shot Cambodian workers.

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/cambodian-labour-exodus-thailand-continues-today/

[mardhi]

I think the crackdown on illegal migrant workers is good as that will have the effect of higher wages for the Thai working class.

 

 

 

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/cambodian-labour-exodus-thailand-continues-today/

 

Not a chance - the Cambodians do the jobs the Thai's put their noses up at.     

 

I have given up with Thai workers for the most part.   Security guards were always asleep so I have brought another 24 CCTV's and a new remote based gate system for the front of my place.   Just about to install an electric fence on the top of the 3m high walls.    I will get the money back in about 4 months from saved salaries (not replaced two guys sacked for stealing from a house).   

 

Done the same with gardeners - got rid of 2 who took 6 days to do the work one guy working alone is achieving in 2 days.   Gardeners cost 26,000b month now its 6,000b via a contractor paid by the job, not the hour/day - he whistles through. 

 

The minimum wage has made all Thai's think no matter what, they have to get paid 9,000b month no matter how little they do.   Reality is the lazy ones are being fired left, right and centre. Companies are saying on the basis of the minimum wage, you must do a minimum amount of work.      add in the difficulty of finding anyone willing to work, then the Cambodian workforce was filling a big gap.   WHy do you think in the article Immigration police are saying "No - there is no clampdown" its because almost all construction work is done by Cambodians, not because they are cheaper - but they are more productive.    The construction company will be paying top dollar for those guys and they demand high productivity.  

 

All that would come out of this is the continued (its started already) moving of entire (unskilled) factories into Lao and Cambodia such as Jeans/t-shirts/nuts and bolts etc etc.   They then just bring them back over the border tax free due to ASEAN agreements.  

[duke007]

 

  Security guards were always asleep so I have brought another 24 CCTV's and a new remote based gate system for the front of my place.   Just about to install an electric fence on the top of the 3m high walls..    I will get the money back in about 4 months from saved salaries (not replaced two guys sacked for stealing from a house).   

 

 

Bloody Nora mardhi, you make it sound more like a High Security Prison than a Luxury House in Paradise

[Eroticadventurer]

Marhdi sounds as though you would feel at home in Johannesburg South Africa....sure doesn't sound like LOS

[mardhi]

Marhdi sounds as though you would feel at home in Johannesburg South Africa....sure doesn't sound like LOS

 

Yup pretty sad but just a refection of yaba/ice use here.  Although what we have done is nothing compared to my old equivalent at his house in jo'burg - now that was a prison and i do not keep a pistol in the glove box either.      But its not one house - there are 8 in the compound and many cameras are for each house.      Not so much when you take it over 8 houses and all the systems are pretty cheap these days.  

[lance2546]

Yep, the Cambodians (Mostly Burmese up in CM) do the work the Thais pretty much refuse to do.

 

Here is my take on thing, the junta is a bit concerned about the slowing Thai economy- people with no money tend to become stroppy, 555.

 

Boot out the foreign guest workers, create a labor shortage and drive up wages for the manual labor jobs.

 

Lance thinks its pushing on a rope- won't work :)