Cambodian Workers Return to Cambodia from Thailand

By BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA

Roughly 500 Khmer workers have returned to Cambodia per day following Prime Minister Hun Sen’s recent appealed to come back for work in Cambodia. The call was made after the internal crisis in Thailand, according to Som Sam An, Senior Officer in charge of Cambodian-Thai Border Relationships at the International Poipet Checkpoint in Banteay Meanchey Province.

So far, about 3,000 Cambodian workers have left Thailand through the Poi Pet Checkpoint during recent weeks, according to the Senior Officer, speaking to the Cambodia Weekly on October 13.

Som Sam An said a further 100 people who worked illegally in Thailand recently also returned to Cambodia through different Cambodian checkpoints.

He said that Cambodian workers returned to their country for work because they were worried about their safety and security since the border conflict between the two countries flared up on July 15, 2008. He added that they returned home in obedience to the Cambodian Prime Minister’s appeal.

Bun Mom, 43, a Khmer worker who had recently returned from Bangkok in Thailand, said that he and his friends had worked for about two years in Thailand.

Mom, a married man living in Svay Rieng province, said that he and his friends decided to return because they were worried about personal safety and security since the internal crisis in Thailand.

“I am happy because my friends and I are safe and working back home in Phnom Penh. I think that we will find work in our country, rather than fleeing to a neighboring country to find work,” he said.

Veng Sao, 36, recently returned from Thailand with his friends last week and he now works with his family in Takeo province as a construction worker. He said that he decided to return to Cambodia because he has concerned about his safety and job security in Thailand.


Sao said that he had stayed as a construction worker for over one year in Thailand and he earned about 15,000 riels (about $3.65) per day. On these wages he was unable to save any money for his family because all his wages were spent on his own daily living costs.

“Now I am looking for work in Phnom Penh to make money for my family,” he told the Cambodia Weekly during a personal interview on October 14.

Oknha Mong Reththy, Director of Mong Reththy Group, said that recently, many local and foreign investors had faced problems with the pool of local laborers as many of them had left Cambodia for work abroad.
“I am happy now that workers are starting to return from Thailand. I think it is better for those people to work in Cambodia and stay with their families inside the country,” the Director told the Cambodia Weekly during a telephone interview on October 14.

He continued, “I think that the returning Cambodian workers will fill the shortage in the labor market in construction, agriculture and the industrial sector in Cambodia.”

He added that every year, his company lacked the input of around 200 workers when collecting palm fruits during the harvesting season.

Seng Phally, Operational Manager with the Cambodia Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO), a local agricultural company in Kampong Cham province, said that he also wanted Cambodian people to come back for work in Cambodia.

Phally said that he planned to invest in a cassava and cashew plantation on about 40 hectares of land in Kampong Cham province. However, he said that due to the lack of local labor, he could not get the business to function profitably.

He hopes that with these returns, they will fill the gaps left in the labor market across all economic sectors in Cambodia.

Ly Hamhay, General Director of Hamhay Villas and Construction Company, a leading construction company in Phnom Penh, said that without an additional 500 skilled workers, he would be hard pressed to fulfill the orders of his clients. Hamhay said that today, his company employs a total of 1, 200 people in Phnom Penh and other provinces across the country. He added the basic salary for experienced workers in his company is between 10,000 ($2.50) and 40,000 riels (about $10) per day.

Yan Navuth, Executive Director of the Cambodia Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM Cambodia), which is local non-government organization in Phnom Penh, said that he appreciated the arrival of returnees from Thailand.

He said, “I think that it is good for them in return, while political turmoil and border tensions are occurring. I am very happy to see them back home safe and sound.”

He told The Cambodia Weekly that according to a CARAM report, there are about 200,000 Cambodian workers working in Thailand.

He said that most of them had been employed in the construction, farming and fishing sectors of the Thai economy.

Oum Mean, Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (MLVT), said that his government also appreciated the returnees.

He said that the government has also encouraged all Cambodian people who work illegally in neighboring countries to return for work in their country. This was an echo of a call made last month by Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia who said that there was plenty of work in Cambodia for Cambodians to do.

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He added that the average wage of 10,000 to 20,000 riel was the same as that in Thailand.

According to Um Mean, today there are millions of Cambodian people working with local and foreign companies in Cambodia. 600,000 of the nation’s workforce are employed in the industrial sector. Up to 350 000 are employed in garment factories. 300,000 people work with the tourist sector, with hundreds of thousands of people employed in agro-industrial companies (rubber and oil plantations), transportation and construction. NGO’s are another source of employment for Ca