KUALA LUMPUR - Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand covered by the latest permit extensions are legally allowed to remain until February 2027, Thailand’s Labour Minister Trinuch Thienthong confirmed on Tuesday.

The clarification came after widespread social media reports suggested Cambodian workers would need to return home on February 13 next year due to non-renewal of work permits, Khmer Times reported yesterday.

These reports had caused anxiety among Cambodian migrant communities, with many fearing job loss, financial hardship, and forced repatriation.

According to local media, Thienthong said the confusion stemmed from misinterpretations of overlapping cabinet resolutions on foreign labour.

She said that the February 4 cabinet resolution initially set permit deadlines for Lao and Vietnamese nationals, but did not apply to Cambodian workers, whose timelines were clarified later.

“Only Lao and Vietnamese nationals were originally permitted to work until February 13, 2026, under the cabinet resolution dated February 4.

“However, a later cabinet resolution on December 2, granted these foreign workers (Cambodians) an additional one-year extension, allowing them to stay and work in Thailand until February 13, 2027.

“For Cambodian nationals, those with irregular legal status under the cabinet resolution of September 24, 2024, are permitted to work until March 31 next year,” she said.

She explained that Cambodian migrants whose work permits were renewed under the September 24, 2024 and February 4, 2025 resolutions can stay in Thailand until February 13, 2027, with potential further extensions of up to two years, possibly until 2029.

“Therefore, there are no Cambodian workers whose work permits expire on February 13, 2026,” she added.

Somchai Morakotsriwan, Director-General of Thailand’s Department of Employment, said the ministry is coordinating with security agencies to ensure migrant labour management balances economic needs, social stability and national security.

He urged employers and businesses to stay informed through official channels, including the Department of Employment website, provincial offices, and the Ministry of Labour hotline at 1506, press 2.

Thailand has historically depended on migrant workers from neighbouring countries, especially Myanmar, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam, to fill labour shortages in agriculture, construction, manufacturing and domestic sectors.

Any miscommunication about work-permit validity can have major social and economic effects, particularly in border provinces with high migrant populations.

Since border tensions began in July, nearly one million Cambodian workers have returned home, citing safety concerns and experiences of discrimination.