Cambodian workers head for the exit as construction camps close from today
More than 200 Cambodian workers showed up at Kab Cherng immigration checkpoint in Surin province on Sunday to return to their homeland following the government’s order to shut down construction camps in Bangkok and four southern provinces to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Friday that the meeting of the Centre of Covid-19 Situation Administration chaired by him had rejected a proposal to lockdown Bangkok and its perimeter areas as well as the four southern provinces of Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, but instead would shut down starting on Monday construction sites that had reported infections for a month.
Prayut said the Ministry of Labour would compensate affected Thais and migrant labourers.
“Their employers brought them here on pickup trucks and left them at the checkpoint after the PM’s order was issued,” said an official at the checkpoint. “Officials have to speed up the border-crossing process to reduce crowding at the checkpoint which could increase the risk of Covid-19 spreading in the province.”
Workers waiting to cross the border were ordered to strictly remain at the checkpoint and refrain from wandering to nearby communities or markets to prevent the spread of the virus.
“So far three immigration officers at Kab Cherng checkpoint have contracted Covid-19 despite strict disease control measures being followed,” said the officer.
