Cambodians start returning to Thailand

PHNOM PENH, July 1 (agencies): Nearly 10,000 Cambodians have returned to jobs in Thailand after fleeing en masse last month, officials said Tuesday, as the two countries agreed to make it easier for migrants to obtain work permits.

The exodus of more than 250,000 labourers fearful of a crackdown on undocumented workers under Thailand's new junta has raised concerns about the impact on the kingdom's migrant-dependent economy.

At a meeting in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and visiting Thai foreign ministry permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow agreed to help "migrants to work legally" in Thailand.

"Cambodia has asked Thailand to issue visas for more than 10,000 migrants, most of whom have now returned to work there," said Hor Namhong.

Cambodian labourers help keep major Thai industries from seafood to construction afloat, but often lack official work permits.

A junta warning last month of arrest and deportation for those working illegally had prompted, by some estimates, the entire undocumented Cambodian population to flee Thailand.

Sihasak said it would now only take one day for Cambodian migrants to obtain a Thai visa following the establishment of worker registration centres along the Cambodian-Thai border.

In a parallel move to ease the process, Phnom Penh said last week that it would now cost only $49 for Cambodians to buy a passport, visa and other working documents to enter Thailand.

Border officials at the Cambodian town of Poipet, the main crossing between the two countries, said Tuesday that around 1,000 workers had crossed back into Thailand every day since the weekend.

Thailand has almost no unemployment and depends upon neighbouring Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to fill manual labour vacancies.

Despite insisting there was no crackdown against Cambodian migrants, the junta was unable to stem the flow of workers across the border, with Thai businesses reporting feeling the pinch of a shrinking workforce within days of their flight.

On Tuesday Sihasak also stressed the importance Thailand placed upon its foreign labourers.

Meanwhile: Cambodia's king Tuesday pardoned a prominent Thai nationalist activist jailed for spying in a disputed border area, a government official said, in a case that fuelled bilateral tensions.

Veera Somkwamkid, a former leader of Thailand's "Yellow Shirt" royalist movement, was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2011.

He was freed on Tuesday and will be allowed to return home, according to Eang Sophalleth, a spokesman for Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The imprisonment of Veera, along with his secretary Ratree Pipattanapaibul, strained relations between the neighbouring countries, setting the scene for a series of deadly border clashes the same year.

Ratree, who was sentenced to six years in jail, was pardoned and released last year by King Norodom Sihamoni. At the same time Veera's prison term was reduced by six months.

Veera's amnesty coincided with a visit to Cambodia by Thai foreign ministry permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow for talks with Hun Sen and other top officials.