Addressing the workers yesterday, HE told them that they do not have to go abroad for jobs.

“Although wages here are lower than what you earn in Thailand, if you compare to fees you spend to get illegally to Thailand, it is not so much less,” he said, adding that “working in our country is safer”.

On Wednesday, the National Employment Agency put out a statement advertising 16,146 vacant jobs largely in the garment sector, aiming to prove the government could in fact employ the recently returned migrant workers.

“There are probably enough jobs if you include all the availability in the agriculture and construction sectors,” said Hong Choeun, director general of the agency.

Choeun also refuted yesterday the workers’ claims that they make too little in Cambodia to afford to live.

“Not all unskilled Cambodian workers go to Thailand, so they must earn enough,” he said. “Thailand was like a gold rush of people, because they heard they could make more money, but now the gold rush is over.”

Last week, the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training announced that it would provide workers and students with $4 passports, and also recently banned recruitment agencies from charging workers any commission fee. The new, yet-to-be-implemented, legalisation process will cost $49 and involve a two-and-a-half-month waiting period as all documents are procured.

“It’s a good measure in theory, but it’s not going to work,” said political analyst Kem Ley. “It doesn’t take into account indirect costs or opportunity costs, like to travel [to one of two passport offices in the country] and housing costs while the workers wait, during which they will be losing income by not working.”

HE said yesterday that he hopes to resolve such issues by opening a passport office in every province, though did not elaborate on how or when that could be accomplished.

Cambodians take advantage of new fast-track visa centres set up by Thailand’s military government at border crossings
Cambodian workers will receive a two-month permit to enter Thailand. Once there, they will undergo health checks before obtaining a permanent two-year work visa.

“In a day, we can handle up to more than 3,000 people,” said Aseam Suttiruk, an official for Sa Kaeo provincial labour department in Thailand. “Now many workers have registered with us,” he added, pointing out that Thailand had more than 140,000 jobs available for migrant workers.

The fast-track service began on Thursday and will continue until July 25. Thousands of Cambodians are expected to have their official work permits processed in a day.

Still, the opening of one-stop centres in Thailand is likely to wreck the Cambodian government’s own efforts to send workers back legally by using new procedures such as $4 passports.

Mao Chandara, the director-general at the General Directorate of Identificiation at the Ministry of Interior, questioned why the Thais had not approached his government before seeting up the processing centres.

Earlier this week, the Phnom Penh government announced that licensed recruiters would be able to charge a flat-fee of $49 to help workers obtain passports and official documentation to travel to Thailand legally. But the process could take up to 53 days. “We have talked about what can be done to shorten the [process] and help workers [return] quickly,” he said.

Migrant Workers Trickle Back To Thailand, Police Say

BANGKOK — Several thousand Cambodian migrant workers have returned to Thailand following their massive exodus back to Cambodia several weeks ago.

Yesterday, more than 400 Cambodians lined up for legal registration outside a "One Stop Service" centre set up in the border province of Sa Kaeo, with Thai employers arriving throughout the day to hire the newly-registered workers.

Police in Trat province also provided pick-up trucks to transport migrant workers from the border checkpoint to the registration centre in Sa Kaeo.

Pol.Maj.Gen. Teerachai Dedkhat, an immigration police commander in Sa Kaeo, said approximately 4,000 Cambodians have registered at the "One Stop Service" centre since 26 June.

"There are no more rumours," Pol.Maj.Gen. Teerachai said, referring to the NCPO’s claims that false rumors of a crackdown drove the mass exodus of Cambodian migrants earlier this month. "Most of the workers don't believe in it anymore."

Som Jen, a 31-year-old Cambodian immigrant, told our correspondent that he also believes the news about the imminent crackdown was only a rumour.

However, many Cambodians have still not returned to Thailand because they are helping their families farm rice during the rainy season, said Mr. Som shortly after he crossed the border to Thailand at Thai-Cambodian Friendship Bridge.

The Army is likely to remain in control of Thailand for about 14 or 15 months, coup commander General Prayuth Chan-ocha told a nationwide audience in a televised speech tonight.

He said the First Phase of two or three months would be followed by a Second Phase of approximately a year, leading up to Phase 3: democratic elections