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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Cambodia Closes Border Crossings as COVID-19 Crisis Strands Migrant Workers in Thaila

    Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand on Thursday blasted Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government for ordering provinces near the Thai border to close down border crossings as a preventive measure against a third wave of the coronavirus that has hit the Southeast Asian nation hard.


    Officials sealed off the crossings in eight provinces on July 29 and will keep them closed until Aug. 12 amid the third outbreak of the COVID19 virus caused by the highly contagious Delta variant that is also sweeping through neighboring Thailand. Only those transporting goods and medical patients are allowed to cross the border.


    Many migrant workers infected with the respiratory virus said they want to return to Cambodia because they cannot afford medical treatment in Thailand, but now find themselves locked out of their own country as it deals with a surge in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and related deaths.


    And with having lost their jobs or been ordered into quarantine by Thai officials, they said they now have no income to pay for their daily living expenses.


    “The government has sealed the borders of the eight provinces,” said Chhin Chhun, a 36-year-old Cambodian migrant laborer who works in construction in Thailand. “This measure is just like killing migrant workers. They let people die in Thailand because they don’t accept [migrant workers] as patients.”


    Chhin Chhun said that three dozen of his colleagues had wanted to return home because they could not afford daily living expenses after Thai authorities quarantined them inside a room for more than a month but did not provide them with food.


    “We were living in a foreign country, so who else could we rely on [except for the Cambodian government]? We couldn’t buy food without money,” he said, blaming Cambodian officials for border closures preventing other workers from returning home.


    Another migrant worker, Long Sophoann, told RFA that about 100 laborers in a supermarket in Bangkok have been out of work for nearly two months without any help from local Thai authorities.


    Some of the workers who are infected with the COVID-19 virus have been confined to their quarters and are treating themselves, he said.


    “This is not acceptable [because] we can’t go home,” Long Sophoann said. “I would like to send a message to Prime Minister Hun Sen: Please help the workers so that we can return home safely.”


    About two million Cambodians out of the country’s population of nearly 17 million work in Thailand, according to the Cambodian NGO Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL). Thailand is the main destination country for Cambodian migrant workers who take relatively low-wage jobs in labor-intensive sectors including agriculture, construction, fishing, livestock, and manufacturing, and in some service sectors.


    The Cambodian Embassy in Thailand previously said that it cannot help migrant workers infected with the virus and that it is the responsibility of their employers to provide them with adequate food and accommodations, according to an earlier RFA report.


    As of Friday, Cambodia recorded 76,585 total confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 668 new ones, and total deaths of 1,375, including 25 new fatalities, according to figures from the Ministry of Health.


    The situation is worse in Thailand, a nation of nearly 70 million people, where many Cambodians go to perform manual labor for higher wages than they would earn at home. On Friday, the country recorded a total 578,375 COVID-19 cases, including 17,345 new ones, and 4,679 deaths, including 117 new related fatalities.


    The Cambodian government also has stepped up coronavirus-related restrictions at home, preventing gatherings of more than 10 people and imposing a nighttime curfew from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.


    Dy The Hoya, a program officer at CENTRAL, said the Cambodian government’s measure is not good for migrant workers in Thailand who are suffering because they cannot return home during the health crisis.


    “I urge [the government] to listen to those who are affected and to make policies that reflect the issues,” he said.


    Cambodia Closes Border Crossings as COVID-19 Crisis Strands Migrant Workers in Thailand — Radio Free Asia

  2. #2
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    The situation is worse in Thailand
    Certainly is so why open up borders with a country whose daily new cases and deaths are on a sharp rise when your country has declining numbers?

  3. #3
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton View Post
    Certainly is so why open up borders with a country whose daily new cases and deaths are on a sharp rise when your country has declining numbers?
    They're only complaining because it makes them look as bad as they are.

  4. #4
    Thailand Expat prawnograph's Avatar
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    Plan A from two weeks ago in Chanthaburi.
    Plan B?

    Cambodian workers caught trying to get home in ‘fake Thai ambulances’
    July 19, 2021



    In a worrying sign of how the ‘Delta’ variant is crossing so easily from Thailand to Cambodia, 14 Cambodian migrant workers were caught recently trying to return to Cambodia in ‘fake’ ambulances.

    On the 13th of July, the Provincial Police of Chanthaburi Province intercepted an vehicle at a checkpoint in Village No. 4, Thep Nimit Subdistrict, Pong Nam Ron District, Chanthaburi Province, Thailand.

    When police examined the ‘ambulance’, they found that it was just a normal minivan with ‘AMBULANCE’ written on the front.

    Upon further inspection, police found 14 Cambodian migrant workers inside – 9 adults and 5 children.

    They were being smuggled to the Thai-Cambodia border by 3 Thai nationals – named as Mrs. Kwanruedi, 45, who lives in Pak Kret district, Nonthaburi province, the van driver Mr Sarunyu, 31, who lives in Si Satchanalai district, Sukhothai province, the pickup driver, and Mr Kunanan, 19 – who were dressed in PPE gear and disguised as emergency medical staff to deceive officials.

    Investigators have determined that the three suspects were hired to transport the Cambodians who from Bang Bon district, Bangkok – which is a ‘red area’ under strict control for COVID.

    The Thai nationals received 25,000 baht to smuggle the Cambodian across the province to ​​Chanthaburi.

    The 14 Cambodians have been sent to be treated and detained at the Field Hospital of the Royal Thai Police.


    CNE
    Last edited by prawnograph; 01-08-2021 at 04:16 PM.

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Why am I reminded of this?


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